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Tony Vines Guitars Build Brazilian Cherry/Carpathian
Hello All,
My name is Tony Vines. I am excited to start a build thread on one of my "SL" models. Before I get started I would like to give a bit of background info. I have been building guitars for 26 years. During the first ten years of my career, I was the owner of a full service repair shop in Kingsport, TN. I also studied under Audey Ratliff of Ratliff Mandolins for a year. During my journey of guitar making I have been fortunate to gather information from guitar makers John Greven, John Arnold, Kevin Ryan and many more. I have been a musician since I was 14 with most of my interest in the acoustic guitar and drums. In 2008 I began to spend more time with my guitars as a player. This “players perspective” has been the most influential part of my career. It greatly helps me understand the guitar from "the other side" of the instrument. I love making guitars. It has always been my desire to be hands on in every process....from bending sides to carving necks by hand to the finishing process. I hope you enjoy this thread! My wood choices... Recently, I was at a local wood supplier just browsing through some of the exotics. Cynthia and Bob (the owners) have always obtained rare and unusual one-of-a-kind boards and species. I came across some boards that had the most iridescent, amber-ish color I'd ever seen. I picked it up...it was heavy and dense. I bought it, sawed it, sanded it, tapped it...I loved it even more. The wood is called "Dark Jatoba". Now I had heard of Jatoba (aka Brazilian Cherry) before and built a couple of guitars with it early in my career. I knew it would make a great sounding guitar. I know that Bruce Sexauer has had good results with it as well, BUT this Jatoba was different. The owners (Cynthia and Bob) at Jefferies Woodworks informed me that it was a salvaged tree and the only one that had ever been found with this unusual grain and color. This Brazilian Cherry is beautiful to my eye and the tap tone is great. The boards were only 4 inches wide so the challenge began. I love a good challenge. I have paired it with a Carpathian Spruce top and a 24.9 scale. Here we go.... Making some kerf lining and braces. The top braces are sorted by weight. The back braces are made close to final size and the top braces are made into blanks for later shaping after they are glued onto the top. Last edited by Tony Vines; 04-07-2016 at 08:26 AM. Reason: photos would not show unless I was logged in. I want others to be able to view the photos and not have to log in. |
#2
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Wonderful to see you here, Tony! I'll be following this thread with great interest- because having seen you and your guitars at several of the big guitar shows, including Memphis, last June- I can state unequivocally that you build splendid, awesome, beautiful guitars. And they sound even better than they look! I'm a big fan of your work.
And for anybody here who doesn't know Tony Vines yet, he is also a wonderful, kind, generous human being. Just keep tuning in to this thread, and you'll see what I mean! Best of good fortune with this project, Tony! All the Best, Steve
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Edwinson |
#3
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1993 Bourgeois JOM 1967 Martin D12-20 2007 Vines Artisan 2014 Doerr Legacy 2013 Bamburg FSC- 2002 Flammang 000 12 fret 2000 McCollum Grand Auditorium ______________________________ Soundcloud Spotify |
#4
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I recall seeing you on the 13th fret some years back. Good to see you here.
Pat |
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Great to see you here Tony. I will be following along closely. You build some great guitars- as I experienced at the Memphis show.
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Chris Ensor |
#6
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[QUOTE=Tony Vines;4888534]Hello All,
My name is Tony Vines. I am excited to start a build thread on one of my "SL" models. Before I get started I would like to give a bit of background info. I have been building guitars for 26 years. During the first ten years of my career, I was the owner of a full service repair shop in Kingsport, TN. I also studied under Audey Ratliff of Ratliff Mandolins for a year. During my journey of guitar making I have been fortunate to gather information from guitar makers John Greven, John Arnold, Kevin Ryan and many more. I have been a musician since I was 14 with most of my interest in the acoustic guitar and drums. In 2008 I began to spend more time with my guitars as a player. This “players perspective” has been the most influential part of my career. It greatly helps me understand the guitar from "the other side" of the instrument. I love making guitars. It has always been my desire to be hands on in every process....from bending sides to carving necks by hand to the finishing process. I hope you enjoy this thread! My wood choices... Recently, I was at a local wood supplier just browsing through some of the exotics. Cynthia and Bob (the owners) have always obtained rare and unusual one-of-a-kind boards and species. I came across some boards that had the most iridescent, amber-ish color I'd ever seen. I picked it up...it was heavy and dense. I bought it, sawed it, sanded it, tapped it...I loved it even more. The wood is called "Dark Jatoba". Now I had heard of Jatoba (aka Brazilian Cherry) before and built a couple of guitars with it early in my career. I knew it would make a great sounding guitar. I know that Bruce Sexauer has had good results with it as well, BUT this Jatoba was different. The owners (Cynthia and Bob) at Jefferies Woodworks informed me that it was a salvaged tree and the only one that had ever been found with this unusual grain and color. This Brazilian Cherry is beautiful to my eye and the tap tone is great. The boards were only 4 inches wide so the challenge began. I love a good challenge. I have paired it with a Carpathian Spruce top and a 24.9 scale. Here we go.... Making some kerf lining and braces. The top braces are sorted by weight. The back braces are made close to final size and the top braces are made into blanks for later shaping after they are glued onto the top.] Hello Tony... You've piqued my curiosity with this (I'm assuming) kerf making jig, which appears to be designed and engineered by Willie Wonka himself...I swear that I saw it in his first movie being operated by an Oompah Loompah to make Everlasting Gobstoppers... Joel
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‘17 Two Hands Guitar Co. 000/Concert, Sitka/Brazilian Imbuia ‘17 Two Hands Guitar Co. 0000/Auditorium, Sitka/Indonesian RW ‘93 Taylor 712 (I spent 20 years trying to convince the owner to sell me this guitar) ‘95 Taylor Limited Edition GAWS (I traded my Gibson J-200 for this guitar in ‘95) TWO HANDS GUITARS |
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Oh yay! I've only played one Tony Vines guitar, but it was very very nice, so I'm looking forward to this thread.
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Solo acoustic guitar videos: This Boy is Damaged - Little Watercolor Pictures of Locomotives - Ragamuffin |
#8
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[QUOTE=Wood Knot;4889366]
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#9
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[QUOTE=LouieAtienza;4889409]
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#10
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Thank you all for the kind comments....
Here's a look at the Brazilian Cherry with a bit of mineral spirits on it. Photos cannot do it justice. Here's a photo of my aluminum side bender. When I bend sides I also bend the binding. First,the binding is bent to follow the profile of the side then bent along with the side to the shape of the guitar. When it comes time to put the binding on the back it goes right on without forcing it into shape. The binding is Amazon Rosewood. Here's the soundport being installed. |
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Interesting that they would call that Dark Jatoba because the Jatoba I have seen in the past was substantially darker then that! It looks great though. Is it really heavy stuff too? I was perusing at one of my local hardwood suppliers a few months ago when I ran into their stock of Jatoba and it was insanely heavy stuff. I could see that it would make beautiful guitars.
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#13
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Hey Tony,
Its good to see you back on the forum again. Looking forward to seeing your build unfold. |
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Thanks Tim!
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Perhaps it's fresh cut surface forms a rich patina in time? Next time I am up at my hardwood store I think I may buy some.
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