So before I head to bed, I thought I'd update on my progress today. I spent some time cutting up pieces of card stock. What does that have to do with building a guitar? You'll see very soon.
After unclamping the back, I marked out the locations that need to be removed from the center strip in order to fit the back braces.
After a trip to Home Depot to get a couple chisels, I removed the necessary parts of the center strip. First I scored each piece with an Exacto knife, then chiseled away the unwanted material. I want the back braces to fit tightly into these slots, so I cut the slots a little narrower then I needed them to be. Then I can open them up little by little until they fit each brace perfectly.
So far 2 braces are done and they fit perfect (as the following picture also shows)!
2 more braces to fit tomorrow, and if I get brave maybe I'll even start gluing them!