Sexauer '18
 

Chapter One, presumably.

The 2017 Chapter 2 thread is still functional, but if you post in there I will answer here, or so goes my "plan" . . . as if!

At this moment I am binding the BRW/European spruce L00 which will be my final guitar labeled as a 2017. Meanwhile, the Pernambuco OMish I am making for Tom Tsouris is in the finish curing stage, and my current big news is that the Small Jumbo I am making for Bob Berger is now 4 days strung, and playing and sounding entirely up to snuff. I expect to ship it in 2 or three days. My next start, the first guitar of 2018, will likely be a spec guitar aimed at the La Conner event coming up in May. I have not decided what it will be yet.

I took some pictures of Bob's J185 inspired SJ today and will post a few here. Also, here are links to the tune I recorded yesterday on GarageBand. This tine is called "Rythme", and the guitar was used for a background track and for a melody track. I treat these old Contra dance standards as "Jazz" tunes, and play the "head", do some improv over the chord structure, and play the head again.

Slower version

Faster version

http://mojoluthier.com/LP17/SJ/sun1b.jpg

http://mojoluthier.com/LP17/SJ/sunbackb.jpg

http://mojoluthier.com/LP17/SJ/sun22b.jpg

http://mojoluthier.com/LP17/SJ/sun16headfront.jpg

http://mojoluthier.com/LP17/SJ/sun20HeadBack.jpg

That's a beautiful guitar.

Thank you, Bill, and welcome to 2018.

Today I will take the guitar to the bi-monthly NCAL meeting, this one in Livermore, CA, and show and tell it. Tuesday I will likely ship it.

Beautiful work Bruce. I really like how the initials in each tuner could be your own. Clever man you are.

initials
 

Cool - I hadn't noticed.

Nice tune Bruce. Beauty of a guitar. Sure Bob is going to love this one.

Tomorrow's project is to clean and ship Bob's SJ.

Today's project has been to complete the binding on the BRW L00, install the graft, and cut the dovetail mortise. Also to take some pictures of it for you and the owner-to-be, and post/email them. Almost done:

http://mojoluthier.com/LP17/JM2/boundfront.jpg

http://mojoluthier.com/LP17/JM2/boundback.jpg

http://mojoluthier.com/LP17/JM2/boundgraftb.jpg

Bruce are these two bodies a departure from your norm? Both seem more curvaceous to my eye and I thought more of your builds were more traditional following the Martin blunted form. None the less, I find both of these designs eye appealing.

Tim, L00 (this one) and J-185 (mine) body styles are both Kalamazoo body forms as opposed to those of Nazareth. You can blame me for both. Bruce made his first L00 for me back in 2014. The recent J-185 seen in the other thread for me was also my request. Since Bruce works “up in the air” without molds, he can accomodate silly requests from clients like me...:)

http://i1238.photobucket.com/albums/...sralj4kpz.jpeg

In the 30 years I was luthiering before I met Schoenberg, I never once made a Martin template guitar. Since taking on Eric's project, i have made a distinction between The ES (Schoenberg) and FT (my own designs) , though I have recently made perhaps a half dozen Martin template FT's, usually with some distinctly non-Martin appointments. Although Bob's recent J185 is far more gibson than martin, externally, I have for many years been making what I call an FT-16, which is a non-Martinesque small Jumbo shape. I probably made a half dozen of this shape before I met Schoenberg, and several more since. About 15 years ago I tarted calling my FT-16 a "Penngrove", which is a little cowboy flavored town between Petaluma, where my shop is, and Santa Rosa, the next real city north of me.

Here is a 2006 Penngrove example from my website, followed by the asymmetrical relation, a JZ-16 from 2013:
http://www.sexauerluthier.com/13thfret/Pfront.jpg http://www.sexauerluthier.com/lpics1...inalfront2.jpg

I got some finish on the L00 today, and the medulary display I mentioned a week or so ago is now less subtle, or perhaps my photography skills have had a developmental lurch. This is high end Germany grown Spruce.

http://mojoluthier.com/LP17/JM2/medulary1.jpg

http://mojoluthier.com/LP17/JM2/medulary4.jpg

Love it, that is some silking for sure!

Hey Bruce that looks like the good stuff!

Really Bruce. That stuff is special. Hope you have some of that when mine comes around.

Hi Dennis, Bruce is building this one is for me. Perhaps you can check it out as you firm up your thoughts on your build.