A new concert guitar strung up just in time for the 2022 California International Guitar Festival in San Luis Obispo, California.
They say “variety is the spice of life” and I have to agree. I haven’t posted anything in a while so here is a potpourri of pictures. I have been enjoying a good mix of building and repair work as of late and have had all kinds of interesting instruments in for repair and customers come to me with interesting build ideas.
As far as the builds go, I got a chance to make a romantic era inspired guitar with a internal top or resonating plate (I’m not sure there is an official term for such a thing). It’s not a design that is common and I found it so very interesting as it bifurcated the air resonance into two equally strong notes. This is such a unique guitar in so many ways in that it uses Rickard Cyclone machines, a zero fret and an 18 hole tie bridge. I really love working with European Maple. It works wonderfully and the figure is eye catching.
The other build pictured is a lattice braced design for a customer. The back and sides will be Mediterranean Cypress and it has a new headstock shape as well. This lattice bracing was a sort of amalgam and tweak of things I’ve seen on other instruments. There are many different lattice braced guitars out there and I am hoping this combination of design elements results in something I really like the sound of and continue to pursue. In one of the pictures you can see the sled I made to cut the lattice with an expanding grid pattern.
In all the years of making guitars I have only ever kept my very first. I decided to hold onto this Spartan Model that I made last year to have something nicer to play. It happened to get a fingernail mark on the top and a few sunken pores on the back so it is technically a “second” and it helps me justify not putting it up for sale. I still figure I should post a few pictures as it is a different combination of things that could be interesting to some.
It’s sort of an upgraded Spartan Model with and elevated fingerboard and an 18 hole tie block on the bridge. The Bone Nut and Saddle is dyed with black dye. The bone only partially absorbs the dye so it’s more of a grey color I like. I also did a gradual shading with the same dye on a few lines in the rosette and tail block inlay. I used some black and gold Schaller Grand Tune machines and matched that with Jescar EVO Gold frets. I lacquered the back and sides while leaving the top french polished. The other main materials are Wenge, European Spruce and African mahogany.
I forgot to post some pictures of guitars that got finished last year. Well, actually, I forgot to take pictures of a few as well but here are some pictures of a Steel String that got completed a couple months ago.
This is a Martin D-18 Style Dreadnought with Honduran Mahogany back and sides and a Carpathian Spruce top. Making the faux tortoise pickguard from scratch is one of the other fun projects that is part of making a steel string guitar as opposed to the nylon / classical type.
This was a Romantic era inspired build that was way too fun making and in the end I wish I could have kept for myself. The guitar itself was an amalgam of ideas inspired by guitars from the Romatic era and not a specific copy of any specific instrument. The template was taken from an anonymous Italian instrument c.1840 and I would say that the bridge and headstock shapes are René Lacôte inspired. It is ladder braced in the fashion of so many instruments of that era. The main materials are torrefied Swiss spruce for the top and European flamed maple for the back and sides.
While being Romantic inspired in look and sound, this plays more like a modern classical guitar. The scale length is 650 mm and the width at the nut is 52 mm. Most of the instruments from the period have much smaller dimensions and this setup is much less of an adjustment for classical players. We also went with a tie bridge with 18 holes instead of what would have more typically been a pin bridge from that era. From afar the 6 pearl dots on the bridge invoke the look of pins. The other very modern addition was the use of some Rickard Cyclone 10:1 tuning ratio machines. They are definitely heavier than pegs or the 4:1 planetary pegs but are very smooth and less finicky in use.
The guitar is shipped and I can’t wait for the customer to get it and get his feedback. Sorry there are no videos or recordings but hopefully some will get posted in the near future. Also, I’m taking orders for guitars to be completed next year so please feel free to contact me if you want to get on the list. Pictures are below.
…and here are some videos thanks to Cameron
I haven’t been doing too many big restoration or rebuild jobs lately but this one turned out well. This one is really fun because the instrument is so odd and also because it’s for a friend. This instrument holds meaning for him as it was made by someone in his family.
It’s a interesting spot to be in when your tasked with restoring an instrument. There is the desire to preserve its originality which is many times opposed to the desire to make it playable. The main desire of the customer was to be able to play it and even though it’s a family heirloom, it wasn’t a collectors item, which makes the restoration less fraught. I tried to keep it as original as possible while keeping in mind that it had failed and fallen apart which meant changing some things were required.
All the glue joints had failed. The top and back had split and the neck joint and fingerboard were loose. The only thing still holding on was the joinery in the headstock. The neck itself looks to be scavenged from another mandolin and then slapped on the mahogany body. Everything got taken apart, cleaned up and reglued. I did replace and strengthen the internal bracing on the top, sides and back a bit; making sure to oxidize the new wood to try and make it look of the same age. I had to splice in some wood on the top and back as the plates had shrunk a bit too much to fit the rim. I feel good about addressing the structural elements without harming any of the exterior marks. There are still the strumming marks on the outside and old pencil marks on the inside but it should be strong enough to hold up for some years now. Anyways, I just got it strung back up and it really sounds great! It has the tiniest bar frets but it plays cleanly. It now has some reproduction style tuning machines that I dirtied up a bit and a new strap button.
No one is actually going out but this guitar is ready to!
This classical guitar is one of the most dressed up instruments I’ve done in a while and it includes a new eighteen hole bridge; which is a first for me. It is an interesting change that makes the top of the tie block a completely decorative element. Usually, the block is bordered in bone to keep the strings from damaging it but with no strings wrapped over the top we were free to adorn it as we saw fit. With the added holes, a veneer of bone was glued to the back of the block for added strength. I also did a more traditional bridge shape so I’m not completely sure if the new tieblock adds any weight. I think it may be a gram heavier than if I had done a standard tieblock.
The back and sides are Macassar Ebony and the top is a torrefied Western Red Cedar. There is a rope / wheat purfling motif carried around the body, rosette, headstock and tie block. It has its customer specific neck dimensions which include a wider than standard nut and a 660 mm scale length on an elevated fingerboard. The longer scale paired with the other design choices make for a stiffer action and a good amount of headroom. I feel like I can really drive the top hard and the sound doesn’t break up. The frets are done in the EVO Gold fretwire up to the 20th fret and then the 21st fret (yes, we went there on a classical) is made of black buffalo horn that just fits on the end of the fretboard! To top that all off we put a gorgeous set of Scheller Tuning Machines with Baker style plates and Black Mother of Pearl buttons on it. I’m going to mail it out real soon so I’ll be excited to get the client’s reaction.
