The Black and Red Guitar

I've been working on this East Indian Rosewood/Sitka Spruce OM at more or less the same pace as I have the Claro Walnut/Redwood guitar featured in recent posts, but progress has fallen behind a little in recent weeks as I've focussed my attention on preparing the Walnut/Redwood guitar for finishing.

While I wait patiently for a trio of fine days suitable for spraying, it's a good opportunity to catch up a little where this black and red OM is concerned. The purfling has been in place for a week or two, and with the end wedge now installed, I've begun the process of gluing the ebony bindings in place. It's not a task I particularly look forward to, which hints at the fact that I'm yet to feel I've attained any level of mastery over this particular aspect of guitar construction.

It will certainly be intriguing to assess the two guitars' responsiveness and tonal characteristics individually, but I'll be especially interested to make comparisons between them. Shaping of the soundboard braces on both guitars was completed at around the same time, the end result being what I perceived to be similarly responsive tops once I'd concluded the cycle of brace shaving, tapping and flexing. If popular wisdom proves to be well founded, the wood species used in these guitars will have a significant influence on the sound I'm ultimately able to coax out of them, and they'll show themselves to be very different from one another, tonally speaking. On the other hand, my assessment could lend weight to the theory that the sound of an instrument reflects the builder's individual style and methods as much as it does the materials used in its construction, in which case their tonal differences might be more difficult to detect. Whatever the result, and for the first time ever, I can confidently predict that I'll be able to share sound files and/or videos with you here on this blog. Eventually, that is!

Cheers
Pete

Spray Day Delay

With epoxy pore filling of the back, sides, neck and rosette of this guitar completed, it’s a case now of waiting for a string of fine days and a concurrent break in my regular daily work commitments. Without an enclosed spray booth, I need three consecutive days of good weather to complete my spraying schedule, with a day off work an unfortunate additional requirement.

In readiness for spraying, I've calculated the bridge position and masked the top in the area of the bridge and fretboard extension with a thin, low-tack adhesive film known as frisket film. The edges of the frisket film in the area of the bridge are around 3/16" inside the bridge outline. I've found that by leaving such a margin, it's much easier to level sand and buff the finish in the vicinity of the bridge perimeter. The frisket film is removed only after the body is buffed and I'm preparing to glue the bridge.

After two brushed coats of Ilva TF23 sealer, I'll spray a maximum of five coats of Grafted Coatings’ KTM-SV per day, for a final result of 15 coats of KTM-SV on back, sides and neck, with 10 coats on the soundboard. After level sanding and buffing, I’ll end up with a thin, flexible finish that has minimal impact on the responsiveness of the soundboard while still providing an adequate level of protection.

More soon - good weather permitting!

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

The Fingerstyle Guitar - Epoxy Pore Fill

While it's perhaps not in the same league as the Claro Walnut used on the guitar I've recently finished, applying the first coat of epoxy pore fill to the instrument pictured reminds me that each piece of wood has its very own character and unique appeal. Once again, walnut has cast its spell over me and I'm very pleased with the way this guitar is shaping up.

It's an unfamiliar feeling to be pore-filling an instrument so soon after completing the previous one. Typically, many months pass after finishing an instrument before I'm ready to repeat the process, but as I work my way through this current batch of three guitars, I'm no sooner finished with one part of the process than I'm ready to repeat it on the next guitar.

With the necessity of a day job to distract me, the prospect of spraying the finish coats presents something of a problem: to apply the necessary number of coats to the back, sides and neck, I need to devote three consecutive days to the task if I'm to limit the number of coats per day to five. As I'm employed on a contract basis and paid by the hour, the bad news is that I'll need to sacrifice a day's pay if I'm to successfully apply a sprayed finish to the guitar - all the more reason to begin selling my instruments!

Cheers
Pete

The Fingerstyle Guitar - I Can Smell the Finish Line!

After a few days' break from guitar building during which I've enjoyed noodling on Tiani's Claro Walnut /Sitka Spruce 000, it's time to get back to the workbench.

I delude myself with the notion that this Claro Walnut/Redwood OM is essentially complete, ignoring the fact - because it pleases me to - that the lengthy process of filling, finishing and buffing lies ahead of me. After a solid day's work installing the remainder of the purfling and bindings, a few hours' final sanding sees me ready to apply epoxy pore fill to the back, sides and neck. The walnut back and sides are not as spectacular as those of the 000 I've just finished, but there's enough subtle flame evident that I'm confident the final package will look pretty slick - the Macassar Ebony and Zebrano components almost guarantee it.

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