Hatcher Studio '24

[Mark Hatcher]

Dustin Furlow just sent me this sound demo of his Greta being played by Michael Lille. Since I'm starting this thread off with a Greta build I thought I should pass it on:



Thanks Dustin and Michael!

Mark

[Mark Hatcher]

I've selected the wood, split out the back braces and shaped them into blanks. Then I separate them by weight and weight deflection and pair the ones I am using on this guitar.

Fitting and gluing them up:





Thanks for viewing!
Mark

[Nemoman]

Love the pic above with the bracing and go bars--it's a beautiful composition with all the interplay of the various lines.

[Mark Hatcher]

Originally Posted by Nemoman

Love the pic above with the bracing and go bars--it's a beautiful composition with all the interplay of the various lines.

That’s a lot of braces and go bars. I have to work fast with all the open glue. I glue all together first and then glue the whole thing down in one go.

Thanks,
Mark

[Treenewt]

Originally Posted by Mark Hatcher

That’s a lot of braces and go bars. I have to work fast with all the open glue. I glue all together first and then glue the whole thing down in one go.

Thanks,
Mark

I wondered about that Mark! Either way, you have to move quickly I suppose! Your back bracing is a work of art, btw.

[Mark Hatcher]

Originally Posted by Treenewt

I wondered about that Mark! Either way, you have to move quickly I suppose! Your back bracing is a work of art, btw.

Thanks Treenewt, Once the brace wood is selected and prepped it’s the sash joints that take the most time. I tend to do the pre work in big batches so I have enough for multiple guitars.

Mark

[Mark Hatcher]

With the back all set for now it is time to go to the top. We selected a master grade Tunnel 15 top. It's the tunnel on the right in the old hand colored lithograph here:



This sound board is the right tone and color for where we are going with this build:





And off we go!



Mark

[Dustinfurlow]

Oh my. This is going to be exciting.

[Mark Hatcher]

Originally Posted by Dustinfurlow

Oh my. This is going to be exciting.

Thanks Dustin, I’ve got much to show on this one!

Mark

[Mark Hatcher]

Here is a rough sketch of what I am doing for top design:



This is all done in woods. I'm using the same woods as I did on the back strip:



The drawing is quite flat looking but when I add the contrast, textures, gradients and tones it will come to life:

The background of these shapes are pommel figured Sapele. It has a nice gradient that I am using to keep the contrast up as the rosette tapers down to nothing.

I am using the same gradient on the bass side shape and am lining this all up so it looks like it belongs:



The fretboard will be Desert Ironwood. Only Snakewood is as hard, non-porous and reacts to heat and humidity so little as Ironwood. I consider these two woods as the only two woods on the very top shelf of fretboard woods.



Like the back strip, I'm using Desert Ironwood for the windows. I am choosing spots that are curved to make them fit in with the overall swirl of the design.



There will be purfling between all of the elements to bring all into finer focus.

Mark

[Lonzo]

..that looks mighty nice !

[Joe Whitman]

I love your use if all these beautiful woods! You definitely have an eye for bringing them all together.

[Mark Hatcher]

Originally Posted by Lonzo

..that looks mighty nice !

Thanks Lonzo!

Originally Posted by Joe Whitman

I love your use if all these beautiful woods! You definitely have an eye for bringing them all together.

Thanks for commenting Joe. We’re lucky to work with these great woods!

Mark

[Mark Hatcher]

Here is a snap shot of the participating wood pieces in place:



Here I am binding the individual pieces:



Here's a better picture with the wood stacked in place:



I'm embedding the larger pomele Sapele parts first and will wait until the guitar body is closed and bound before I put the Desert Ironwood pieces in. I'm doing this mainly because the Ironwood needs to be centered and that will be easier to do when the background Sapele is set and the binding is cut and installed. Additionally, It is less likely to break the Sapele when cutting the pockets if the Sapele is anchored in the Redwood top.

Lutherie is like chess in that the better you get the more steps ahead you plan.

Thanks for following!
Mark

[Loggerenguitars]

WOW!!! Mark, you are really a man of your word!! Really enjoying watching this one!!