Julian Gaffney OMC Adi/Brw Build Thread
 

I'm very excited to share with you my upcoming custom build guitar by Julian Gaffney. Julian is a current apprentice of Ervin Somogyi and will complete his training with Ervin in a few months. More information about Julian Gaffney and his guitars can be found here: http://www.juliangaffneyguitars.com/.

A couple of years ago, I had an opportunity to play a Somogyi OM guitar and would love to take it home with me. However, it was out of my price range. So, this lead me to do my research and came across the work of Julian Gaffney. After looking at a few of his completed guitars and listening to his youtube videos, I really liked the esthetics and the sound of Julian's guitars. So I contacted Julian, and it became clear to me that Julian is an extremely nice guy who wants to build the best instruments for his clients. I have complete confident in him to build me the guitar of my dream. So, I took the plunge and placed my deposit. After waiting for 1 year, Julian has started to build my guitar a few weeks ago.

Here are the specs:

Body size: OM with a cutaway
Top: Adirondack
Back and sides: Brazilian Rosewood
Nut width: 1 3/4''
String spacing: 2 1/4''
Fingerboard radius: 15''. This radius is different from Julian standard radius which is a compound radius (I forgot what it is but it's flatter, maybe 16''-20''?)
Scale length: 25''
Fingerboard and bridge: Ebony
Finish: Maybe French Polish (I'm still debating between French Polish or Nitrocellulose)
Case: Hoffee

Here are pictures of the build so far:

BRW back and sides

http://i1277.photobucket.com/albums/...psgl1vgbia.png

Rosette

http://i1277.photobucket.com/albums/...pswmsgn5cj.png

http://i1277.photobucket.com/albums/...ps2vzsucqk.png

Awesome! The triple exploded rosette is very cool.

Looking very good! I met Julian a few weeks ago at my house. He wanted to go through my wood pile for some odd reason. :-) Good human, excellent builder. I met him at the corner and blindfolded him for the rest of to my home!

Great builder, great wood choices. This can only end well!

Extreme Awesomeness......!!!

Here are a few more pictures that Julian emailed me today:

BRW back

http://i1277.photobucket.com/albums/...psraq1w83c.png

Adi top

http://i1277.photobucket.com/albums/...psscc90beh.png

http://i1277.photobucket.com/albums/...psorzzw3wg.png

Stunning rosette!!!

I love that rosette.

Strong work! Julian is a real talent and we're very happy to represent him here at TNAG. For those of you unfamiliar with his work I did this interview with him last year

Here are a few more pictures that Julian emailed me yesterday. Enjoy!!

Headstock shape: Per my request, Julian has made the headstock shorter at the wrist on this guitar by a small amount compare to his usual shape. However, I was hoping that he can make it a little shorter from the "forehead" area so it would look more proportional to my eyes. Julian obviously prefers to keep the forehead long as he likes the shape, however, he will think about it and will let me know about his decision. It's not a big deal at all, and I will respect his decision because the headstock shape is the unique signature of the builder and I totally understand that.

http://i1277.photobucket.com/albums/...psrb7ymhxc.png

http://i1277.photobucket.com/albums/...ps0vfcrmqu.png

http://i1277.photobucket.com/albums/...psrfaowpdd.png

http://i1277.photobucket.com/albums/...psfvwf3ujj.png

http://i1277.photobucket.com/albums/...psk5nvimc1.png

http://i1277.photobucket.com/albums/...psx0gx0uie.png

http://i1277.photobucket.com/albums/...psaqjn2xl3.png

http://i1277.photobucket.com/albums/...psndhcycvp.png

That is absolutely spectacular! Congratulations!

Interesting. I played a Gaffney MD a while back and commented (to Michael Watts IIRC) that the headstock was way, way too elongated for my liking. Personally, I think it would be far more proportional to have it shorter. I guess it's Mr. Gaffney's call but I, for one, would be wanting to see something that didn't grate on me every time I opened the case. Of course others will have a completely different point of view.

All of these apprentices are seeking something to differentiate themselves from Somogyi (whose headstock I am no great fan of) and the headstock is an obvious target. I think some have done better than others.

Cheers,
Steve

Thank you Michael. Julian has done a fabulous job on the guitar and I'm extremely happy with the result so far:).

Hi Steve,
Yes, I agree with you. Julian and I have had some discussion about this and here's his response to the issue:

"I do understand what you mean about the "forehead" of the headstock (that's what we call that space in Ervin's shop). I used to build with a more common proportion there, like you might see on a Martin guitar. My aesthetic has developed a bit since those early guitars and now I have the opposite reaction to you. That's to say that I see the shorter headstocks as somewhat truncated and disproportionate.

We still have time to tweak that and I appreciate that you will be happy with my decision when I make it. What I think I'll do at some point this week is draw the shorter pattern on to the headstock and have a careful look. My guess is that I will prefer the greater length as I'm already leaning in that direction. I will share the results with you when I do that."

Interesting that Julian and his Somogyi classmate Leo Buendia both tend to make long headstocks. Long and very pretty.