Sexauer JB-16 Brazilian/German
 

Hello everyone! I'm excited to say Bruce is working on my first commissioned acoustic guitar. After finding this forum I thought I'd share some of the progress thus far. Here are some of the specs:

- JB (asymmetric multi-scale w/ wedge body) 16" body size
- Old Growth Straight Grain Brazilian Rosewood Back/Sides, flitch matched.
- "Old German" Spruce Top (seasoned stock from 1977)
- Adirondack Spruce Bracing
- "Textured" Brazilian Rosewood bridge
- Brazilian RW Headplate, Backplate, and Heelcap from flitch matched set
- "Hauser" inspired trim
- Pernambuco binding and purfling
- Bare Ebony Fretboard, no markers
- Fretboard Extension
- No Pickguard
- Slothead, no logo
- Graf Tuners with Snakewood Buttons
- Amber Sunburst
- Oil Varnish Finish
- Hide Glue Construction
- Calton Case

It all started from this:
http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q...JB-16/0ng1.jpg

This set of top grade Brazilian reeled me in for the commission. It's rare to see such beautiful straight grained wood. Bruce says it's one of the best sets he's ever worked with:
http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q...edbackfull.jpg

Flitch matched Brazilian Rosewood Sides:
http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q...dbacksides.jpg

After some conversation, Bruce recommended Carpathian Spruce for it's immediate power and responsiveness. While tapping (for the first time!) some of his primo unblemished, white, silky Carpathian tops, he taught me to hear that reverberating, bassy "kerrang" after the initial tap characteristic of top flight spruce. Those sets had it in spades. Well, another Sexauer I own has a German Spruce top I love so I wanted to try some, especially his "Old German" sets I heard so much about:
http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q.../joinedtop.jpg

Bruce bought those sets in 1977; he doesn't know how old they were at the time. The tops have been seasoning in his shop since then and there were only a few left. Bruce jokingly called them his "dregs" relative to what he used to have. All of them had a yellow, aged patina and some had old, brownish streaks. At first, I tapped some of the more cosmetically unblemished ones; the tone wasn't as deep as the Carpathian sets and didn't have much of that reverberating sustain. I then tried a streaky set and holy crap! It had a super deep, bassy tap and a 3D reverberating warm sustain which felt like waves flowing past my ears. It was like tapping the face of a bass drum it was so resonant. It had the tap qualities of his best Carpathian x2. Wow!
http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q...nedtopfull.jpg

The back with backstrip:
http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q...kfull1side.jpg

A closeup of the Pernambuco backstrip. A thinner version will also border the top. You can see the green border purflings which was inspired by Hauser:
http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q...ripedetail.jpg

The top with the rosette. The middle of the top is darker because this very old wood was aged too deeply to skim off the evidence of age. The tap tone was too incredible to pass up, and it'll have a sunburst anyway. Win/win!:
http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q...p1sidefull.jpg

Closeup of the rosette. Green-colored wood with figured maple bordering the middle ring; it'll should pop under finish:
http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q...6/2rosette.jpg

Still to come- Brazilian RW for the head & back plate (hand courtesy of Mr. Sexauer):
http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q...headplates.jpg

Congratulations. Bruce makes wonderful instruments.

Amazing woods! Looks to be a wonderful guitar coming together. I've heard so many great things about Bruce's work - really looking forward to seeing more of this one as it progresses! Best wishes - have fun!

I think you have an incredible build underway...congratulations...and thank you for sharing your pictures...wonderful wood...

Congratulations!
I wish my first post would have been to start a build thread for a Sexauer Carpathian/Braz. I instead wasted it on when you can hear that a guitar breaks in :D:D:D

Good luck with your further build and enjoy it as much as we will.

Karl

Welcome to the forum and thanks for sharing the excitement of your new guitar build! Looks like it should be an amazing instrument.

Fliss

I've been admiring Bruce's work for several years. Would love to hear and play one someday. Looks like a fantastic set of woods and a great model. Since you already have one of his guitars your expectations and excitement level must be really high.

Easily one of the top 10 builders on the planet.

Beautiful build in progress...great woods.

My own preference would be a FT-14 12 fret cutaway with BRW/European spruce.

Thanks for the warm welcome everyone. I just checked out some of the other build threads going on and whew! Talk about some spectacular guitars! Christmas is coming early for a lot of people :) On to some more pics...

http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q.../2backfull.jpg

http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q...ced-back-1.jpg

Bruce recently pointed out to me the back braces have a slight asymmetry too:
http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q...ced-back-2.jpg

http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q...16/3xbrace.jpg

http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q...4x-braces2.jpg

I love this shot:
http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q...opbracingb.jpg

Walrus, dude, that's going to be about the sweetest guitar on the Planet! Wow, this is going to be real fun watching this come together... I own one of Bruce's guitars, and as much as I LOVE all my others, every time I pick up his I grin to myself that it's just the best.... It really has true 100 year old qualities with today's goodies as well....

Here is a build thread to the one I own...
http://www.sexauerluthier.com/FT-15-07.html

Welcome to the AGF!

that is a spectacular set of brazilian. Congrats.

Boy that Brazilian looks stunning!!!!! You are in for a real treat with this one!!!! Thanks for sharing.

Welcome to AGF, walrus, and congrats on the Sexauer! You are a very fortunate man, indeed. Bruce is a great guy. I've enjoyed my bit of corresponding with him. He's always helpful.

And to Diamondave: that's a sweet-looking Sexauer OM you have. Congratulations.

Now that I have managed to get a month's worth of envy within the space of a couple of minutes, I'd better leave this thread! :)

Bill

Very, very nice!

Mr. Sexauer makes some might fine instruments, enjoy!!

I love that Brazilian. This should be fun to watch... thanks for sharing.

Very tasteful choices. Congrats!

Those are some nice sticks of wood.....and beautifully executed bracing....really a piece of art......gotta love that straight grained BRA.

Thanks DD. I have his Jatoba/German WRX which has been my go-to guitar because of it's even, powerful tone and versatility. I was very impressed with Bruce's personal Brazilian/Italian guitar, so you can say I'm looking forward to this one :)

I loved the link to your FT-15; that really looks like a great guitar!

Thanks Brock. I know you've seen (and have) your share of great tonewoods so that means a lot! I very much enjoyed your website...those are some impressive and beautiful guitars. I'll be following the progress on the "combo" Poling Sierra.

Thanks Howard! I really enjoyed reading your detailed approach/philosophy towards building on your website. I eat that stuff up because you learn so much about handmade guitars and it makes obvious the craftsmanship and passion of the builder. Very innovative and progressive instruments!

Thanks Blue. I agree about the bracing; I enjoyed listening to Bruce explain what sized braces he used and how he carved/scalloped them based on the goals for my build and just plain gut feeling/experience!

I think the Brazilian is a hit :)

http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q...JB-16/6cut.jpg

Look Ma, no molds:
http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q...6/7sideson.jpg

Instead of kerfed linings normally seen in steel string guitars, Bruce uses peone (tentellones) more common in classical/older guitars. Cutting, fitting, and gluing those individual blocks of wood few people will ever see takes much time and effort, but it's a mark of individuality and craftsmanship I admire:
http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q...6/7peonein.jpg

http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q...6/83clips3.jpg

http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q...6/81strips.jpg

http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q...6/82clips2.jpg

Ready for the back:
http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q...ettinthere.jpg

http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q...backgoeson.jpg

Drum roll...the soundbox!
http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q...87boxback2.jpg

http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q...88boxfront.jpg

Looks like a beauty! Congrats! I like the shape of the cutaway. Very organic shape and unique.

Just wondering what purpose the ribbons serve on the sides? Also, is there a benefit to using the individual peone vs. kerfed linings?

Very nice! Thanks for sharing the pix!

Congrats on what will be a great guitar. I played one of Bruce's
guitars several years ago and was impressed. Do you know
how long is his wait list is now ?

TK

It's to prevent cracks from spreading along the side should they occur. The technique was used by Martin on their pre-war guitars. I've seen wood strips used in place of cloth by other makers.

As for the benefit of peone vs. kerfed linings, I defer to Bruce for the answer to that. However, notice in the picture before the back is glued on that peone is used for the top but kerfed linings is used for the back! Best of both worlds?

Thanks...I'm looking forward to the next update for your uber-Greenfield!

I believe it's 18 months, but it's best to ask Bruce.

Looks great and will only get better.

Hey Walrus,
Congratulations on the build. You and I must think quite a bit alike. I'm also having a build done with Tom Doerr and am having him use Braz and German with the florentine cutaway. What's even more interesting is that Bruce and Tom have 2 of the most unique takes on the florentine cutaway that I know of. There's are actually vaguely similar to each others but very different from everyone elses. Yours is looking quite stunning. I love the body style. Can't wait to hear it when it's done if you post clips. Those are very attractive back and sides and top that you picked out also. Enjoy the build! :guitar:

Thanks guys!

A027298, great minds think alike :) One benefit I've received by joining this forum is being exposed to many, many quality builders I wouldn't have known before. Tom's guitars (especially the ones I just saw at Guitar Gallery) are stunning, and I'm sure they sound as good as they look. You can't go wrong with those woods for one thing lol. I hope you post pictures once your build is underway!