Manchinga/Engelmann Spruce OM Update

 With the top now attached, I now have four guitar bodies ready for binding. Something to look forward to (said nobody, ever!)

Cheers, Pete

Progress: Manchinga/Engelmann Spruce OM

I've made some progress with this guitar over the past few weeks; however, I was hampered by the manchinga sides that rippled badly across the grain in the process of bending them. This has been my first experience working with manchinga, and I suspect that a little less water applied to the sides prior to bending them may have contributed to a better result. I had partial success in flattening them by soaking them in Supersoft veneer softener and clamping them for a couple of days in the mold I use to laminate sides. The remaining inconsistencies were masked once the veneers were added to the interior of the sides, and sanding will flatten their outer surface without removing too much material.

Check out the grain in that amazing Engelmann top!

Cheers, Pete

Next Cab Off the Rank? A Manchinga OM.

This set of manchinga has been gathering dust in my modest tonewood stash for several years. From the time that I acquired it I resolved that wood this remarkable should be set aside for as long as possible in the hope that my skills would eventually grow to a point at which I'd consider myself able to do it justice.

Whether I'm at that point or not, the reality is that I'm not getting any younger, so while my eyesight is still in good shape I'm preparing to take the plunge and begin construction of a guitar using this beautiful wood, coupled with a drop-dead gorgeous Engelmann spruce soundboard I've also been saving for something special.

I'll post a progress report on the other three guitars I'm working on very soon.

Cheers, Pete

A Little Eye-Candy.

Here a progress shot of two of the three guitars I'm currently working on: an Australian blackwood/Engelmann spruce OM, and a Bubinga/Sitka spruce OM.

A Narra/Engelmann OM has been a late addition to the production line, the motivation being that I'd like to try a bevelled armrest for the first time.

More updates soon.

Cheers

Pete

What's on the Bench?

As many of my blog posts hereabouts will attest, construction of my workshop occupied me for the best part of four years; even now there are "finishing off" tasks that divert me from guitar building. More significantly, the list of jobs around the house expanded impressively while I was focused on the workshop, so I've made a point of addressing enough items on the list over the past few weeks that I've been able to increase my guilt-free time attending to a couple of new guitars, both of which are at a similar state of completion.

I added some inner laminations of cherry veneer to the sides on these guitars, the advantages being that:

• the potential for cracks in the sides is largely eliminated meaning that the application of bias tape or cross-grain wooden reinforcement is no longer required.
• the sides are dead flat across the grain once laminated; there's no cupping or rippling and therefore no requirement to sand them flat.
• a stiffer and more massive rim assembly means that the vibration of the top and back plates is absorbed by the sides to a lesser degree than would otherwise be the case.

There are many ways to laminate the sides, but I settled on using a jig modelled after the one pictured below, the idea for which I borrowed from guitar builder Ryan Gerber.

Side laminating jig

Australian blackwood/Engelmann spruce OM

Bubinga/Sitka spruce OM

Cheers

Pete