Serial production of guitars began in our country in the mid-twentieth century. At first, these popular musical instruments were made by semi-artisan artels (in Shikhovo, Moscow Region and Leningrad). Then in Ukraine Lviv and Chernihiv factories were opened. Their production capacities were very small, and the technologies used practically did not differ from modern ones.
Since the 60s, the production of guitars began to develop at a rapid pace, which was associated with the growing popularity of these musical instruments among consumers. To organize mass production, special equipment was developed. However, to optimize the process and reduce the cost of the finished product, it was necessary to sacrifice unnecessary details, decorations and quality: even guitar vultures were made from bent plywood.
Guitars were made in Izhevsk, Ivanovo, Sverdlovsk, Vladikavkaz, Borisov, Kuybyshev and other cities in guitar and piano factories. Today, most of these enterprises no longer exist. The remaining factories are far from in the best condition (Borisov, Arfa, Etude-Ural, Vladikavkaz). Their products are not distinguished by high quality and variety of assortment, and the technologies used have practically not changed for several decades.
The only domestic manufacturer who was able to establish serial production of guitars of European appearance and competitive quality (and the corresponding price category) is the Renome factory, which appeared in 1996 in Lviv. A small factory “Lada” from St. Petersburg also belongs to new manufacturers. She produces guitars with a plastic case. The Moscow company Muzdetal has chosen its niche in the market and is assembling guitars from parts produced in various factories. There are also individual masters who are almost manually engaged in the manufacture of guitars to order.
Guitar Materials
The sound that a guitar makes is largely determined by the type of wood it is made of. The fingerboard of a tool is usually made from maple, and its overlay is also made from maple, rosewood or ebony. For the production of the body (deck) of the guitar, a large number of types of wood are used. The difference is expressed not only in price, but also in different sounds. The most popular material for making guitar cases is alder. Spruce is most often used for the production of semi-acoustic electric guitars. This material provides an even sound, but it costs much more than an alder.
The most voiced guitars are instruments whose bodies are made of maple or ash. Walnut wood is used to make quality expensive acoustic guitars. However, in the manufacture of electric guitars, walnuts are used only for the production of fingerboards and for veneer coatings. Poplar guitars are not distinguished by high sound quality and are used, in most cases, for learning to play these musical instruments. Mahogany provides the best bass sound and is used to make guitar cases for heavy styles.
In addition to these types of materials, exotic tree species are used for the production of musical instruments (for example, paduac, koa, bubing, etc.). In order to protect the tool from the environment and mechanical stress, a pure polyurethane two-component industrial varnish is used. It has good covering ability and strength properties. In addition, it does not affect the sound of the instrument. True, this applies to semi-handicraft production. And with in-line production, the thickness of the varnish can reach one and a half millimeters (with an optimal thickness of 1.5-2 tenths of a millimeter), which “fetters” the sound.
Guitars
An acoustic guitar consists of the following components: a body (upper and lower decks, shells, nut and heel), neck, fingerboard, frets, stand, ring mechanism, etc. The body of the neck of expensive guitars is usually made of radial saw maple. Such blanks are characterized by higher sound qualities and a longer service life compared to the tangential cut, which is used in mass production. The latter is cheaper than radial cut.
In factories, the body of the neck is made of several parts, which increases its rigidity and leads to a deterioration in sound quality. Masters who produce guitars in a semi-handicraft manner make the body of the neck from a single piece of wood. The feather (heads) in the budget factory guitars are glued with oblique gluing in the region of the third fret. Experts believe that although this method is more economically advantageous for in-line production, it has its drawbacks: from these positions, the sound of notes deteriorates and the reliability of the instrument decreases.
An anchor is used to maintain optimal neck deflection. In the classic version, the anchor is a rod of elastic steel. In most cases, the linings are made of expensive wood - ebony or hornbeam. For budget line tools, lim and wenge are used. As a rule, frets for factory guitars are brought from Belarus. Minsk frets are characterized by good wear resistance and high profile quality.
Previously, Russian-made guitars were made with a lifting neck on a screw. This design is used now in budget models with metal strings. For domestic musical instruments brass or bronze strings of medium tension with a twisted third string are used. The disadvantage of copper, brass and silver plated strings is that over time, if they do not play the guitar, they may darken. Thin strings with a winding quickly break about fret and stall. In all these cases, the strings will need to be changed subsequently.
Electric Guitar Production
Let us consider in more detail the process of semi-automated production of electric guitars in a factory. First of all, billets are cut from wood. They are given the desired thickness. As a rule, it is from 5 to 10 cm. Then the blanks are marked and sent to the drying chamber. This stage is very important, since raw wood deforms when it dries. In the drying chamber, the workpieces are located until the moisture content in the wood drops to 6%. It takes a lot of time. Drying can take several months (but on average, two).
When the tree is completely dry, the workpieces are glued together. To do this, water-based glue is used, which again impregnates the wood with moisture. Therefore, the glued blanks are again sent to the drying chamber, where they remain for another two months. After removal from the drying chamber, the workpieces are fixed on the gripper. An automated punching machine, alternately using eight different nozzles, gradually cuts out the shape of the body from the workpiece.
Electro-acoustic models have voids in the case, so their production takes longer. Then the surface of the body is carefully polished by hand, and the edge of the body is cut at an angle of 45 degrees using a steel blade. After this procedure, the surface of the body is again processed by a grinding machine. Then metal fasteners are inserted into the wood, into which the bolts connecting the body and the neck will be screwed.
For the manufacture of the neck bar mahogany or solid maple is cut into two parts using a diamond drill. On one side of the neck, which will be the front, a thin sheet of maple plywood is glued (its thickness is only 1.27 mm). Then this part of the neck is turned over and glued to the second half.
Thus, the direction of the wood fibers changes, as a result of which the structure of the neck is strengthened, which allows it to hold tensioned strings. Maple plywood, which sticks to the place of gluing, not only masks, but also strengthens it, increasing the life of the guitar. Glued components are clamped in a vice for three hours until the glue is completely dry. An automated punching machine carves the shape of the neck and the gutter along it. A steel anchor is then placed in this recess. An anchor is needed in order to straighten the bar, which bends under high tension of the strings.
At the next stage, a fingerboard is made from black, rosewood, maple or rosewood. It is glued over the anchor. The whole structure is placed in a vacuum press, which draws air, turning all the components of the neck into a single whole. After the glue has dried, the neck is again placed in an automated punching machine with 22 nozzles, with which the final shape is sawn.
Then, a 22-incision saw machine simultaneously cuts grooves for 22 frets - metal sills on the fingerboard. The back of the neck is machined on a sanding belt machine. Then frets crash into the bar. They are made of nickel and lead. In the lower part of each there are teeth with which they are fixed in the wood. At the end of this stage of production, the edges of the neck are finished on a grinder, the tips of the sills are cut off and the edges of the neck are rounded off. Using a screen printer, the manufacturer’s logo is applied to the case. UV paint dries in seconds.
First, the body is coated with a special compound - a sealant that closes the pores. This reduces the cost of paints and varnishes and increases the service life of the coating. And then 22 layers of stain and varnish are applied to the body, which protect the wood and give the finished product an attractive appearance. After a month and a half of being in the drying chamber, painting and varnishing, the body is treated with a wet sandblasting machine. It is polished to a mirror shine and rubbed with paraffin.
Each nut on the neck is painted with a marker and rubbed with a finely grained skin. On protruding irregularities, the paint is erased, and the protrusions themselves are immediately smoothed. But since sawing smoothes, including the edges of the sills, then they are also rounded with a special file. In the next step, the sills are treated with an even finer grain skin to remove traces of file processing. Finally, the fingerboard is moistened with oil. On the one hand, the oil creates a smooth surface and provides an attractive appearance to the wood, and on the other hand, it protects the material from cracking upon drying.
To straighten the neck, the anchor rod is twisted using a hex wrench. Using a special instrument, measure the deflection of the neck. When the needle reaches zero, the bar straightens. Then six tuning keys are installed on the fretboard - one for each string. Depending on the model, the keys are coated with gold, nickel or black paint. Using a digital meter, the height of the upper and lower sills of thin plastic plates with six grooves for strings is measured. After which the neck is attached to the body of the guitar.
In the production of electric guitars at the next stage of production, electronic components are installed in the case. This process begins by welding control knobs to control volume and tonality to the pickup selector. In some manufacturers' guitars, one pickup is mounted above the lower nut. A magnet and a coil for each string are fixed on it. P
About the template, holes for installing a nut are drilled in the body of the guitar. It is fastened with screws, a pickup is installed above it, and followed by a pickup of the body and neck. Then a tremolo - lever mechanism with a set of steel springs that temporarily weaken the strings is attached to the body. After that, volume and key knobs are installed in the case. Then, the pickup selector and the connector for connecting the cable to the amplifier are screwed.
To check the quality of the assembly, each pickup is tapped, and finally, the strings are pulled onto the guitar: steel strings are fixed to the rear nut, pulled through the front nut and screwed to the keys using a drill with a special nozzle. The finished guitar is sent to check in a room with full sound insulation. There, it is tuned using a digital tuner and a test run is arranged. Finally, a guitar that meets specified standards is packaged and delivered to the warehouse.
Acoustic Guitar Production
The production process of acoustic guitars looks a bit different. Using a press weighing 30 tons, which cuts the shape according to the template, the components of the body of the future guitar are made. Then the resonator is cut out in the deck. Its dimensions can vary, since the sound quality of the instrument depends on them: the larger the diameter of the hole, the stronger the upper notes, the smaller the stronger the bass.
A wooden outlet can be decorated, depending on the model, with inlay or (in the budget version) paper stickers. Then the sides of the casing - shells are made. To do this, long thin strips of wood are immersed in boiling water for about 15 seconds, and then they are placed on a heated press to make a bend. The press heats the tree from below and above for one minute.
Both sides are connected by mahogany or poplar rails. One sticks on the bottom, the other on the top. Then the craftsmen glue and assemble a wooden frame, with the help of which the shells are attached to the upper and lower deck. Notches give them bending elasticity. Using a manual machine, they carefully make nicks on the frame, to which four wooden staples are then attached, securing the lower deck of the guitar.
The correct arrangement of the brackets allows the upper deck of the guitar to withstand the tension of the strings and evens out the frequency of the sound, controlling vibration at different points in different ways. After the vacuum press secures the brackets in certain places, the upper and lower decks are glued. The assembled guitar body is sent to the press, and then for a long drying. To protect the edges of the guitar, a plastic tape is glued on them. The case is polished and transmitted to the machine with a special sensor that determines the exact angle at which the neck and the guitar body will be connected later. The angle is of great importance, as it affects the sound quality. The machine drills holes and carefully polishes the parts.
Then they are varnished in 4-8 layers, depending on the finish. On the fingerboard, which is made from other types of wood (for example, black or rosewood), metal frets are fixed. In the neck, as in the production of electric guitars, a recess is made under a metal rod - an anchor. The overlay is glued to the bar and placed in a vacuum press. After the glue dries, pegs are placed on it, on which strings are subsequently wound. An anchor is inserted into the hole on the body along with the bar. Then the neck is bolted and clamped until the glue dries. The head, which is located on the upper end of the neck, is made of a single piece of wood and covered with a thin plate (usually from rosewood). Two longitudinal holes are cut out in it, each of which is crossed by three pegs with a screw mechanism.
At the next stage, the stand is glued, securing it with temporary bolts and a clamp. The plastic nut holding the strings adheres to the bar. Then the saddle and pegs are attached, which fix the strings on the stand, and the strings themselves are pulled using a special device. Making one guitar takes about three weeks. So much time is required for the glue to completely dry. Experts say that the older the guitar, the better it sounds.
Of course, each musician has his own characteristics and preferences. They relate to the width of the neck, the material of which the tool is made, its processing, the diameter of the resonator, etc. Since it is impossible to take all these wishes into account in the factory production format and expand the model range by changing individual characteristics of the tool, many domestic and foreign manufacturers prefer open small workshops in which guitars are made almost by hand using the necessary equipment and tools. Such guitars are much more expensive than factory models.
At least 400 thousand rubles will be spent on the purchase of equipment necessary for organizing the production of guitars. The biggest difficulty is finding the masters. Людей, которые хорошо знакомы со всеми нюансами изготовления таких музыкальных инструментов, как гитары, найти достаточно сложно. А на обучение новичков уйдет немало времени и средств. Срок окупаемости предприятия по производству акустических гитар составляет от двух лет.
Sysoeva Lilia
(c) www.clogicsecure.com - a portal to business plans and guides