Ensor Guitars- The "All American Wood" Guitar- FINAL PICS & VIDEO

[CaE]

Originally Posted by JamesO

Holy cow, the end graft is fantastic. I'm really impressed with how clean it is and really love the design. I also really like the tag. When the thread started I wasn't sure what I'd think. I've never really been a fan of Osage Orange because it's so yellow, but man, you're making this work. I can't wait to see it under finish now.

Thanks JamesO. I was a bit hesitant with the color as well (at first), but not any more.

Originally Posted by Ken Franklin

Looking great Chris. Love the concept and the execution.

Thanks Ken. That means a lot coming from you.

Originally Posted by SJ VanSandt

I think that burl purfling looks fantastic, as does the whole guitar! I'm curious, did you bend it in long strips or did you have to lay short bits in by hand?

SJ VanSandy,
I carefully bent long strips. Needless-to-say, I cut lots of extras and it's a good thing I did. The stuff had a tendency to fall apart.

Originally Posted by Nemoman

Very cool endgraft, Chris--realy dig how it looks like a wedge going into the wedge of the back. Great stuff!

Thanks Nemoman!

[riverrummed]

There have been a lot of great build threads lately and I've been following this one since its inception. The yellowness of the back has never really bothered me and then it came to me as to why; it's because flamenco blanca guitars have a history of being yellow-ish. But they don't seem to darken with age like a lot of pictures I've found of Osage orange wood. The thing that comes to mind about Osage orange, that I get from this build, and the comments here, is why on earth have luthiers been messing around with the perfect substitute for Brazilian rosewood when it seems like this is it? And if the answer is primarily the color couldn't it be dyed as so many mahogany guitars are? I personally think it is gorgeous as is and looking at pictures of aged Osage I would be even happier as time goes by. Perhaps builds such as this one will go a ways towards making Osage more acceptable. I hope so as this has turned out to be a stunning, unique guitar.

[Glenn23]

I have a large, fallen mulberry tree (fell on my studio) that is the same exact color as osage orange. It even has fiddleback figure. I just can't get myself to saw it up for back and sides for two reasons. First is the color. It just doesn't appeal to me. I'm sure it will darken, as the osage orange will, to an attractive brown but building with gatorade colored wood is a little off-putting. The real reason I'm not sawing it up though, is the sap is supposed to be an hallucinogen, and that is just a little too frightening for me.

[riverrummed]

At this point we all might need a hallucinogen to deal with all that's going on. It beats reality! But I've never heard that about mulberry and I suspect that if it were true it would have been available back in the day. Maybe it's an alternative truth.

[CaE]

If you've never been on a "Grail-Quest", they can be life consuming. If you think it's hard to find good brazilian rosewood, try looking for Arizona desert ironwood that's suitable for guitars. There's plenty of DI on the market, but it's usually used for knife and gun handles- so they cut it to be as flatsawn and burly as possible. It's also not a large plant, so finding a piece large enough in both width and length is challenging to say the least.

Well, after nearly 2 months of trying to track it down, considering using other woods and not being able to track them down either, and even calling other luthiers, I finally stumbled upon a piece on ebay!



Now I know what you're thinking, "That's not quartered". Oh, but it is on the side face. "But that's not wide enough for a fingerboard." That's where the magic comes into play".... Bookmatching!





I have worked with a lot of hard woods. I resaw a LOT. And I encounter some tough woods from time to time. But DI is a new sort of challenge. It cuts well, planes well, cuts with a chisel well. But try to sand it and you'll think your machines are malfunctioning. Oh boy! But the beauty is worth it. More to come.

[Stevien]

Very creative! I like the idea of a bookmatched fingerboard; echoing the guitar top & back (and headstock?). Very intriguing. Can't wait to see the finished product!!
Steve

[Alan Carruth]

I've tested one sample of mulberry, and it seems pretty similar to Honduras mahogany.

[Ken Franklin]

Check out this Tony Vines mulberry guitar. http://collections.nmmusd.org/Plucke...itar13565.html

[redir]

Very cool. I like the way this one is coming together.

[CaE]

Originally Posted by Stevien

Very creative! I like the idea of a bookmatched fingerboard; echoing the guitar top & back (and headstock?). Very intriguing. Can't wait to see the finished product!!
Steve

Thanks Stevien!

Originally Posted by redir

Very cool. I like the way this one is coming together.

Thank you redir! I hope this might change some peoples' minds about domestic woods.

[SJ VanSandt]

I'm curious to know if any of you luthiers have ever tried Mexican Plum - Prunus mexicana. I've been trying to cut up some branches I trimmed off a tree last year and they are hard as rocks! Apparently very rot resistant too. It might make a decent fretboard, though it would probably need to be dyed.

I love these threads about native woods, and I think your guitar is fabulous looking, Chris.

[CaE]

I am falling in love with this bookmatched DI fingerboard more and more each time I look at it. But more importantly, the client is too! Originally, he was thinking he wanted a large patriotic inlay on the fingerboard to go with the idea of the guitar being made from all USA woods. After seeing the board, we both wholeheartedly agreed that it should be left alone! Heck, I would hang it on my wall as a standalone piece of art.

So we move forward with a clean board. Let's make it useful for a guitar:



I mentioned earlier that DI doesn't sand well. Tapering the board proved that point for me. It gunked up half of an 8x144 sanding belt!



If you've followed along with any of my other threads, you probably know that I have a "thing" for old tools. Here is the newest (to me) to join the fleet:



This huge edge sander weighs in at 2k lbs. If you look closely at my auxiliary table, it's capable of doing pattern work- which makes it even more useful. It's also great for long straight edges.

Back to the wood....

The guitar will also feature a DI bridge from the same billet:





An interesting note about the fingerboard: I always bind them. On another build, I had purfling around the top perimeter as well. My standard fingerboard end treatment matches the shape of my headstock. It was like pulling teeth to try to bind around that tight horn the last time I did top purfling. I think I went through a dozen sticks of binding. So that made me realize that something had to be adjusted. Either I would have to use a different fingerboard end treatment when using top purfling, or I would have to have come up with something a bit more creative. Take a look at the picture of the fingerboard again and you'll see my "creative" solution. Both the client and I like it. What do you think?

[Nemoman]

Love the DI fretboard and the bridge--glad you're leaving it simple to speak for itself.

The inlay on the fretboard is a great solution!

[CaE]

Originally Posted by Nemoman

Love the DI fretboard and the bridge--glad you're leaving it simple to speak for itself.

The inlay on the fretboard is a great solution!

Thank Nemoman!

[CaE]

I worked up something a little different for the headstock of this guitar. The idea came to me a while ago and I drew it out on my work bench- that way I could glance at it from time to time and let it sink in. I like it and so does the client, so here we go:



The front will be 2 pieces- burled walnut and spalted oak. The back is bookmatched spalted oak:



And now we have a neck:



More pictures of the headstock and neck coming soon.