Custom Shop Voyage Air

[harvl]

Since this customer wanted pictures I thought I'd post them here just for fun. The woods are Carpathian spruce top, Koa back, sides and binding. Abalone top trim, abalone rosette, vine fretboard and headstock inlay.1-11/16" nut width


side kerfing being glued, side block is for a side exit pickup jack.


This jig locates two holes at each end (top and back) for a reference throughout the plate and body assembly.


Locating holes in Koa back


pins locate the back in proper position on dished back form


pins also locate bracing template


Back braces glued in Go-bar deck


Braced back in body assembly deck (also has dished back form)


Sides and back are assembled


Top braces are glued in Go-bar deck


Top is assembled to back and sides.

[Dan Carey]

Yer killin' me, Harv.

How do you always come up with these beauties when I'm broke?!

[donh]

Originally Posted by Dan Carey

Yer killin' me, Harv.

How do you always come up with these beauties when I'm broke?!

That's 'cause you keep giving your money to someone else!

Just start sending Harv some money, it'll work out just fine :-)

[harvl]

Originally Posted by Dan Carey

Yer killin' me, Harv.

How do you always come up with these beauties when I'm broke?!

Well Don is right ya know...

Not to worry though... this one is already sold so it wouldn't matter anyway.
Of course I do have 5 more "sister" sets of Koa just like this one :^)

[harvl]

Here are some more progress pic's

Binding ledges are routed... for some reason Koa always seems to burn a bit...


This was just a great shot of the back and sides... I think Koa is the most beautiful wood there is...


Two strips of black/white/black purfling with teflon strips for the abalone top trim. I like to tack everything in place with CA before adding the outer binding.


A close-up of the purfling and teflon strips.


The binding (Koa with B/W/B bottom purfling) is glued in place.


Body with bindings installed, the back and side have a sealer coat so they appear to be much darker than the binding, however when finished they should be close to the same tone.

[harvl]

More pic's Abalone top trim...

Here the teflon strip is removed leaving behind a 1/16" wide channel for the abalone strips.


1/16" wide abalone (pink abalone in the case...) is pressed into the channel, as the curves get tighter the pieces are broken into smaller strips to better follow the curve


Completed abalone top border.


next binding and abalone are sanded flush to the top, back and sides.


Close-up of border and soundhole.

[harvl]

The inlays for this guitar are one of my Limited Edition vines (I only do 5 of each style). The customer wanted a more subtle looks so all of the colors are more on the muted side (as opposed to using Paua, Green Heart etc. which are very striking and colorful) materials are pink abalone, pale red abalone and green rippled abalone. The pink abalone will match the sound board inlays.


The vine is actually two vines that intertwine, because of the complex layout of all the pieces I like to assemble the vine and inlay it as much larger sections rather than try to do it as individual pieces. Here the vine has been cut and assembled in to 4 sections. As you can see I have also already filled in the center of the vine with ebony. This is one of my tricks to hold everything together while it's being fitted to the inlay cavities. To do this I buy two fretboards that are as close to identical as possible. I then resaw and sand one of them down to 1/16" thick (the same thickness as the inlay) and then cut out and inlay the center sections of ebony into the vine. I use the area of the 1/16" fretboard that corresponds with the actual fretboard so that the grain and color will match.


Here is the inlaid fretboard. You will notice that a section of the vine is missing from the 13th fret. Because this is a Voyage Air I need to wait until after the neck has been separated to complete the inlay, otherwise when I make the cut part of the inlay will be lost.


Before attaching the fretboard the inlaid headstock veneer is glued in place.


Completed headstock.


and the fretboard glued in place.


here is a close up of the 13th fret after the joint has been cut.


The inlays are placed on the fretboard and aligned with the already inlaid vine. The pieces need to be marked so that I can cut them where the joint is and then carefully inlaid into the two sides of the joint so that everything lines up when the joint is closed.


finally the completed vine with the joint in place.

[SuperB23]

Beautiful work, thank you for sharing!!

[dkoloff]

Thanks for whetting the appetite.....love my Vaom 1c and look forward to being able to do a custom.

[harvl]

Originally Posted by dkoloff

Thanks for whetting the appetite.....love my Vaom 1c and look forward to being able to do a custom.

When you are ready for a custom, (if you want) you can trade your 1C in on a new Leach and get credit for the full purchase price of the 1C applied towards the custom, assuming it is in playable condition.

Harv

[harvl]

One o my favorite times... The first coat of finish!!!


Especially when a nice piece of Koa is involved


After all the finish is on, the body is wet sanded (left side). Once you hit the buffer you get to see what it really is going to look like (right side).


The buffing is completed.


Bridge is glued on, almost ready for the moment of truth...

[harvl]

The completed guitar.
I have always had mixed feelings about Koa guitars. It's the most beautiful wood there is but sometimes it just doesn't sound as good as it looks (I like a lot of fundamental and not a lot of overtones) but this one exceeded my expectations. Probably my favorite Koa guitar so far acoustically.

[Tone Gopher]

Originally Posted by harvl

I have always had mixed feelings about Koa guitars. It's the most beautiful wood there is but sometimes it just doesn't sound as good as it looks (I like a lot of fundamental and not a lot of overtones) but this one exceeded my expectations. Probably my favorite Koa guitar so far acoustically.

Very nice presentation of the build, thank you.

Might you care to comment on why this koa worked so well?

I've known other builders to comment on the variety of density in koa. Was this set lighter/heavier than usual?

What are your preferred wood combinations?

[harvl]

I've never been able to put my finger on what makes some better than others, it seems though that the darker it is (has the dark streaks) the the more I like it. I would say this was on the heavy side as well. I always think it's somewhat like the "Tree" mahogany... it looks like Mahogany, smells like Mahogany and even works like Mahogany but it sure doesn't sound like Mahogany.
In the end though it's a bit of a crap shoot. One of the good things about this particular wood is that it came from a billet so I have 5 more sets just like it :^)

My favorite (and I think best) guitar is a dreadnought, by favorite I mean the sound and not the looks, just about every other shape looks better... My personal favorite top wood is Carpathian spruce. My favorite combo would be pairing it with Brazilian, my new second fav is Black Ebony, I've yet to build a dread with the ebony but I have to do that. I like Brazilian a lot better on a dread than on a smaller body, but the ebony guitars I've done have all been OM's and they sounded fantastic to me. The ebony seems like it would be even better on a larger body.

[harvl]

Finally, some detail shots of the completed guitar.

Thanks For Watching!!!