Osthoff Guitars '2016

[dharwin]

The sunburst SD posted above is my guitar. It is, quite simply, incredible. I think I may request to be buried with this one!

Here is a shot of the back (that John also took) since he didn't post one:



I know, I know. We couldn't find a good looking set of wood so we went with this one

[John Osthoff]

Originally Posted by dharwin

The sunburst SD posted above is my guitar. It is, quite simply, incredible. I think I may request to be buried with this one!

Hopefully that won't be for a long time.

[John Osthoff]

Here are some shots of an OM that I am working on. This one is for a customer who has many Osthoff guitars but none with a Katalox back and sides.

Here is the back plate:



Here it is after it has been profiled:



Here is a shot of the (double) sides before they are bonded together, the inner set is made from Myrtle:



And here is a side set on the laminating fixture:

[iim7V7IM7]

The interlocking grain is quite beautiful John...(kudos)

[dharwin]

Originally Posted by John Osthoff

Hopefully that won't be for a long time.

I hope not as i still need an African blackwood Osthoff Jumbo baritone

[billyg]

Great thread John. I will be following closely.
Wonderful work.

[John Osthoff]

Originally Posted by billyg

Great thread John. I will be following closely.
Wonderful work.

Thanks Billy for the comments, but just another quick thanks for the help at the Memphis Show. I am busy in the shop, but not taking a load of photos at the moment. I hope to process a couple shots later on. More to come.

John O

[John Osthoff]

Here is a shot of the sides being laminated. This shot is actually from the GP (Grand Parlor) that I am working on but the process is the same.



I am working on some other stuff (including the GP) but the Katalox OM is moving along. The rim is complete (shown below) and the back and top are braced. I need to do the final carving on the braces, which is a fairly long process but hopefully I will get to that later today

[John Osthoff]

Here is a shot of the Rosette for the Katalox OM.

The 'spiral' thing has been my sort of default. In this case it is made from buckeye burl and Katalox left over from the back. The rings are made from Katolox sapwood. (which will match the bindings.) The color is off a little in this shot but you get the idea.



We wanted a maple neck on this one, and were a bit undecided on the what to use for laminations. I had a couple blanks already made up as a possibility. After a short deliberation, we went with the blank with the wider mahogany strips and it turns out this blank was also used on his SD.

[8thstring]

Man these designs are amazing. Love to include them in our merchandise. Great job on all of them. How long does it take you to do one guitar? Brilliant job! If I do SEO in Vancouver on a guitar site, I would love to use these as examples.

[BrunoBlack]

These are absolutely gorgeous John. You're less than an hour from my house. It would be an interesting field trip to visit your shop.

[John Osthoff]

Originally Posted by Haasome

These are absolutely gorgeous John. You're less than an hour from my house. It would be an interesting field trip to visit your shop.

That would be fun, just give a call first to make sure I am in the shop, not out hunting for wood.

[John Osthoff]

Here are few more shots of the Katalox build, in this one there is a detail look at the lining, and we can see the double sides



We were going back and forth on Ebony or Katalox sapwood for the bindings so I didn't bend the binding with the sides as I normally do. We decided on the Katalox for bindings and I borrowed a little piece of Wenge to go along for the ride.



Here is a shot of the radial bracing at the go-bar deck

[tekaitora]

John-

Thanks for the pictures and update!

Curious to know how those thicker bars work with the tapered braces? I'm assuming they have a groove shaped to accommodate the bracing shape?
It must be tricky getting it set up in the go-bar deck without disturbing the placement and glue bond.

And one last question if I may - do you make bracing stock ahead of time pre-shaped for each of your guitar models? Just curious. I'm fascinated by the process used by great builders like yourself. Many shared goals with many ways to achieve them.

Thanks again!

[mcgr40]

Love that katalox, looks like some I saw over in St. Louis a few months ago.
Do you use epoxy for the lamination? I have been wanting to try polyurethane glue because I am thinking the cleanup might be easier. Just wondered if anybody used polyurethane type glue for laminating sides?