The EDWINSON "De Profundis" : EPC-F1 Ancient Glacier Sitka/Bois de Rose - Page 3

GaultierRedon14 · #31 02-13-2016, 12:41 AM

GaultierRedon14 · #32 02-13-2016, 12:56 AM

GaultierRedon14 · #33 02-13-2016, 01:37 AM

(Lignum Vitae is Latin for "Tree of Life")

The blank of Lignum from which the wedge was cut. I personally handled this piece and it has some really subtle colors of greens, yellows, even some red lines in it. Also, some nice wavy pattern. The pictures don't do it justice.
The Lignum Vitae bindings will be from a different piece that is darker overall than this piece.
There is another similar wood called Argentine Lignum Vitae which is often hard to distinguish from genuine Lignum Vitae. All I can say is, this piece was purchased from a reputable tonewood dealer who listed it as "Genuine" Lignum Vitae. Steve compared it to his own piece of Genuine Lignum and is convinced it's true Guaiacum Officinale.
You'll notice that it appears more yellow in the photos. This is due to it being freshly cut, but will oxidize to a greener color like in the first picture of the Lignum blank.
Steve added cross-grain Indian Rosewood purflings on both sides of the Lignum wedge.

Preparing to rout the slot for the wedge

Using the Lignum inlay strip to position the cut

Perfect cut!

Gluing it in

Shaving it down flush with the back-- Steve said shaving the Lignum is like shaving iron! A little hard on the thumbs!

Steve adds a 15' radius to the back. Here it is in his 15' radius dish

Lignum inlay finished, back radiused

Sneek Peek of the finished look--Bois, Lignum, and cross-grain Indian Rosewood-- except the Lignum will be more green than yellow!

GaultierRedon14 · #34 02-13-2016, 02:04 AM

First, here's a gorgeous shot of the sides laying on top of the back--Steve labelled it "Red, Red Wine".

The cross brace flies over the scooped X

Braces are Adirondack Spruce, center strip is Black Limba.
This will be a "live" back.
Notice how the cross brace terminates before the edge- so it's uncoupled with the sides. Thus the back pumps air. -- Steve

GaultierRedon14 · #35 02-13-2016, 03:19 AM

The beautiful Ancient Glacier Sitka spruce soundboard cut and ready for the rosette

The rosette, designed and custom-sized for this project by Bruce Petros. Selected by me

. Detailed with Rosewood rings and installed by Steve.

The rosette is inlaid into the soundboard and filled with black epoxy mastic. After it dries and settles, it is scraped off.

Finished!

bubbaprime · #36 02-13-2016, 07:43 AM

There weren't star emoticons, so I gave 5 thumbs up...
Just stunning work and design choices. This is still very early in the build and is delivering awesomeness across the board.

TomB'sox · #37 02-13-2016, 07:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GaultierRedon14

(Lignum Vitae is Latin for "Tree of Life")

The blank of Lignum from which the wedge was cut. I personally handled this piece and it has some really subtle colors of greens, yellows, even some red lines in it. Also, some nice wavy pattern. The pictures don't do it justice.
The Lignum Vitae bindings will be from a different piece that is darker overall than this piece.
There is another similar wood called Argentine Lignum Vitae which is often hard to distinguish from genuine Lignum Vitae. All I can say is, this piece was purchased from a reputable tonewood dealer who listed it as "Genuine" Lignum Vitae. Steve compared it to his own piece of Genuine Lignum and is convinced it's true Guaiacum Officinale.
You'll notice that it appears more yellow in the photos. This is due to it being freshly cut, but will oxidize to a greener color like in the first picture of the Lignum blank.
Steve added cross-grain Indian Rosewood purflings on both sides of the Lignum wedge.

Preparing to rout the slot for the wedge

Using the Lignum inlay strip to position the cut

Perfect cut!

Gluing it in

Shaving it down flush with the back-- Steve said shaving the Lignum is like shaving iron! A little hard on the thumbs!

Steve adds a 15' radius to the back. Here it is in his 15' radius dish

Lignum inlay finished, back radiused

Sneek Peek of the finished look--Bois, Lignum, and cross-grain Indian Rosewood-- except the Lignum will be more green than yellow!

Looking fantastic as expected. Are these maple purfling strips bordering the IRW? The rosette is an awesome fit into your build desires....would fit into the picture!!!

GaultierRedon14 · #38 02-13-2016, 10:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bubbaprime

There weren't star emoticons, so I gave 5 thumbs up...
Just stunning work and design choices. This is still very early in the build and is delivering awesomeness across the board.

Hi Jeff! Steve is really delivering the goods so far! As you can relate, it's almost shocking (in a good way) when you finally see your ideas become a reality--you realize that the image in your head was always a little fuzzy, once you actually see it completed. Seeing the Ancient Sitka soundboard cut to the body shape with rosette completed just blew me away. I chose that rosette immediately after buying the Ancient Sitka, confident it would be a good match, and it just looks perfect. I have to give credit to Bruce and Matt Petros for producing this "Dwende" design and to Steve for accenting it with the rosewood rings. Even though this rosette wasn't specially designed for this guitar, it sure looks like it was.
I know Steve is finishing up your Spirit guitar soon, and I'm really excited to see the final results.

GaultierRedon14 · #39 02-13-2016, 10:36 AM

Tom,

Thank you for the kind comments. Yeah, you can start to see how this guitar will fit in with the painting I posted previously, and the similarity between the the rosette and the design of the cover of that book which I previously posted. To add another thought to my last post, I had seriously considered having a rosette totally custom made, but that Petros Dwende rosette seemed so perfect, I just didn't want to bother with the risk of getting something custom made that I didn't like as much the Dwende! Whatever concerns I may have had about it, they've been put to rest now that I've seen the result. Sometimes you just have to trust your instincts and experience, and go for it.
The purflings are maple veneers with cross-grain Indian Rosewood on the rosette and on the center wedge on the back.

prickards · #40 02-13-2016, 10:37 AM

Simply stunning. Truly one of a kind. Congratulations!

Nemoman · #41 02-13-2016, 10:55 AM

This is really looking spectacular! I have to admit to being a little skeptical about the lignum wedge originally as I thought it was going to be wider, but it really ties in well with the overall palette that is going on. The Bois de Rose is stunning, and the rosette on the ancient Sitka works beautifully. Congrats on the build and your wonderful design choices! Steve is really doing wonders for you...

Guitars44me · #42 02-13-2016, 11:43 AM

Absolutely beautiful!

I love the rosette, and I am usually not a fan of such a busy look!

The slim back wedge is a very nice touch, too! Class all the way...

Cheers

Paul

theEdwinson · #43 02-13-2016, 12:31 PM

If I may, I'd like to add some details here.
First, I'd like to publicly express my appreciation to Bruce and Matt Petros. As I'm sure everyone here knows, Bruce and Matt are two of the top-tier luthiers in the world, building beautiful, superlative guitars for many years, as a father & son team. I first met them at one of the early 2000's Healdsburg festivals, and they've been friends ever since.
Awhile back, Bruce took a great technological leap, and created his side-business, which is called Purflex- flexible purflings of many designs, and rosettes, tuner buttons, back strips, and many other HIGHLY CUSTOMIZED accoutrements for high-end guitar builds, available to other luthiers. I don't know much about how these amazing elements are made, except that it involves computers and industrial lasers- and the the level of precision is astounding. And talk about style and beauty! This is a great way to dress up a special guitar.
Daniel chose the Purflex "Dwende" pattern for the De Profundis guitar- which is described on the Petros site as "Elvish design". I love it! We will also be using Dwende Purflex for the guitar top, and the fingerboard and headstock as well.
And the rosette truly is custom! I gave Bruce the inner diameter I needed, considering I wanted to add inner and outer rings and a bound sound hole; and he made it, shipped it the same day, and it arrived here two days after I placed the order. Incredible.
So thanks a million, Bruce!

Also, there are some photos of the back, above that I want to clarify. Starting with the premise that I believe guitars will be more responsive if they are built with as little stress as possible in the way the parts fit together. If anything is forced into compliance, that's built-in stress. So I prefer to try to make everything fit together without that built-in stress.

After I joined the back plate and installed the tapered center inlay, and sanded the inside to 320-grit in preparation for the braces, I lightly moistened the outside surface- or show face- with a spritz bottle. This caused that surface to swell somewhat. Then I put it in the Go-deck for about 30 hours, clamped in the 15' radius sanding dish.
What this does is it "trains" the back plate into that curved radius; which it holds pretty well while I add the back braces.
Without the back braces, the back plate would gradually return to flat; but since the plate has now been pre-radiused, I can add the braces with almost no stress built in. And the back holds shape wonderfully well.
That process is what's going on in this photo:

I've been doing this pre-radiusing maneuver for several guitars now, and it works great. I think it will make the back a little more active and responsive.
Also note that this Bois de Rose, which has phenomenal tone potential, is designed to be an active component in tone production- not just a static reflective surface. That's why the lower bout is braced with the "asterisk" pattern, and the brace wood is Adirondack spruce.
The lower bout X brace is scooped in the center, and the cross brace flies over that intersection. Also, the cross brace ends terminate before they reach the edges, instead of the conventional way of pocketing the brace ends into the linings; which will allow this back plate to move a little more freely, and act as an air pump, in concert with the top.

Remember, we are optimizing the De Profundis to be a highly responsive, open-tuning fingerstyle guitar. So every component in it has an important role in tone production. Even the neck, which we'll get to soon.
I'm sure all this lutherie ephemera has put some of you to sleep! But I like to explain the logic behind the methods- so thanks for following along.

GaultierRedon14 · #44 02-13-2016, 12:59 PM

Thank you for clarifying those details, Steve. Perhaps I wasn't clear in my earlier comments about the rosette--I was simply acknowledging that the particular Dwende motif on the rosette was not a one-off, brand-new design created solely for my guitar! But, as you explained, part of the beauty of their technology is the ability to easily adjust and customize the sizing and other details of their standard designs, as they did on this rosette in order for it to fit with your grand scheme for the rosette and sound hole binding. It really looks wonderful, Steve.

JamesO · #45 02-13-2016, 02:55 PM

Wow. This is very cool. I really like that you used Lignum Vitae, too. My bro in-law is a Commander in the Navy. A few years ago he asked if guitarmakers ever used it in their instruments, and it was the first time I'd heard of it. It has a significant place in sailing traditions. I have one of David Barron's mallets made from it now, and don't have any desire to try scraping or planing it