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#1
10-10-2016, 10:03 AM
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New model from Stuart Day Guitars
Hello all,
If you are familiar with my name you most likely associate me with my arch top guitars. But, I also have a healthy passion for flat tops and, while they aren't necessarily what I'm more known for, I have been building them just as long as arch top instruments. The last two years I've spent really thinking more about them and what I want out of mine. I spent about 6 months redesigning my flat top from the ground up and was finally able to show my new concept off at the Santa Barbara show. I had wanted to do a build thread but I moved into a new shop earlier this year and with the building of the shop, renovation and keeping up with my normal repair and restoration work as well as my arch top commissions I just didn't have the time. Hopefully next time. But here are a few shots I took yesterday after getting it back from Santa Barbara. This particular instrument has a lot going on. I used the show as an excuse to make a showpiece instrument that allowed me to play with a lot of new concepts and things I've been working on. The faceted cutaway is new, the bridge design is a little experimental (it allows me to reduce weight and mass while keeping my normal bridge footprint), the metal leafing inlay work is something I've been playing with for the past year and offers a ton of possibilities from different textures to colors. But as a base model I will offer this in a non cut, with a more simple wood ring rosette, and basic or no back strip/end wedge. I will have two body sizes, basically an OM and then one size slightly smaller. I also have made some big shifts with my bracing and overall structure and I'm very happy with were I'm headed now. This guitar has a great focus and balance. I think it favors a pick over finger style but I"m also not personally the best finger style player. Some more finger style oriented players had a lot of fun with this guitar in Santa Barbara and were able to make it sound like I can't. This is an X / lattice hybrid bracing on the top with a standard back bracing on the back. indian rosewood back and sides sitka spruce top HM neck I got a lot of questions about what the the laminate on the back of the peghead was. I honestly don't know. my best guess is an exotic fruit tree... maybe Koto wood. I just purchased a pack of veneer cutoffs from a cabinet shop in Montana and I ended up with 4 pieces of this awesome grey material I had never seen before. Its beautiful up close with almost blueish and greenish hues. But I can't pin the gran pattern. It splinters pretty similarly to a very dry redwood. Anyway, its pretty stuff and I only have 3 more pieces.         
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#2
10-10-2016, 10:58 AM
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Good looking guitar Stuart!
I got to meet Stuart in Santa Barbara and see his instruments. They had a great sound and the construction was top notch. Fantastic all around. All the best.
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#3
10-10-2016, 11:50 AM
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Very handsome Stuart.
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#5
10-14-2016, 09:05 AM
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I'm impressed with the details. How did you cut the purfling on the bottom edge of the headstock back plate? Is the neck a 3 pc laminate or a inlay stripe? I would be interested in seeing the inside structure around the mitered cut out.
__________________
BradHall _____________________
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#6
10-17-2016, 10:28 AM
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Quote:
The back of the peg-head is a 4 ply laminate which I just beveled with a file to get that look. The interior blocking of the cutaway on this one is just the headlock that extends in a section to the cutaway. That ultimately made the instrument a little heavier than I had hoped. So in the future I will block it similar to a violin or mandolin. Mostly I just wanted to make sure not to under build that faceted cutaway because it was the first time I ever attempted it.
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#8
11-06-2017, 11:22 AM
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Its been a while since I completed this instrument but just recently had the pleasure of having a talented guitarist over to the shop to make some recording of it.
These two tunes are his originals and the guitar was recorded with a Zoom 4Hn from about 2 feet away with no processing other than a background noise reduction. Enjoy his playing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTb5Nnl91jE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJDrYXv4IAc&t=5s
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