Once the neck is glued on it gets carved. This one is fairly standard, a slim modern C shape.
Shinto Japanese saw rasps are magnificent for this. After the neck is profiled its sanded to 320 and that's where it stays until its time for final finishing.
On the subject of finishing, the body is also sanded to 320 and then the back and sides get some grain filler. This one is meant for mahogany and is a nice red colour:
Filling the grain is essential on open pored woods like sapele if you want a nice glassy smooth finish.
While waiting for that to dry and make a start on the top, it is sanded to 600 grit. I tape off the neck and paint the inside walls of the F-hole with shellac to minimise the stain scraping I need to do later. I also stuff the cavity with kitchen roll.
Thinly diluted black stain is washed over the top and then sanded back partially, this is where the 3D effect of the figuring comes from. Would you look at that:
Now we're cooking.