For Sale: Claro Walnut/Redwood OM

It's taken such a long time to complete this guitar that it features a body shape I've long since modified. The shape of the heel is very traditional, and the fretboard end is also from a bygone era where my guitar building exploits are concerned. After some initial indecision, I've decided to reduce the price a little.

I'm loving the oil finished neck, which feels super smooth and will be very easy to maintain as the years take their toll.

Check my "For Sale" page for details.

Cheers, Pete.

For Sale: Manchinga/Engelmann Spruce OM

With this - the first of a batch of five guitars - now strung up, I can begin to relax a little and allow myself a moment to enjoy the sense of achievement at having completed an instrument; for various reasons, it's been a while!

There's always a sense of nervous anticipation when I first install strings on a new guitar, but even after hearing the first notes ring out I know better than to pass judgement immediately; it would seem too much like anticipating a toddler's potential as an Olympic sprinter after witnessing their first steps! Instead, I let it sit undisturbed for a week tuned to concert pitch, knowing even then that only the passage of time will reveal its true character. After this initial settling in period, I fine-tune the action, saddle height and intonation - it's only then that I can derive some sense of its sonic potential. I certainly have expectations where tone is concerned, but they're somewhat nebulous and hard to describe. In terms of aesthetics, I'm very pleased with this instrument, but I'm anything but an accomplished player, so I look forward to receiving feedback from someone more proficient than I am where ergonomics and tone are concerned.

While the woodworking and finishing aspects of my guitars seem to improve incrementally with each instrument, and are relatively easy to assess, the complex and all-important tonal characteristics are more difficult to evaluate. Describing what I'm  hearing is difficult enough, and formulating an approach that will render sonic improvements from one guitar to the next is very challenging. I've generated Chladni patterns on my unattached soundboards in the past, hoping for some "light bulb" moments to reveal themselves, but as interesting as they are, manipulating those patterns or translating my findings into tangible gains is a puzzle I'm solving all too slowly. For the time being, the best I can hope for is that I'll come to judge in some subjective sense that I've made improvements over earlier instruments and have been able to establish a new benchmark from which I can implement refinements on future instruments.

Check my "For Sale" page for details.

Cheers, Pete

SOLD! An Enjoyable Distraction

I had some spare time recently as I waiting for the lacquer I'd sprayed on my current batch of acoustic guitars to cure in readiness for polishing, and as I'm becoming a big fan of headless guitars, I put the guitar pictured together while I had the opportunity to do so.

I've had the maple neck blank and the Queensland maple drop-top cap in my tonewood stash for what must be a decade, so it seemed like a convenient time to put them to good use at last. The mahogany body is comprised of three pieces sourced from the stock of material I'd normally reserve for head blocks on my acoustic guitars.

• Body: chambered mahogany
• Cap: Queensland maple (Flindersia brayleyana)
• Neck: bigleaf maple, with double-action truss rod and carbon fibre reinforcement
• Fingerboard: ebony
• Bridge: Nova Guitar Parts
• Pickups: Kiesel Beryllium humbuckers
• Finish: Osmo Polyx oil

The guitar came together relatively quickly compared to my usual acoustic guitars. I learned a lot through this process, so I'm looking forward to put the lessons learned to good use on similar electric projects in the near future.

Cheers

Pete

Irish Bouzouki #1

Historically speaking, it's not often I get the chance to post photos of a newly completed instrument, so I'm pleased to be able to do so once again. Hopefully, my recent change of circumstances will see an increase in productivity!

With the benefit of hindsight, there are aspects of this instrument I could have approached differently, or done better, but I can't imagine a time when that won't be the case! Overall, I'm pretty happy with this bouzouki, and I hope its new owner feels the same way.

• Soundboard: Port Orford Cedar
• Back and sides: East Indian Rosewood
• Neck: Honduran Mahogany
• Fingerboard and bridge: Ebony
• Rosette: Zebrano and Macassar Ebony
• Tuners: Gotoh 510 mini
• Pre-amp: Fishman Prefix Pro
• Finish: pre-catalysed lacquer (oil-finished neck)
• Scale length: 24.9"

Now, back to those guitars...

Cheers

Pete

Delivery Day

What a great day it turned out to be. Tiani visited this afternoon and, after a nervous start, treated us to several songs, accompanied - of course - on her new guitar. I could have listened to her beautiful voice for hours.

Although Tiani is very appreciative and feels fortunate to be the recipient of this guitar, I can't help feeling that I'm the real winner.

Cheers
Pete

Claro Walnut/Sitka Spruce 000 - More Photos

Some final photographs before I deliver this guitar to its new owner.

Cheers
Pete

Claro Walnut/Sitka Spruce 000

I was finally able to string up this guitar yesterday, and I look forward with some excitement to presenting it to Tiani, its new owner.

Tiani is the talented daughter of a family friend, and her youthful passion for music is truly refreshing. Although her musical inclinations have little in common with those of the players I imagine myself building for in the future, she's nevertheless a worthy recipient of this instrument on the strength of her originality and enthusiasm alone.

I began this guitar three or four years ago, and at some point over the course of its construction the decision was made to donate it to someone I felt could put it to better use than I could. There were some minor cosmetic blemishes that irked me, but more significantly, after the box was closed up and remedial work became impractical, I was concerned that the top was braced too heavily. As a result, I had serious doubts about its likely success from a tonal perspective and it took a back seat to other guitar projects for a couple of years. With that as a background, I was prepared to be less than impressed yesterday when I strung it up for the first time, and my initial assessment was indeed less than enthusiastic. However, after only a few hours, I was much less critical; in the absence of any other explanation, I suspect the strings simply needed to be left in peace for a short time to acclimatise to their new home: bent over saddle and nut and brought up to concert pitch. It's early days still, but I'm prepared to cautiously pronounce the guitar a success - I hope Tiani feels the same way!

I'll let the guitar settle further over the week ahead, make final adjustments to neck relief and action height, and hopefully hand the guitar over to Tiani soon afterwards.

Vital statistics:
Back and sides: Claro Walnut
Soundboard: Sitka Spruce
Neck: Tarzali Silkwood
Fretboard and bridge: ebony
Bindings: curly maple
Scale length: 24.9"
Finish: Grafted Coatings KTM-SV
Pickup: K & K Pure Mini

Cheers
Pete

A Belated Gift

If first impressions count for anything, there are a lot of things to like about this guitar which I strung up for the first time last weekend.  I'll let it settle for a while before I make final nut, saddle and action adjustments, but even in its current incomplete state I'm able to play it and assess its tonal potential. I look forward to enjoying the full experience - however briefly - before I deliver it to its new owner.

There were more than my usual number of blunders along the way and I'm still refining my finishing technique, but overall I'm pleased with the outcome.  The minor cosmetic flaws are disappointing, but after riding out the obligatory post-build period of self-recrimination, I'm now able to look beyond them and enjoy the fact that the sound of this guitar surpasses anything I've built previously.  My hope is that where bracing and tuning of the soundboard is concerned, what I've achieved with this guitar signals a permanent leap to the next level.

The guitar is a gift to a very patient musician friend in Melbourne. Maurice is an old rocker with a soft spot for Marshall stacks and Gibson Les Pauls, however, I hold out some faint hope that he'll be impressed enough with this guitar to suppress his natural tendencies and learn some more subdued acoustic pieces. The message will be clear when I present it to him: if he's inclined to mount a humbucker in the soundhole and plug into a wall of Marshalls, I'd rather not know about it!

Soundboard: Engelmann spruce

Back and sides: East Indian rosewood

Neck: Queensland maple

Fretboard and bridge: ebony

Bindings and trim: koa
Rosette and fretboard inlay: green abalone

Tuners: Schaller mini

Fretwire: Gold "Evo"

Cheers
Pete

Reaching the Finish Line - KTM-SV

I've made significant advances with many aspects of guitar construction in the recent past, but achieving a quality finish has proven to be a persistent frustration as well as one of the last major hurdles. It's especially pleasing then to be able to report that the finish used on this guitar - Grafted Coatings' KTM-SV - has proven to be a watershed where confidence in the standard of my guitars is concerned.

While there's still plenty of scope for further improvement of my skills and knowledge - most noticeably in the area of fretwork and setup - I'm quietly confident that my guitars are approaching a standard comparable to that of other fledgling independent builders. If I ever make the leap and decide I'm ready to sell my guitars, the prices I ask will of course reflect this cautious assessment!

Finding a finish product which works for me is cause for celebration, but rubbing it out to the high gloss that guitar owners expect has been yet another challenge. Thankfully, after taking the plunge recently and ordering a buffing arbor from LMI in the US, I'm pleased at last to be able to bid farewell to the more laborious hand-polishing methods. Not only was it an onerous task, but I was never entirely satisfied with the end result. With motor-driven buffing wheels and two grades of Menzerna dry buffing compounds at my disposal, the process is an absolute breeze and the gloss I'm now able to achieve reduces the pain of having purchased a hefty piece of equipment from overseas. International freight charges - as always - are a real headache!

I guess some vital statistics are in order:

• Back and sides: Australian blackwood
• Soundboard: Sitka spruce
• Neck: Queensland maple
• Bridge and fingerboard: ebony
• Bindings: ebony
• Frets: EVO gold
• Tuners: Gotoh 510 minis
• Rosette and fingerboard inlay: paua abalone
• Finish: Grafted Coatings KTM-SV
• Scale length: 24.9"

Click any of the photos for a larger view.

Cheers

Pete