Building My Dad a Guitar

[hnuuhiwa]

Found a few more pics of Theo building his guitar on the Phoenix website...lookin good brah

[theotigno]

Well, I lost my "day to day" camera and I've spaced on taking photos over the past few weeks.

Here's the update on my dad's guitar:

The top and back are sealed and the binding and purfling is on. After putting on plastic ones, I can see why Goodall Aloha guitars are cheaper guitars with the same great Goodall tone. I can't believe how much work goes into taping, gluing, scraping and sanding!




After the box was sealed, I did notice that my guitar has a higher pitch ring than the other guitars. Does Port Orford Cedar normally have a higher pitch ring to it?

...

I did get a chance to put some Monkeypod from Lingayen (Philippines... the place where my dad was born) on there!




...

The inlay was done today. Everything worked out as planned with the Monkeypod headstock and the "honu" ebony / abalone inlay:




...

Sorry about the bad phone pictures, but as I said, I lost my mini "point and shoot" camera

[usb_chord]

VERY cool. I was hoping this thread would be updated one day. This is such a admirable thing you're doing. If my dad were alive I'd want to do something like this for him, too. Congrats on the success of this project thus far! Cant wait to see it finished and read about his reaction!!

[bandaid]

Hey theo, you have enough time to finish it for father's day.This would be the best present for your dad. Your a very good son. Anyway, i come from the philippines too. I hail from Angeles city,Pampanga. I went to school from Clark Air Force Base. I work day and go to school at night at the University of the Philippines extension in C.A.F.B.

Okey,since your in the luthier"s circle. Why don't you explore the native woods we have back home. I really wanted to do these projects but i'm not a very good woodworking guy. I'm very clumsy with tools.Here are the woods that you can try:

Narra - Real untapped rosewood / Accacia - lots of them
Langka - jackfriut tree same qualities as maple

When i retire i will enroll myself in guitar building school. good luck to you
Mabuhay.

[Taylor1]

Starting to look like a guitar

good job

[spkline]

I always wanted to try to build a guitar, but I'm afraid it wouldn't be very playable. Good luck.

[theotigno]

Thanks everyone your your kind words and encouragement!

Getting the guitar done for Father's day hadn't even crossed my mind, but according to the schedule, it should fall a week or two after it. I'll see if I can get a bit of acceleration to finished by then. My dad told me that he and my mom were going to come up here to Phoenix to visit, but after the 2 airlines filed for bankruptcy (Aloha and ATA) he said that ticket prices went up. Hopefully, they'll be able to come up here around Father's Day. If not, I may have to fly down there for a weekend "special delivery"

Bandaid: I wish my Tagalog was better, but I do understand "mabuhay!" I actually did bring back some monkeypod wood from my time there:



I brought it in to the Phoenix Guitar Company, and a minute after inspecting it, he offered me a pretty good price (as I found out, it was mutual) and I applied it to the cost of the class. He said that if we had it cut, it wouldn't have had enough time to dry properly anyway (they air-dry everything). So, I figured it's at least going to the guitar, in some indirect way.

And another thing: George Leach (the guy at Phoenix Guitar Company) then went on to tell me that his father made 1 thing out of wood: a table made of monkeypod. He has that table and it's has some special value to him. Apparently, while his father was stationed on the island I'm from (O'ahu), he took a woodworking class at Hickam Air Force Base and they used monkeypod!

So, father's connections everywhere!

Maybe one day, when I go back to visit the Philippines, I can head down to Cebu for Langka wood I hear Cebu is the place for guitars in the Philippines!

[theotigno]

Today was the worst day to say, "I think I'm going to go for a bike ride this morning." On tap for today was neck carving!

For those of you who have had a custom guitar built for you by a guitar builder who does this by hand, you NEED to hug your luthier today. Man, my hands are raw (I should have brought some gloves today) and I am worn out from filing away at wood today!

But, at the end of today, I am officially ready to go into the spray booth this upcoming week!

The bad part about me was that when I saw some extra wood where a volute could go, I just decided to go for it on my own initiative:



George and Diana were gracious enough to accommodate my stupidity by offering words on how to do it (even though I was specifically instructed to carve that extra piece away with a chisel).

But, come on, that extra piece of wood was calling me to do something.

I started off carving the point toward the body, to which George spoke up and said, "Theo, that's the wrong way, but you can fix it." Diana then spoke up and said, "well, Mike Baranik does it that way." Needless to say, I figured I'd just do the traditional way.

Today was more than neck carving, though, but it sure felt like it. It was 90-something degrees and I had to go outside to clean up any glue spots, scratches, sanding that went against the grain, etc... because I was told that those things WILL show up when shellac is put on.

It would have been great if it could have been indoors, but they said that in the sunlight was the best way to see EVERYTHING, which they were right.

(Which reminds me of something else I was told today: when checking the neck shape, your hands make great eyes. Feeling the difference in the neck made it much easier to find the bumps.)

All in all, great day, but I'm ready to put a load of laundry in and sleep!

(oh, again, sorry for the bad "camera phone" photos. Actually, I should be apologizing to my dad, but I can't apologize to him yet.)









Even though I'm tired, the thought of my dad sitting at Ala Moana beach park, watching the sunset and playing my guitar made today worth it. (on second thought, we're closer to Ko'olina, so I should envision him there).

[sarNz]

that turtle inlay is awesome! wish i had somethin like that. guitar looks amazing

[hnuuhiwa]

Theo! Lookin good......For all of your hard work today, it was well worth it. That is a very nice guitar your father is receiving.. Aloha,

Hen

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by theotigno

...(Which reminds me of something else I was told today: when checking the neck shape, your hands make great eyes. Feeling the difference in the neck made it much easier to find the bumps.)

Hi Theo...
I was present the day Michael Bashkin carved the neck for my OM. He allowed me to be present and to film.

I had specifically requested a neck profile identical to the Olson I'd had played (at that time) more than 12 years. When I arrived, Michael had a rough shape fashioned with file marks and ridges in it & a little card with three little semi-circles cutout representing the profile shape and depth at three points along the neck.

Over the next 90 minutes I watched the neck emerge. He didn't use any other guides, nor even reference the semi-circles on the little card after he began the shaping. He'd sand and run his hand down it. Then he'd carve and run his hands down the neck. He carved the volute by hand with a knife he'd built himself for that purpose.

It was a very amazing thing to watch, and when he finished, he handed the neck to me and asked ''What do you think?''. I ran my hand up and down the back of the neck and thought to myself ''I know this neck. I've been playing it for years.'' One of my favorite days in the shop.

Your dad is a blessed man.

[theotigno]

Thanks guys. At one point I thought going with the "honu" (turtle) would have been trite, so I thought going with the monkeypod / ebony / abalone combo would have set it apart.

Originally Posted by ljguitar

It was a very amazing thing to watch, and when he finished, he handed the neck to me and asked ''What do you think?''. I ran my hand up and down the back of the neck and thought to myself ''I know this neck. I've been playing it for years.'' One of my favorite days in the shop.

It's great to hear stories like that, specially being a first time neck carver. That sounds like a master at work!

I'm the blessed one to have my parents! They've been there for me, supported me when times were really tough, helped me when I needed it, and have just been a blessing not only to me and my brothers, but to our friends as well. Even my friends till this day talk about my parents generosity and hospitality... but most importantly, their cooking skills!

Because I'm the picture taker of the family, I don't have many pictures with him. This was the only one I could find of me and him:



I still stuck on ideas for my mom unfortunately

[theotigno]

This past Saturday was spray... then wait... then spray... then wait day. I did get a chance to read through some of the past issues of The Fretboard Journal (they have every issue) and I had a chance to play (and tune and clean) the guitars they have in there.

I sprayed the shellac during the week, and then used a water-based lacquer (I think) on top of it. I did 3 coats. This week, I'm going to go in during my lunch break and do some sanding.

She's starting to look too much like a guitar...





One thing: the neck had a few "dimples" so I did some drop fills after the 2nd coat (well, actually, the neck has 6 coats on it, so it would have been the 4th coat). Oh, and on that, the process went: spray the neck, spray the back, spray the sides, (wait), spray the neck, spray the top, and spray the sides. That was considered 1 coat.

Fun time... just a bit less action than the normal days, though.

[vanrrice]

Keep the updates coming, great looking guitar!

[DLim98]

That is awesome man. I can't wait to see the finished pics, you're dad is very lucky to have such a great son. I wish I had the ability to make my own guitar lol very cool!