Next I sharpened my planes, built a shooting board, and jointed the top and back. With light cuts and a well sharpened blade, this plane gave me a perfect joint line in only a couple passes.
Next I glued the top and back together using the method shown below. Since I had perfect joint lines, I didn't need much force to hold the joint together. The pieces of wood on the sides holds the two pieces together, the piece of wood on the top of the center joint ensures the joint remains flat and doesn't shift. Wax paper of course was used so I didn't glue anything to my bench or to that 2x4.
I cut the back and top to the approximate profile of the guitar. I left both oversized by about a 1/2" to allow room for error. Then I used a handplane, scraper, and sander to get the top and back to the proper thickness.