NGD: Sexauer JZ/2-15-C, Carved Back 000 (Bigleaf Maple/German Spruce)

[iim7V7IM7]

The Idea: I play mostly solo jazz chord melody for the last number of years with both archtop and flat top guitars. Loving sonic aspects of each style of guitar, I have always wondered what a maple carved back; acoustic flat top guitar would sound like. I knew that a number of companies (Eastman, SCGC etc.) and luthiers (Blanchard, Buscarino etc.) have made flat tops with carved backs, so it had been done before (earlier Epiphones and Guilds were arched, laminated backs I believe). I was hoping the result would be a guitar with some warmth, sustain and overtones of a flat top guitar together with the punch and projection characteristics of an archtop guitar. Last year, I commissioned a Bigleaf Maple/German Spruce guitar with California luthier, Bruce Sexauer. Bruce was the ideal choice given his experience in making both types of guitars and I had worked with Bruce before and he had previously built me a guitar which I adored. Since Bruce really doesn’t have specific models but uses codes for describing combinations of style, size, scale length features. Bruce refers archtop guitars he refers to as "JZ" and his flat top models as “FT”. Bruce also calls his multi-scale guitars "JB" and when he began to offer a smaller scale offset, he called it "JB/2". So when conceiving this guitar, we decided to call it a "JZ/2" because it was only 1/2 carved (no carved top). The "15" refers to the number of inches across the lower bout and the "C" is for cutaway.

Being sort of a hybrid guitar, I wanted this guitar stylistically to pay a bit of homage to the historic flat top designs from Nazareth, but also pay a nod the classic archtop guitars of Kalamazoo as well. So design elements such as the ebony pyramid bridge, abalone diamond and square fingerboard inlays, and a trapezoid shaped peghead are some nods to Nazareth. Whereas the guitars finish, its carved maple back and headplate pendant are nods to Kalamazoo. The choice of finish was special as well. We wanted to visually enhance the flamed curl in the maple, but not obscure any of its beauty with any opacity of a sunburst. Bruce makes a variety of stringed instruments including violins. He used a historic tinting technique (I am sworn to secrecy!) to enhance the flame in the maple and to tie the hue of the mahogany neck together with the body. For the top, Bruce used the tinting in his traditional oil varnish to create a subtle fade that was darker towards the rims to add a sense of dimensionality.



The Decisions: The “Sexauer / ‘15” thread in the AGF “Custom Shop” (http://www.acousticguitarforum.com/f...d.php?t=370542) documents its construction. Bruce needed to make a number of design decisions when making it because all of the parts of a guitar “work together” acoustically. For the JZ/2 In creating the top, Bruce chose mostly based on luthier’s instinct to leave the German Spruce a bit thicker but to aggressively carve the braces shallow. A typical 000/OM is 3-1/4” at the neck and 4-1/8” at the end block. A flat backed guitar has a relatively shallow arch. I believe Bruce would typically use about 18’ radius which a lower bout section has about 1.30 in2 in volume (without the addition of ladder braces!). The JZ/2, having an arched carved back adds additional interior volume to the body. If you calculate a back with a ½” height created by a 4’-8-1/2” radius across the widest part of the lower bout the section has 5.00 in2 in volume (about 5x when you consider no ladder braces). So the guitar was going to have additional volume. To adjust for this; Bruce reduced the rim depth by about 1/8” to compensate for the added back volume of the arch. Bruce also regards the backs of his guitars as “active” participants in creating the sound and to this end; his backs are typically built quite thin. When reducing the back radius you also add stiffness for a given thickness. Bruce strived to use a relatively shallow arch and thin carve to minimize this effect. After the box was assembled and the binding was on he continued to scrape the back particularly near the rims in the recurve area until it tapped to his liking.



The Guitar: The guitar is 000 in size (15” at the lower bout); has a 24.9”scale; 14-frets to the body and a 1-3/4” nut, 2-5/16” at the saddle. Bruce used a beautiful set of “Old” German Spruce for the top that he sourced from EuroSpruce purveyor Martin Guhl. The Bigleaf Maple billets had been seasoning in his shop since the late 1990s. We chose a backset with some curl that could be bias downward towards the lower bout to create a chevron pattern. The traditionally designed rosette contains both Maple and Green Abalone. The headplate veneer, backstrap, endgraft and binding are made from a contrasting, figured Bocote. The purfings made by Bruce are Pernambuco to add a color highlight with Green Abalone added to the top purfling. The headplate veneer became an area of collaborative creativity between Bruce and I. I came up with Charles Rennie MacKintosh style typography of Bruce’s name “SEXAUER” and Bruce figured a way to cut the MOP into Ebony for the nameplate (the much harder job!). Bruce also developed a stylized Ebony/Maple/Pernambuco torch pendant that played homage to the art deco designs seen in vintage archtop guitars to visually balance the headplate. We put a set of 18:1 Schaller Grandtunes in Vintage Copper with Snakewood buttons.




The Sound: Sound is something that is always extremely difficult to describe (also to record). There are four dimensions of sound of a guitar that I will do my best to describe for you. I thought instead of describing things in absolutes, I would compare it to a flat backed guitar, made from a dense, glassy tropical hardwood, close in size made by the same builder (Pernambuco/German Spruce L00). The JZ/2 is slightly wider in its lower bout, but shallower in depth than the L00. I think this comparison is a good one, particularly with all the blanket descriptions of what a maple guitar "sounds like" stereotypes you see put out there.

I will try to put up some short videos (unfortunately using my iPad) perhaps contrasting the two guitars by playing the same piece. In the meantime here are two clips that Bruce laid down:

JZ/2 http://mojoluthier.com/Music/JZ2-OhBaby.mp3
L00 http://mojoluthier.com/Music/242.mp3

Responsiveness: By responsiveness I mean how much the volume of the guitar increases as the dynamics of my picking attack increases and how full the sound is with a gentle touch. The JZ/2 is responsive, but not as responsive as my L00.

Headroom: By headroom, I am talking about how loud it can get without beginning to sound distorted when I really dig in. As a reference of high headroom, I use a BRW/Red Spruce OM that I used to own. The JZ/2 has tremendous power, surpassing my L00.

Balance: By balance I am talking about the relative volume between the strings across the neck "open" and at positions up the neck of the guitar. Since I play many chords where strings are either pinched or arpeggiated, a balance in volume between the Low E, A, D with the B and high E strings. Many tunes connect chords by bass line movement is established on the E, A and D while melody is played on E, B or G, so balance in volume is desired. I play chords up and down the neck as well. Like the L00, the JZ/2 is completely balanced in its volume in all registers.

Fundamental/Overtones: This is a somewhat of a subjective way of speaking about the relative harmonic content of the timbre of the guitar (sometime referred to as “dry” or “wet”). I like the timbre to not be "dry" (like vintage Martin) nor awash in overtones either (wet like a Goodall). The L00 is certainly more awash with overtones, but the JZ/2 while leaning a bit dryer presents a descent amount of harmonic overtones.

Attack/Sustain: By this I mean how fast the sound develops post pick (attack) and how long the sound (fundamental and overtone) takes to decay (sustain). I play a bunch of ballads and standards mostly in a moderate tempo (no Giant Steps at >300 bpm!). Notes develop much faster out of the JZ/2 than my L00. Both guitars have lots of sustain which surprised me a bit.

Summary: The JZ/2 is a fairly dynamic instrument with tremendous headroom. I think these two attributes trade-off with each other. Like all instruments Bruce makes, it possesses balanced volume across the strings and in all registers. It leans towards the "dryer" side of the tonal spectrum but still rings with plenty of overtones. It has a very fast attack with sound developing very quickly which provides an impression of "thickness" to its timbre, particularly in the trebles. It has a surprising amount of sustain in both the fundamentals and overtones.

It is a superlative guitar in concept and execution. Bruce simply knocked it out of the park with this guitar. It is an excellent contrast to my L00 in that the JZ/2 excels in headroom, speed and an overall "fat" timbre to the L00 which excels in responsiveness, choral overtones and sustain.

Mucho Kudos to Bruce!

[Marcus Wong]

Bob,

Great thread and CONGRATS! It looks amazing. I can't imagine how much more so in person due to the carved back. You can't expect to post such a detailed review and not complete it with a recording looking forward to it!

Love your unbiased review of the guitar. You should definitely include a biased one as well though so we can better share your excitement too

I have never played a carved top/back guitar before and the look of this back is making me want to be on the look out for one to try. The amount of planning and thought put into this build is quite insane, well done.

[iim7V7IM7]

Originally Posted by Marcus Wong

Bob,

Great thread and CONGRATS! It looks amazing. I can't imagine how much more so in person due to the carved back. You can't expect to post such a detailed review and not complete it with a recording looking forward to it!

Love your unbiased review of the guitar. You should definitely include a biased one as well though so we can better share your excitement too

I have never played a carved top/back guitar before and the look of this back is making me want to be on the look out for one to try. The amount of planning and thought put into this build is quite insane, well done.

I have literally had the guitar about 4-hours. I will likely post something next weekend. In the meantime, I added in links to two tracks Bruce made.

[Marcus Wong]

Originally Posted by iim7V7IM7

I have literally had the guitar about 4-hours. I will likely post something next weekend. In the meantime, I added in links to two tracks Bruce made.

Haha! It's amazing you even put it down to post this such dedication to inquiring forum members like myself. The opening process must be one of the best feelings ever. Always lovely to hear the sound evolve into something else.

Will check those out once I get some stable connection!

[J.R. Rogers]

That JZ/2 is just gorgeous!! Love the carved body and deco headstock. Sounds great in that sound clip, too. I have a couple of guitars that have a carved top and flat body but not the other way around. Very nice work!!

[iim7V7IM7]

Originally Posted by J.R. Rogers

That JZ/2 is just gorgeous!! Love the carved body and deco headstock. Sounds great in that sound clip, too. I have a couple of guitars that have a carved top and flat body but not the other way around. Very nice work!!

Thanks JR...(praise goes to Bruce). Who built the guitars that you are referring to?

The Other Idea: As part of the same experiment, I also have wondered what a 15” or 16” oval-hole acoustic archtop guitar with a ladder braced; flat back would sound like (the inverse of the JZ/2). There are a number of luthiers make custom oval holed archtop guitars today including luthiers such as Aaron Andrews, Mark Blanchard, John Buscarino, Dan Koentopp and Bryant Treiner (others?). Hawaii luthier Steve Grimes does make a flat backed, archtop called a Jazz Nouveau, but it is an f-holed design.

I am hoping for an acoustic archtop guitar with the crispness and clarity of an archtop but with some enhanced bass, sustain and overtone response. Like Bruce, another luthier who I had worked with before was Pennsylvania luthier, Bill Comins (http://www.cominsguitars.com/comins-handcrafted/home). Bill built me my 16” archtop guitar number years ago and is a master craftsman as well as a creative force. I have commissioned a Curly Honduran Mahogany/Carpathian Spruce guitar to be built by early 2016 with the guitar stylistically will be contrasting the JZ/2 in that it will have a modern aesthetic.



I normally put Thomastik-Infeld BeBop strings on my archtops, but this one being a purely acoustic guitar will have phosphor bronze strings and a Barbera Soloist pickup. Depending on how Bill wants to work, I may or may not create a build thread. Stay tuned...

[iim7V7IM7]

This was definitely a successful experiment!

The guitar while larger in its lower bout measurement than my L00 (15" vs. 14-3/4"), it is quite a bit shallower in depth (3-3/16" to 3-15/16"+1/2" arch vs. 3-7/16" to 4-3/8"). As a result, it feels like a smaller guitar ergonomically. A nice surprise...

Certain aspects did not surprise me in that I suspected it would be balanced, powerful and fast. What is surprising me, is while it leans toward "dry", it possesses some very nice overtones. The length of the sustain also surprised me. Note fundamentals and overtones decay slowly on this guitar. Neither sustain or overtones are attributes that one typically associates with maple guitars. The other aspect that surprised me was just how "fat" the sound is. I think that this perception may relate to how fast the notes develop (just a guess).

I think this illustrates the importance of the builder over the choice of body wood. We tend think of maple being in generic terms being a low damping wood that produces dry and clear guitars, but the JZ/2 is an example of how in the hands of a master builder, it can be much, much more.

[Steve Kinnaird]

Bob, congratulations--that is an undeniably beautiful instrument.
Lovely woods, tasteful appointments, but that headstock...that is wonderful.

Steve

[StringMeUp]

That is beautiful. Bruce's clips are excellent. Congratulations.

[iim7V7IM7]

Originally Posted by Steve Kinnaird

Bob, congratulations--that is an undeniably beautiful instrument.
Lovely woods, tasteful appointments, but that headstock...that is wonderful.

Steve

Thanks Steve...As nice as it looks, it plays even nicer!

It's funny, this headstock wasn't prospectively planned and it came together a bit organically as he worked through it. Bruce cut the MOP by hand with jewelers saw. It definitely shows signs of the craftsman's hand and its beautiful! Headstocks have been areas of creativity on a number of my custom guitars. Like a rosette, it is an area for artistic expression adding to the uniqueness of a custom instrument.

[CoolerKing]

Bob, was it you that commissioned Bernie Lehmann to make that uber-cool selmer-macafferi style guitar? I remember the build thread but couldn't remember the OP. Since I pm'd you I've really been working on various jazz standards, particularly autumn leaves, take 5, and moonlight in vermont.

This gets me to thinking that a true gypsy jazz instrument may be in my future. Best to pay taxes first and worry about luxuries later, as the 000-18 or the Brondel do quite nicely for this. If anyone thinks of it, perhaps link to the Lehmann build thread as I was very impressed with his work.

Thanks again for sharing your experiences.

My glean: Selmer-Maccafferi shape with pernambuco back and sides, standard neck, euro spruce top, luthier TBD

[iim7V7IM7]

Originally Posted by matthewpartrick

Bob, was it you that commissioned Bernie Lehmann to make that uber-cool selmer-macafferi style guitar? I remember the build thread but couldn't remember the OP. Since I pm'd you I've really been working on various jazz standards, particularly autumn leaves, take 5, and moonlight in vermont.

This gets me to thinking that a true gypsy jazz instrument may be in my future. Best to pay taxes first and worry about luxuries later, as the 000-18 or the Brondel do quite nicely for this. If anyone thinks of it, perhaps link to the Lehmann build thread as I was very impressed with his work.

Thanks again for sharing your experiences.

My glean: Selmer-Maccafferi shape with pernambuco back and sides, standard neck, euro spruce top, luthier TBD

Yes, that was me...

http://www.acousticguitarforum.com/f...d.php?t=308347

Bernie just finished another cool gypsy for someone I know with a Port Orford Cedar top and Malaysian Blackwood body. They may post photos here hopefully.

[Jim.S]

Nice, the art deco design on the headstock really suits the colour scheme Bruce, almost as if art deco has a colour.

[iim7V7IM7]

Originally Posted by Jim.S

Nice, the art deco design on the headstock really suits the colour scheme Bruce, almost as if art deco has a colour.

I think that was Bruce's "nod" towards some of the art deco torches seen on archtop guitars. The use of ebony/maple/pernambuco really visually tied together the pernambuco framed ebony nameplate. The color is difficult to capture in the photos because it is subtile. The Cremonese tinting technique was applied everywhere the varnish was so small areas of maple in the headstock pendant and the rosette rings tie into the body beautifully. Even woods such as mahogany used in the neck which in many cases can appear foreign on a maple guitar tied in as well.

[iim7V7IM7]

Here's a few poorly recorded iPad clips:

Some arpeggiated open strings on the JZ/2...



A little chord melody on the JZ/2....



As a comparison, some chord melody on the Pernambuco FT-L00...