Amateur Build - Bubinga/Sinker RW 00-12 fret.

[Joel Teel]

I'm with Tom...
Following also, but (up until now) I haven't commented. Being a new builder myself, I haven't felt worthy of offering an opinion when you've asked for suggestions. Nonetheless, I am watching your progress and I am enjoying this build. The only thing that I'm disappointed in, is that you haven't given us the slightest little peak of your first build yet. Thank you for taking the time to give us updates.

Joel

[KentonJohn]

I as well have been reading I am in the prep stages of my first build and love this section of AGF. With that being said I am looking forward for more posts as you guitar progresses.

[ZorroElite]

I honestly wasn't looking for pity comments! But seriously... I absolutely am not expecting tonnes of comments, but do appreciate knowing that its of any interest to more than just me!

Mark Lew: I had never heard a 'live' acoustic guitar made with Bubinga. And its really hard to judge the sound based on recordings... though there are certainly some lovely sounding clips and videos out there of Bubinga acoustics. And I won't lie... I fell in love with the look of the set first and foremost. I of course ran it by the luthier I'm working with and he said he loved the wood though he had only built with it a handful of times. He also said that the best sounding parlour guitar he ever made had Bubinga back & sides. So I decided to roll the dice.

Wood choice aside, this will be my first 'small' guitar... so the sound and feel will fill a gap regardless of the qualities the Bubinga itself brings to the mix.

Wood Knot: Feel free to offer your suggestions! Outside of the forum I'm getting suggestions from coworkers, some of which have never ever played a guitar. There is no expertise level required to offer an opinion!

[ZorroElite]

Originally Posted by Wood Knot

The only thing that I'm disappointed in, is that you haven't given us the slightest little peak of your first build yet.

I was tempted to throw some pictures into this thread... I've done an 'okay' job at taking pictures of the process over the last year... but its so close (and yet so far away) from being done that I figured I'd just capture it all at once when its done.

Unfortunately... since I'm now splitting my time between the two there is no way for me to predict when it'll be done. It definitely won't be March as I had hoped, and at this rate probably not April either. The finishing is probably almost done... wet sanding on Monday was with 1500 grit... and I think its just polishing after that. After that... have to make/attach bridge... dress frets etc. I know if I wasn't working on this other one that all would just take a few weeks. Dividing time? Ugh... I don't even want to think about it!

[ZorroElite]

Okay... have spent most of the time spent since last post working guitar number 1. So only minor progress to report on this one. However, I have decided to just share some images of the first guitar in this thread rather than create a separate one. The last thing we need is 2 different threads with very slow updates!

So first... for this guitar... kerf and braces are now glued in.




Now... for the first guitar, the one that is ever so slowly nearing completion... Here is the skinny:
OM with slightly larger lower bout - (about 15.5")
12 fret, long scale.

Back/sides: Cocobolo
Top: Sitka
Binding: Blackwood
Mahogany with roasted curly maple center strip neck.
Macassar ebony fretboard/headstock plate.

Starting back:



Rosette:



Neck (prefinish) The headstock is my own design. It isn't my favourite, but I can at least say I designed it myself. I haven't decided whether I will use it on guitar #2 or not. I think it might be too big/chunky for the small guitar.
It's hard to make out in this picture, but I was able to do a pretty good job of matching the grain from the headstock plate to the fretboard. So it always looks like the grain runs from the top of the headstock down the full length of the fingerboard.



And a first glimpse at the body and neck after tonights hand polishing:

[Brucebubs]

Wow, that's looking excellent.
I think it's going to be stunning.

[Mark Lew]

That's FANTASTIC, Z-man! I love the headstock and the multi-ply neck. Hard to believe it's your first build! Cocobolo is one of my favorite woods, and yours looks great. Nice figure and symmetry to it. Keep up the great work, and keep us all up to date on your progress! Thanks. mtl

[ZorroElite]

Originally Posted by Brucebubs

Wow, that's looking excellent.
I think it's going to be stunning.

Thanks! I agree even though I'm biased!

[ZorroElite]

Originally Posted by Mark Lew

Hard to believe it's your first build!

Make no mistake... if I attempted to do this on my own I'd never have made it past the 'shopping for supplies' phase! And that's what is amazing about this experience (and why I started a second even before the first one was done). The luthier we work with makes sure we end up with a great guitar.

He has absolutely saved me from disaster on more than a few occasions. Other times, it's similar to working with a personal trainer... pushing you to make something better than you might otherwise be satisfied with.

This was especially evident during the finishing/polishing phases. It almost became predictable... I'd be feeling pretty good about how a step had turned out, I'd take it to him to inspect, and in about 3 seconds he'd point out all of the things that needed further attention.

But its effective... all of the guitars by all of the other students look amazing even if they aren't all to my taste!

[Brucebubs]

The rings of blue you used on the rosette and binding is a brilliant touch.
The color is absolutely perfect.
Really tasteful.

[ZorroElite]

Originally Posted by Brucebubs

The rings of blue you used on the rosette and binding is a brilliant touch.
The color is absolutely perfect.
Really tasteful.

Thanks! I was a little worried about that choice at first to be honest. I like bright colours generally... but was having a hard time picturing it in my head. The purfling strips I used had the blue sandwiched between black... and the blue didn't stand out very much.

That worry went away immediately upon sanding down the backstrip (which was the first place it went in). I loved it immediately... and the finish just made me love it more.

[ZorroElite]

Back to the current guitar, but a short night tonight.

Back bracing is all glued on, will likely carve them to shape next week.



Good progress on the rosette. This is how I left off... the white is the Teflon spacer. It'll be replaced with black MOP.

[Mark Lew]

Wow, I can't decide which of he two rosettes I like more! That spalted maple really pops on the redwood top. It seems like lots of builders are currently using it as an accent on darker woods, with great results. You are lookin' good, my friend! I'm anxious to see how it all comes together with the bubinga, and then your verdict on the sound. Thanks for sharing with us.

[ZorroElite]

Thanks Mark! I'm looking forward to getting the black MOP in there and hopefully I still like it as much as I do right now.

I didn't do any inlay on the first guitar at all... so this will be my first time. Fingers crossed!

[ZorroElite]

Well... it seems like forever since I updated this. Crazy time traveling the world for work. But finally have a small amount of progress to share!

The back braces are carved/sanded to shape, and the back is attached to the sides.



And the braces are glued to the top... lots of work still to do to shape them.



The first guitar is still not done... but super close. I just made the bridge for it the other night finally. Painful how much I want to bring this home... just a few steps to go.