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  #31  
Old 01-06-2018, 09:49 AM
JSanta JSanta is offline
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I'm still very new to the boutique/small luthier shop acoustic guitar world, but after seeing this thread, I spent all day with my headphones on listening to his YouTube channel. Incredible sounding and beautiful guitars.

Your build looks to be no different!
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  #32  
Old 01-06-2018, 11:47 AM
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Originally Posted by JSanta View Post
I'm still very new to the boutique/small luthier shop acoustic guitar world, but after seeing this thread, I spent all day with my headphones on listening to his YouTube channel. Incredible sounding and beautiful guitars.

Your build looks to be no different!
Thank you, his page is a little addicting. Fun to watch him play his creations like that. Plus he is a danged good player!!! I don't know that I have seen anyone else demo each guitar they build like that.

Thanks for checking out the build.
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  #33  
Old 01-06-2018, 01:54 PM
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Time to do some bracing. Ben has told me he wants a stiff, but light top for his ideal build. So I give you Dad's Sitka with shaved redwood bracing and 200 grams...which I am told is pretty good!

front braced on scale.jpg

Here is a shot I meant to include with the pictures of the bindings, a shot of the sides with the binding and a little alcohol wiped on for color. I really like how deep the wood becomes with a little "finish" on it. Not a surprise, but I think Ben was right when he thought the cocobolo would look really nice with the dark cinnamon color of the Honduran Rosewood.

sides with alcohol for color.jpg
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  #34  
Old 01-07-2018, 05:38 PM
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Tom - I'm a bit late to the party, but I +1 your choice of Honduran Rosewood. It's a little 'plainer' than some woods, but as others have expressed there is a real beauty in the simplicity. I've owned two HRW guitars and their sound is rich and complex, surpassing multiple BRW instruments I've owned. I predict that once you strum those first few chords you'll completely forget any worries about how it looks. You might even abandon all your other instruments LOL
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  #35  
Old 01-07-2018, 07:04 PM
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Redwood bracing should be fun, I'd love to hear it when done.
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  #36  
Old 01-07-2018, 09:04 PM
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Tom - I'm a bit late to the party, but I +1 your choice of Honduran Rosewood. It's a little 'plainer' than some woods, but as others have expressed there is a real beauty in the simplicity. I've owned two HRW guitars and their sound is rich and complex, surpassing multiple BRW instruments I've owned. I predict that once you strum those first few chords you'll completely forget any worries about how it looks. You might even abandon all your other instruments LOL
John

Never to late and I appreciate the input on the Honduran Rosewood. I have not had anyone say a bad word about it yet and with Ben saying this piece rings and chimes and has a glassiness that is usually reserved for only the best woods, I am more than confident that the sound will be amazing along with the 40 year old seasoned Sitka. Thanks for chiming in (haha, see what I did there haha)...I am so funny, I tell myself that all the time....Please stop by as often as you want as the build progresses.
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  #37  
Old 01-07-2018, 09:08 PM
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Redwood bracing should be fun, I'd love to hear it when done.
Thanks Bill, you would know much more than I of course. What Ben told me is that he had a piece of Redwood that was particular stiff and light so he has used what he could of it for braces and has been happy with it. Worth a shot in my book. At 200 grams I think the top and brace combo would be considered pretty successful at this point. I know he does deflection testing as well (I had an email with pics of that, but I deleted it by mistake and could not get it back), so there should be consistency in the stiffness allowing it to be made as light as he can and fit within his parameters for stiffness.

Maybe Ben will stop by and expound some more on this?

Thanks,

Tom
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  #38  
Old 01-09-2018, 03:32 PM
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Wow, this is coming together quickly!! And it is going to be spectacular. The rosette, with the small diamond touches, is very classy and will look gorgeous against Dad's Sitka.

And yeah, I'm all in on the electrics...another custom on the way, and I just bought a Knaggs Kenai and am waiting on new pickups (though the ones in there sound excellent). But I'll gladly put those away and play some acoustic with you, my friend. Send my love to your harem!!
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  #39  
Old 01-10-2018, 01:20 PM
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Default Redwood braces

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Originally Posted by TomB'sox View Post
Thanks Bill, you would know much more than I of course. What Ben told me is that he had a piece of Redwood that was particular stiff and light so he has used what he could of it for braces and has been happy with it. Worth a shot in my book. At 200 grams I think the top and brace combo would be considered pretty successful at this point. I know he does deflection testing as well (I had an email with pics of that, but I deleted it by mistake and could not get it back), so there should be consistency in the stiffness allowing it to be made as light as he can and fit within his parameters for stiffness.

Maybe Ben will stop by and expound some more on this?

Thanks,

Tom
Yes, so redwood braces may be unusual, but a lot of our guitar building traditions are just that: traditions. I had this small billet of redwood for years, and I hadn't thought of using it for bracing, because, well, you use SPRUCE for bracing, right? But in my unending quest for the light and stiff, I decided to cut this billet up into braces one day. I do some rudimentary testing on my brace stock- deflection and weight. This redwood was only very slightly less stiff than my stiffest sitka, and weighed 30% less! Now, I must add that this in not common among redwood samples. But this wood was very fine grained- had to be old growth from a very slow growing tree. It allowed me to shed some 20 grams from the top
(i estimate here). My point is that decisions about wood should not be based solely upon species, but rather upon the qualities of the wood at hand. I wouldn't brace a guitar with just any redwood, but THIS redwood is it's own unique animal. The same objectivity should be applied to all wood that is going to end up in a guitar. Some BRW is nothin' great, and some Myrtle will make the best guitar you could hope for. It kind of frees you up to look at it this way.
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  #40  
Old 01-12-2018, 03:00 PM
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Now that Ben is done spit shining someone else's guitar....back to some progress on the cool build!!!

Contouring the sides on what Ben calls his Shimpo...it involves a pottery wheel, some chewing gum, and a rubberband or something like that. If interested you can visit Wilborn Guitars and get more info on his radius sanding dish...with POWER:

sides bent.jpg


Back all ready to receive the spanish cedar back braces...hmmm how will spanish cedar braces smell along with the redwood braces????


back ready for braces.jpg
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Last edited by TomB'sox; 01-12-2018 at 09:15 PM. Reason: typo
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  #41  
Old 01-12-2018, 05:13 PM
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So my talking with Ben about what I liked in sound including me babbling incoherently for a few minutes with words like sustain, overtones, reverb mixed in between a lot of insignificance. Ben claimed to know at that point what I was looking for (he must be clairvoyant because I did not even know what I said really).

He just finished a guitar that he built to bring to shows and the sound is exactly what I was trying to express. If you have a few minutes listen to this freshly made guitar and see what has me excited:

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  #42  
Old 01-12-2018, 09:39 PM
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Hi Tom....thanks for sharing this! It's timely as I happened to catch a bunch of Ben's videos today and hear more about him and his models. He has such a great presence on those videos.....and funny!! Is he really all alone producing these with no one on the other side of the camera!!!?? He seems like just one cool and great guy! Beyond that he's a superb player and that's got to count for a lot in terms of knowing his craft and inserting all that player knowledge into the full package for his builds.
Good luck with the build.....would love to hear clips as things come together.
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  #43  
Old 01-13-2018, 08:02 AM
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Originally Posted by islandguitar View Post
Hi Tom....thanks for sharing this! It's timely as I happened to catch a bunch of Ben's videos today and hear more about him and his models. He has such a great presence on those videos.....and funny!! Is he really all alone producing these with no one on the other side of the camera!!!?? He seems like just one cool and great guy! Beyond that he's a superb player and that's got to count for a lot in terms of knowing his craft and inserting all that player knowledge into the full package for his builds.
Good luck with the build.....would love to hear clips as things come together.
Fred
Thank you Fred for responding to the post. Yeah, I think he is alone for those haha, poor guy. Once in a while his dog or a kid may wonder through, but he keeps on going.

What you said about his being a superb player is very true and I do like that in a luthier for as you say, it has to impart more into the build to at least know what you want it to feel and sound like (not trying to disparage anyone who builds without being a great player at all).

He also talks about how he likes woods with a story, like the sitka top. That is something that I really like as well as it seems to bring the guitar to life more for me.

Speaking of playing, I like your new piece a lot and I like a good Honey Glaze as well!!!!

Thanks for following. Please come back as we go along.
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  #44  
Old 01-13-2018, 08:56 AM
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Well, all I can say is it would really suck to not be at least as good of a guitarist as Ben ha! (in my dreams)

Fact is, I love his style of playing and I think that Da's old Sitka is amazing over just about any wood he uses it with. I really think, as I've said and we all agree, it's partially the wood, but mostly the woodworker that makes this all come together. Put great wood in the hands of a great woodworker and you get tone like this. Put average wood in the hands of a great woodworker and you STILL get pretty darned good results.

Tom, I'm excited for you and your choices. This should be an amazing guitar visually and I think that amazing tone is a "given".
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  #45  
Old 01-13-2018, 09:45 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TomB'sox View Post
Thank you Fred for responding to the post. Yeah, I think he is alone for those haha, poor guy. Once in a while his dog or a kid may wonder through, but he keeps on going.

What you said about his being a superb player is very true and I do like that in a luthier for as you say, it has to impart more into the build to at least know what you want it to feel and sound like (not trying to disparage anyone who builds without being a great player at all).

He also talks about how he likes woods with a story, like the sitka top. That is something that I really like as well as it seems to bring the guitar to life more for me.

Speaking of playing, I like your new piece a lot and I like a good Honey Glaze as well!!!!

Thanks for following. Please come back as we go along.
Thanks for taking a listen, Tom! Honey Glaze.........um, is it lunch time yet?
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