My 2017/18 building results...
Posted: Sat Jul 28, 2018 10:58 am
My two 2017/18 guitars have been finished for a month or two now. I built a traditional cut-away archtop, and one based on my "Moderne" asymetrical cutaway shape.
"Traditional" is spruce over quilted maple, parallel braced, bound F-holes and 4 layer binding on top and back. First time for me doing block MOP inlays on fretboard, doing the triple bound rosewood fretboard and headstock, and the venetian cutaway. Finish is amber tinted EM6000, around a dozen coats. Tone is bright and transparent, a little mid-range chomp - about what you expect from an archtop.
"Moderne" is sinker curly redwood over birdseye maple back, sides and neck. The maple was given to me by a friend who sawed it just down the street from me, in 1972. The flame in the redwood top turned out quite subtle, possibly because the board was sawn quite close to the outside of the log - you can see the dark colour on the edges of the lower bout from immersion in water. The headstock has some influence from a Matsuda design, and the sound-hole in the upper bout top and side pays homage to Ken Parker. Bracing is a modified X pattern. Neck is 1.85" at the nut and 2.25 string spacing at the bridge. Tone is very deep, strong bass coupled with very bright trebles, very balanced throughout. I am quite taken with it, and I think future experiments with the sound-hole placement are in order!
"Traditional" is spruce over quilted maple, parallel braced, bound F-holes and 4 layer binding on top and back. First time for me doing block MOP inlays on fretboard, doing the triple bound rosewood fretboard and headstock, and the venetian cutaway. Finish is amber tinted EM6000, around a dozen coats. Tone is bright and transparent, a little mid-range chomp - about what you expect from an archtop.
"Moderne" is sinker curly redwood over birdseye maple back, sides and neck. The maple was given to me by a friend who sawed it just down the street from me, in 1972. The flame in the redwood top turned out quite subtle, possibly because the board was sawn quite close to the outside of the log - you can see the dark colour on the edges of the lower bout from immersion in water. The headstock has some influence from a Matsuda design, and the sound-hole in the upper bout top and side pays homage to Ken Parker. Bracing is a modified X pattern. Neck is 1.85" at the nut and 2.25 string spacing at the bridge. Tone is very deep, strong bass coupled with very bright trebles, very balanced throughout. I am quite taken with it, and I think future experiments with the sound-hole placement are in order!