Franklin OM build

[mhw48]

Originally Posted by Nemoman

Such a beautiful cohesive look on all the elements of this guitars--it's really looking wonderful!

Thanks! Nick has been unerring in his selection of the design elements.

[Ryan Alexander]

This build is really something special. What a pleasure to watch it come together. Thanks for sharing

[mhw48]

Originally Posted by Ryan Alexander

This build is really something special. What a pleasure to watch it come together. Thanks for sharing

I am glad you are enjoying watching the build, and thanks for the vote of confidence! The design is a bit off the beaten path, which is what I wanted, but I alway second guess myself. Luckily, Nick reined in my weirder suggestions and really gave a lot of thought to the cohesion of the various elements, so I give him all the credit for it working out.

[mhw48]

We are under a winter storm watch here in NYC, so I am indoors watching the soggy snow pile up on the sidewalks. Across the country in Portland Oregon, having completed construction of the body, Nick has started on the neck.


He's using Spanish Cedar*


Nick has also started on the headstock veneer, with a modified logo


While constructing the binding he nicked himself with his chisel, hence the smear of blood...


*Not a true cedar, Spanish Cedar is actually more closely related to true Mahoganies (Swietenia and Khaya genera), as both are in the Meliaceae family.

[mhw48]

[mauricemcm]

I seldom visit this section of the forum because its too intimidating. I am glad I found this thread. It is real fun to see!
I have a new old stock Franklin tee shirt, Adult large, It has never been worn. I feel like is should belong to someone who owns a Franklin guitar so I put it away and kept it nice. It is available on Reverb.

https://reverb.com/item/21679362-fra...pany-tee-shirt

Best Regards, Maurice McMurry

[mhw48]

Originally Posted by mauricemcm

I seldom visit this section of the forum because its too intimidating. I am glad I found this thread. It is real fun to see!
I have a new old stock Franklin tee shirt, Adult large, It has never been worn. I feel like is should belong to someone who owns a Franklin guitar so I put it away and kept it nice. It is available on Reverb.

https://reverb.com/item/21679362-fra...pany-tee-shirt

Best Regards, Maurice McMurry

Hi Maurice, I checked the link and the shirt was sold...
Oh, wait. I bought it!
I'll have to tell Nick I have a Franklin Guitar Company Tee Shirt!

I can wear it while I await the completion of my guitar...

[mauricemcm]

You are in for a real treat with that Guitar! and you will be well dressed. Thanks for bringing us along on the journey of the build!

[mhw48]

Originally Posted by mauricemcm

You are in for a real treat with that Guitar! and you will be well dressed. Thanks for bringing us along on the journey of the build!

Nick let me know that he has "fitted the neck". He has a machine of his own devising -- constructed with a modified belt sander -- that shapes the heel of the neck to fit exactly against the body of the guitar. Here's an explanation -- and photos -- from my Franklin Jumbo build thread:

Originally Posted by mhw48

The neck set machine is quite ingenious, so I thought I'd include some photos of it that Nick sent, and a description:
It is constructed out of an old belt sander that he rescued from the garbage. He made a platen with a radius that matches the radius of the top of his guitars, and installed the platen on the surface of the belt sander, underneath the sand paper. He then constructed a vertical unit that holds the neck blank. It is adjustable on both the x and y axis. He then is able to sand the heel of the neck to fit precisely against the body.

[mhw48]

Nick has been putting the binding on the fingerboard

[mhw48]

Nick has been shaping the neck, adding some carved details to the heel and volute

[mhw48]

Once the neck is done, then it's on to the "scary part" (as Nick called it): the sunburst.
It's scary, because Nick applies the dye directly to the raw wood, so there's no undoing it. It's also scary because Nick has found that sometimes the wood doesn't necessarily take the dye evenly.
This means that no two come out exactly the same.
The discussion between us has been on how dark or light to make the sunburst.
Nick has done sunbursts in a pretty wide range. From quite dark:


To quite light (You might recognize this one, Juston!) :



And in-between (This one is my Dread) :

[FormerFoodie]

Those sunbursts are absolutely sublime!!

I can't wait to see how yours will turn out!!

[mhw48]

Originally Posted by FormerFoodie

Those sunbursts are absolutely sublime!!

I can't wait to see how yours will turn out!!

I can't wait either! I was on the phone with Nick this morning talking about the sunburst. He was saying that the lighter sunbursts are actually more difficult: if he makes a mistake, he can't undo it, so the only solution is to make the sunburst a bit darker.
He was then explaining the process and sent me a batch of photos of a sunburst top he did in 2011 that shows each step.
He starts by masking off the top, leaving the rosette and bindings exposed and then lacquers them to protect them from the dye. That's another difficult part since if any lacquer seeps under the tape onto the top, then the dye won't penetrate.


When the lacquer (five coats) on the rosette and bindings is dry, Nick stains the whole top yellow, and then starts adding the red color, working from the edges into the center.


Nick then works successively lighter tones of red toward the center; rubbing the dye on with a cloth pad.


until he has an even gradation from the edges to the center.
.

Then he goes back to the edges with a darker red.


The final step is to air brush the very outer edges with black

[mhw48]

Nick finished the sunburst for my guitar -- it took him about a week. I've already posted photos of another of Nick's guitars going through the steps for completing the sunburst, but I'll also post the photos of my guitar:

First step, taping off the bindings and rosette. Then cutting a mask to cover the top, and taping it down. Then the rosette and binding get about five coats of lacquer. When that is thoroughly dry, the tape and mask come off and the entire top of the guitar gets a coat of yellow dye. Then Nick, starting from the outer edge, adds red dye and shades it into the yellow. Then back to the outer edge to add black

The last step is to scrape the bindings and rosette and Voila!