Ensor Guitars- The "All American Wood" Guitar- FINAL PICS & VIDEO

[nootis]

Kudos Chris! This has been a fun thread to follow, and I am always happy to see updates and amazed at the progress pics. Really a creative use of various types and colors of woods, but somehow they all compliment each other. I'm now a big fan of orange!

[Steve Kinnaird]

Chris, I'm so pleased you found some usable stock. And I love your solution to book match the fretboard. Really attractive!
Looking forward now with some trepidation about our DI appointments!

Steve

[Dion James]

This guitar is looking wonderful! That sander really is a thing of beauty.


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[CaE]

Originally Posted by nootis

Kudos Chris! This has been a fun thread to follow, and I am always happy to see updates and amazed at the progress pics. Really a creative use of various types and colors of woods, but somehow they all compliment each other. I'm now a big fan of orange!

Nootis, I'm glad you're enjoying the build. I hope this guitar helps people see what can be done visual and tonally with alternative tonewoods. There are so many great ones out there.

Originally Posted by Steve Kinnaird

Chris, I'm so pleased you found some usable stock. And I love your solution to book match the fretboard. Really attractive!
Looking forward now with some trepidation about our DI appointments!

Steve

Steve,
Thanks for your help in my quest for a fingerboard/bridge wood. I'm glad I ended up with the piece I did.

DI is a beautiful beast for sure.

Originally Posted by Dion Bews

This guitar is looking wonderful! That sander really is a thing of beauty.

Dion,
Thanks for the kind words. And yes, the sander is pretty amazing. It sure was interesting getting it into the shop. We (my wife and I) used pipes and a tractor- moving it old school Egyptian style.

[CaE]

The bridge on this guitar, as seen before, is a matching piece of DI to the fingerboard. I specifically picked a piece that had some heavy black streaks in it to match the black in the fingerboard.



I carve a large bevel into the back of my bridge. This is done by hand:



And then everything gets polished:





I hope you're enjoying the photos. Thanks for following along.

[riverrummed]

That is a beautiful piece of wood for the bridge. I was wondering how you decide how far back from the saddle to place the bridge pin holes (this dimension and the pin hole array seems to vary amongst builders considerably)? And also, if there is any concern that the bevel lip that lies between the pin holes and the saddle will, someday, be an issue as the saddle gets shaved down and the lip gets contacted by the strings? Or is it that by the time the saddle gets shaved that low a neck reset will be in the offing anyway? I love this build and I'm anxious to see the completed guitar from different perspectives.

[CaE]

Originally Posted by riverrummed

That is a beautiful piece of wood for the bridge. I was wondering how you decide how far back from the saddle to place the bridge pin holes (this dimension and the pin hole array seems to vary amongst builders considerably)?

When designing this bridge, I drew up a lot of different spacings between the saddle and the pin holes. This layout is the one I liked visually best. The biggest thing I wanted was for the holes to be parallel to the saddle slot. Some use a curve or other shape. A parallel placement gives you the same break angle on each string- other shapes do not.

Originally Posted by riverrummed

And also, if there is any concern that the bevel lip that lies between the pin holes and the saddle will, someday, be an issue as the saddle gets shaved down and the lip gets contacted by the strings? Or is it that by the time the saddle gets shaved that low a neck reset will be in the offing anyway? I love this build and I'm anxious to see the completed guitar from different perspectives.

You got it right on your second assumption. By the time the strings hit the top of the bridge, the neck would have needed to be set a while ago. That would also mean the saddle had been severely shaved from its original height.

[riverrummed]

Thanks for the time to fill me in. That bridge just has a beautiful sweep to it. Great lines.

[Guitars44me]

My gosh, what a beauty. I love the whole concept of underused domestic woods, and really like the bookmatched FB! What a beauty!!!

Cheers

Paul

[CaE]

Originally Posted by riverrummed

Thanks for the time to fill me in. That bridge just has a beautiful sweep to it. Great lines.

I'm glad I could answer your question. And thanks for the kind words.

Originally Posted by Guitars44me

My gosh, what a beauty. I love the whole concept of underused domestic woods, and really like the bookmatched FB! What a beauty!!!

Cheers

Paul

Paul,
Your words humble me. Thanks for following along.

[CaE]

I love walnut. It smells great, it looks great, and it's a joy to work as well. The neck on this guitar is walnut with a stripe of osage down the middle- that being bordered by black dyed poplar and maple. It is a smidge more difficult to carve than mahogany, but it makes a great neck.



And as promised, here are some photos of the finished headstock.







The maple side purfling is continued under the bookmatched fingerboard as well. Not only does this make for a nice visual, but it also adds some support to the fingerboard.

[Dion James]

Originally Posted by Chris Ensor

I love walnut. It smells great, it looks great, and it's a joy to work as well. The neck on this guitar is walnut with a stripe of osage down the middle- that being bordered by black dyed poplar and maple. It is a smidge more difficult to carve than mahogany, but it makes a great neck.







And as promised, here are some photos of the finished headstock.















The maple side purfling is continued under the bookmatched fingerboard as well. Not only does this make for a nice visual, but it also adds some support to the fingerboard.

I've only used walnut a few things times for necks, each time I promise my self to source more as it's so nice!


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[CaE]

Originally Posted by Dion Bews

I've only used walnut a few things times for necks, each time I promise my self to source more as it's so nice!

Dion,
I've used it a handful of times and love it. It's fun to work and it looks great, too. Sourcing can be interesting, but not impossible.

[DamianL]

Love that headstock facing...

Looks like a segment/picture of the moon...

Great guitar.

D

[CaE]

Originally Posted by DamianL

Love that headstock facing...

Looks like a segment/picture of the moon...

Great guitar.

D

DamianL,
I'm glad you like it!