Hatcher's Workshop '14

[JDatlen]

I love your shop space! I also love your guitars! I just have a single car garage but it will have to do for now. Are you in Peterborough, Ontario? My brother lives there! I'm out in the SF bay area but I grew up in Toronto.

[TheIntermediate]

Lovely guitar! The bevel and the fretboard really shine!

[Mark Hatcher]

Originally Posted by jzarifis

I am so excited to receive this beauty. Mark is an exceptional luthier and individual. He is easy to work with, and really listens to what you want your dream guitar to sound, look and feel like. We have had multiple conversations about the guitar and life.

I consider Mark more than just a great luthier who built my dream guitar, I consider him a friend.

Thanks for my dream guitar,

John Zarifis

Thank-you very much John! You've been a pleasure to work with and I think your idea of working some of the sapwood into the arm bevel really panned out!

Mark

[Mark Hatcher]

Originally Posted by TheIntermediate

Lovely guitar! The bevel and the fretboard really shine!

Thanks!

Originally Posted by JDatlen

I love your shop space! I also love your guitars! I just have a single car garage but it will have to do for now. Are you in Peterborough, Ontario? My brother lives there! I'm out in the SF bay area but I grew up in Toronto.

Thanks! I am in Peterborough New Hampshire. I had worked in smaller shops most of my time building guitars. I actually am going through some growing pains having more room. In small shops you can usually reach anything while still holding on to what ever it is you need to be holding!
Also, there is at least some limit to how big of a mess you can make

Thanks Again,
Mark

[Mark Hatcher]

Here are a couple Western Red Cedar topped nylon crossovers I'm currently working on:



The back and side set for this one is 160yr old+ Black Walnut I was fortunate to find last year:





The next one is a spec guitar and will be for sale. It has a spalted Tamarind rosette on very old cedar:



This one is going on a Koa back and side set with Cocobolo trim. This will be from the same Koa wood that I have made a number of crossovers from and will look like this:



I'm almost hoping no one is interested in this one because I may want to keep it for myself! Both of these guitars will be the Penelope model with open headstocks and the Knilling geared tuning pegs.

Mark

[SJ VanSandt]

Good luck on the no one being interested, Mark! I can't really imagine that.

[rcalcutta]

Mark - The only way you will ever have a guitar to keep for yourself is to hide it and not show any pictures

[ewh2]

Originally Posted by Mark Hatcher

I am in Peterborough New Hampshire.

Mark

(make a flamenco guitar Mark... make a a flamenco guitar)

You didn't hear that from me, it was a subliminal message trying to reach your subconscious...

Great looking pictures as ever Mark.

I was presuming it wasn't the 'original' Peterborough, UK. Not the most interesting place in the British Isles...

[Mark Hatcher]

Originally Posted by ewh2

(make a flamenco guitar Mark... make a a flamenco guitar)

You didn't hear that from me, it was a subliminal message trying to reach your subconscious...

Great looking pictures as ever Mark.

Thanks rcalcutta and SJ VanSandt!

ewh2, flamenco guitar? It's on my spec list for next year and I really look forward to getting this one together.

Thanks,
Mark

[ewh2]

Originally Posted by Mark Hatcher

ewh2, flamenco guitar? It's on my spec list for next year and I really look forward to getting this one together.

Thanks,
Mark

Great to hear!

Have you considered what specs the flamenco guitar will be? Will it be a classic cypress blanca or something else?

[Mark Hatcher]

Originally Posted by ewh2

Great to hear!

Have you considered, what specs the flamenco guitar will be? Will it be a classic cypress blanca or something else?

Well I am considering and have nothing even written down yet as I want to let it brew. Here is what I'm thinking, I have a nice Spanish Cypress set that seems a shoe in. I'll keep it pretty traditional with the Spanish foot, shallow body, low neck angle etc.
I'm considering white Limba for the neck if the colors work.
There seems to be two camps with the headstock and tuners,
One side says the tradition is lightweight wood tuner pegs.
The other more modern camp says open headstock with classic geared tuner machines. They say the open headstock helps compensate for the extra weight of the tuners. So my inclination is to satisfy both camps and do an open headstock with the Knilling geared tuner pegs. Of course, you could just as easily say I'll be dis-satisfying both camps. In any case, the goal we look for with a flamenco guitar is to have a lightweight headstock which helps keep sustain under control.
I'll French polish the entire guitar which is traditional and I have a lot of experience doing.

Mark

[Mark Hatcher]

Here's a quick update on the Black Walnut Cedar top nylon crossover.
I closed the box today and the neck is coming right along.
Here are a couple body shots:



Wet with Naptha:



And the cedar top going on:



Mark

[ewh2]

Originally Posted by Mark Hatcher

Well I am considering and have nothing even written down yet as I want to let it brew. Here is what I'm thinking, I have a nice Spanish Cypress set that seems a shoe in. I'll keep it pretty traditional with the Spanish foot, shallow body, low neck angle etc.
I'm considering white Limba for the neck if the colors work.
There seems to be two camps with the headstock and tuners,
One side says the tradition is lightweight wood tuner pegs.
The other more modern camp says open headstock with classic geared tuner machines. They say the open headstock helps compensate for the extra weight of the tuners. So my inclination is to satisfy both camps and do an open headstock with the Knilling geared tuner pegs. Of course, you could just as easily say I'll be dis-satisfying both camps. In any case, the goal we look for with a flamenco guitar is to have a lightweight headstock which helps keep sustain under control.
I'll French polish the entire guitar which is traditional and I have a lot of experience doing.

Mark

Thanks for the info Mark. I reckon whichever option you choose it'll make a great guitar. FWIW, I believe plain old Spanish Cypress is the king of tonewoods. Look forward to seeing it's progress...

Also Walnut for nylon strings is a great combination, seldom used. I came across a Conde flamenco with a Euro Spruce top with Walnut back and sides, which is one of the finest guitars I've ever heard.

[Mark Hatcher]

I like to cut my own bridges and fretboards, etc. from larger stock when I can because I really like to pick the pieces and get the grain where I want. I use a number of suppliers and am always on the treasure hunt to find good boards.
I struck it big when I came across a very large, very black Gabon Black Ebony board last year. Gabon is typically a small tree so you just don't see many big boards, especially really black ones, and especially clear stable ones. So I was extremely excited to come across this find.

Here is a dry back and side set:



This has very little streaking and goes absolutely black when wetted and would be totally black when finished without any dyes etc.

I was able to resaw four guitars sets total:



The sets are large enough for my Pina Parlor (14" lower bout), Penelope model (14 7/8ths" lower bout), and with a little creativity on a center strip I could get a Greta (15 1/2" lower bout).

They ring wonderfully and are quite stable. It is said the black ebony sounds a little like maple but since I thickness backs and braces by deflection rather than dimension I'll say it will sound like a Hatcher.

[fazool]

Wow. I don't know much about ebony but even I can tell that is some rare stuff. I mean enough big pieces of wood to make an entire solid black guitar body!


And, in the pictures, it all looks so deep and uniformly black.

Really impressive stuff.

What is ebony like, tonewise?