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Osthoff Guitars '2016
It seems that I start off most of my threads with some sort of statement about not really getting around to posting all that much. It’s true, but most of you know I have been a sponsor of this forum for about ten years and got to know many of you through the AGF. Anyway, I have been busy in the shop (still) working mostly on (repeat customer) commission work. I thought I would ‘borrow’ an idea that I got from some of my colleagues here on the AGF of starting a general thread about some of things I have been playing around in the shop.
I got lots of things going on, as mentioned mostly working on commission work, but also a couple of spec guitars for the Woodstock show and for some dealers. I am also developing a prototype and although I have procured some woods, this one is still on the drawing board. (More on these topics later.) One of this things that has been on my mind a bit lately, is how cool it is to be a “custom” guitar maker. Yea I do try to “standardize” on some things, but I remember talking to a fellow maker referring to some process in building and he said to me, “just do what you usually do.” We both got a bit of a chuckle out that as in the custom world, there is not a lot of repeats.. Anyway a few years back I made some changes to my ‘line” of guitars that were really well received. My customers were happy with what I had been up to. Still I had some inquiries about some building some more traditionally based models, 00, OMs and Slope Shouldered Dreads. I dusted off the forms and molds for the 00 and OM but I really wanted to start fresh with the Slope Dread, so it was back to the drawing board with that one. The slope dread has turned out to be a ton of fun as of late. I made the body outline with making it into a 12-fret, or 14-fret neck connection. Lots of other options opened up there, with cutaways, slotheads, etc. Here is a couple shots of a spec SD with the 12fret neck: |
#2
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Beautiful guitar John... It is nice to see you post again (welcome back!)
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A bunch of nice archtops, flattops, a gypsy & nylon strings… |
#3
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I am so fortunate to have customers that put faith in me to bring their vision to fruition. We get to play with non-traditional woods, and step out of the box a little.
In this example, my customer wanted a SD, but he wanted a cutaway, and had this vision, of using the SD's 14-fret layout with a 12-fret neck. We pushed the soundhole a bit north, and had to let the fretboard run into the soundhole a bit. We also made the 20th fret only available on the treble strings and stuck with a slopthead on this one too: |
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And while I am on this SD thing, here is one that just got delivered yesterday. It has a sunburst, and no matter how I setup the camera and lighting, I can really seem to get a shot of what it looks like. I took this outside, and it is a little closer, but the photos really don't do the sunburst justice.
Here is the first reaction from the customer: "Holy (crap)! This guitar is truly amazing. It is 100% exactly what I envisioned when I commissioned it. Everything about it is just so completely spot on: the burst, the torch inlay, the Brazilian (insanely figured), the tuners, the binding. Just perfect man. Also, the tone and volume are truly exceptional given that this thing is straight out of the box. I honestly could not be happier with the way this SD turned out. My sincere thanks for working with me to get the vintage aesthetic with the killer Osthoff sound" |
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John- Thank you for the updates, both in written word and images. I know so many of us appreciate the time you've taken away from your art to do this. And, that's one proper sunburst!
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John, great to see some new guitars here. Hope to visit you all at Woodstock!
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#7
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Very handsome lineup of guitars John
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Kinnaird Guitars |
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Beautiful work John, as always.
I especially like this head: Wow! What is that burl? Steve |
#9
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Great looking guitars John. Is the wood used on this one mahogany, movingui, ceylon satinwood, or what?
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Chuck 2012 Carruth 12-fret 000 in Pernambuco and Adi 2010 Poling Sierra in Cuban Mahogany and Lutz 2015 Posch 13-fret 00 in Indian Rosewood and Adi Last edited by ChuckS; 05-29-2016 at 04:06 PM. |
#10
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The burl is walnut. |
#11
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It is Mahogany. |
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Beautiful work as usual, John. Is that walnut burl on the binding of that mahogany guitar?
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#13
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Thanks man, Actually the binding is Black Acacia. Thanks for checking them out |
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I got a couple of others on the bench right now. This OM is ready for finish, and I expect to bring this one to the Woodstock Show in the fall. I was a bit lax in taking photos of the build on it, but I have another OM and GP on the bench where I will try to take a few more photos.
Here are a few shots of the first OM before finish: |
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