Hanging out with RW Watson (D-35 build)

[sgreer11]

This is going to be my first long post with pictures/details, so if I royally screw something up please forgive me Also I realize that this post is super long but please give it a read if you get the chance; took quite a while to get all of this wrote and organized.

First off let me start by introducing myself: I am Spencer; 20 years of age, live in Granite Falls, NC and go to school at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. I am a Mechanical Engineering student so please look over my HORRIBLE spelling/grammar mistakes

I would like to say that AGF is such a cool resource for a "nerd" like me. I haven't played guitar very long (a year and a few months); but I am that type of person that gets hooked on something and learns as much and as fast as possible. I have never had a lesson in guitars (I plan to change that soon) but I have picked up quite a bit by reading this forum and YouTube videos.

Although I love playing guitar and getting much better; my real passion is knowing/learning how guitars are made. I think much of my interest has to do with my lust to know why things work (hence me majoring in MEGR). I wanted so badly to build my own guitar but I quickly found out that luthiers are not cheap (I am on a college kid's budget ). Even though I couldn't afford to have a guitar made, I still decided to research guitar building.

I began researching the basics of guitar building during my free time. I instantly became addicted to this forum and soaked up all the info I could manage. After a few weeks of pure reading, I felt like I had a small knowledge-base in guitar building; at least enough to have an intelligent conversation with a luthier. Just about that time,and I know that this was one of God's many blessings on my life, I got a call from a friend (the friend who actually got me interested in guitars). He had no idea about my recent obsession with luthiers; he had just called me to tell me about this "Old guy named RW Watson down the street that's been building guitars for a while." After talking with my friend I decided to give Mr. Watson a call.

After having a quick conversation; I drove to Mr. Watson's house/workshop to check out his guitars. Believe it or not, this place was no more than 5 minutes down the road!! Pulling into his driveway, I had NO IDEA what this experience was going to be like.

Mr. Watson had been around guitars his entire life. Not only was he extremely knowledgeable, he was one of the coolest guys I had ever talked to. He had been working on guitars for about 60 years (his uncle got him interested in wood working) and he began making guitars about 15 years ago. His guitars are very "Martin-like" in design and sound; he told me that his favorite design is the classical D-28. After looking at his guitars (Adi/Hog; Adi/Cocobolo; Sitka/Granadilla; etc.) I just knew that they were going to be WAY out of my price range. Out of curiosity, I asked; and was blown away at how affordable they were. According to Mr. Watson, he does not build these guitars to pay his bills, he builds them because he is retired and loves making instruments. One look at Mr. Watson's guitars and you can tell that he is a very gifted luthier. After discovering how economical his guitars were, I figured that they would not sound anywhere near as good as they looked. I could not have been more mistaken!! The beautiful/full sound that came from each one of his handmade guitars was truly like listening to an assortment of high end Martins. I did not know what to think, and was overwhelmed with excitement.

After hanging out and playing his guitars for a couple hours, we eventually got around to talking about having a "custom" guitar made. We talked about wood combinations, bracing styles, and aesthetics. We eventually came to the following conclusion:

Body Style: Dreadnaught (D-35)
Top Wood: Engelmann Spruce (I chose the "cleanest" piece of Engelmann he had)
Top Perfling: Classic Herringbone
Bracing: Hand-carved, Forward Shifted, Scalloped X
Back/Sides Wood: Dark grained East Indian Rosewood w/Hawaiian Koa wedge
Body Binding: Hawaiian Koa
Neck Woods: Fine grained (slightly figured) Mahogany
Fingerboard: Striped macassar ebony
Nut: 1 11/16"-wide Bone
Inlays: Pearl Dot
Headstock: EIR veneer with gold "WR Watson" logo
Bridge/Saddle: Ebony/Bone
Tuners: Chrome vintage open-gear Grover
Finish: Natural (No vintage toner)

After talking about the design, I thanked him, gave him my number, and got ready to leave. Right when I was about to walk out, I spotted a friend's picture on his wall (He photographs everyone who buys one of his guitars and keeps a log book). Mr. Watson informed me that my friend had built a guitar with him a couple years ago for a school project. He then told me that he would love for me to stop by while he was building my guitar and assist him if I wanted to. I am not sure if he knew what he was getting into when he made this offer to me, but I loved the idea and could not wait to start.

Due to my busy schedule at school, I could not get together to work with Mr. Watson for a few months; he told me not to worry because he was backed up with custom orders anyways. After what seemed like the longest 2 1/2 months of my life, my Spring break finally came around. Most college kids spend their Spring breaks in Cancun partying, but I spent mine with a luthier I loved it!

For an entire week (Saturday-Saturday) I spent 4-5 hours in Mr. Watson's shop. We worked vigorously, yet carefully all seven days to build as much as we could. Working side-by-side with Mr. Watson was a treat in itself; each day was like a new lesson full of stories, ideas, and information. I built roughly 50% of the guitar under his supervision, helped with 95%, but got to watch 100% of the build. Of course I let him do the really tricky stuff that was of the utmost importance (fit the neck, align the bridge, bend the sides) but for the most part, I got my hands on every single detail of the build. This was exactly the experience I was hoping for. We managed to build the entire guitar in those seven days; I was extremely proud (the guitar is now being sealed/finished which will take another month or so).

So without further adieu: PICTURES!!

PS: Due to the fact that I worked on most of the guitar, I was unable to take as many pictures as I wanted.

[sgreer11]

The start



Thought it would be cool to show actual photos of my Koa from the distributor


Building the TOP (Adirondack or Sitka bracing I believe)


Bending the sides. He told me before he got this machine that he used an iron and steamer to hand-bend each piece. "This way is a lot easier" he told me.




Thought I would let you guys in on one of our conversations Dont know how to embed but here is the link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lbcwe7Vrm54

[sgreer11]

The work on the fretboard took an entire day






Fitting the mold




The classic D-35 back held together by wood perfling

[sgreer11]

Doing both sides of kerfing took me quite a while



Cutting out the back




What's inside??


Starting to look like a guitar!

[sgreer11]

After the overhang was removed...





Let the routing begin! Routed back for binding and top for binding/herringbone





I was so nervous. Thank goodness he knew what he was doing.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2503G8VRrs






After we finished routing, we cut room for the Koa end cap


End cap in place (Koa with tiny black perfling)

[sgreer11]

Time for some binding!! More Koa please!!!



Fitting the tuners to the neck



After tape was removed




I applied a dark brown filler to the EIR to give it an even darker color. Taped over all of the Koa of course

[sgreer11]

Also added some Mahogany filler to the neck to darken it a bit



The filler dried and a BUNCH of sanding was done



Gotta fit the neck!

[sgreer11]

Then the bridge...
Couldn't decide which one I liked best




A small adjustment to the neck



Bridge holes drilled

Taped so that lacquer doesn't hinder the bridge from gluing properly to the top.

A little more tape..

[sgreer11]

Hanger for the body


Neck after a coat of sealer


Finally finished after another hour of sanding








Like I said before, the guitar is now having the sealer applied, as well as the lacquer. I know that once it is finished, the wood is going to "Pop" and look absolutely breathtaking. Hopefully it will be finished by the end of the month. I realize that most builds on this forum are done by professional luthiers that build immaculate guitars and I honestly hope that this post is not out of place. I am just pretty proud of my work, and even more proud to say that Mr. Watson is from my home town. I do realize that this guitar is not up to par with the customs that show up on this forum, but I do not think anyone would refuse this guitar at the price which I am getting it. I can't even begin to describe how thankful and grateful I am for the opportunity. I hope you guys like our idea/build and would love to hear your thoughts.

Best wishes,
Spencer

[SJ VanSandt]

What an adventure - I'm very jealous! When I was in college I only did really stupid things over spring break. I hope it sounds as great as it looks when it's finished up.

[Dick Sanders]

Wow! Spencer, what a cool story, and thanks for posting all the pics of your great adventure and learning experience with Mr. Watson.
You've made some good choices. I think there's nothing quite so elegant as the classic herringbone rosette and purfling on Engelmann.
The fanciest rosettes are interesting, pretty, unique even, but they don't beat yours for looks. And your use of Koa and Rosewood on the back is very nice.
And the fact that you got to be involved in every step of the build just makes this guitar 100 times more special than the best Martin.
You guitar will be gorgeous, and my guess is that it'll sound great too. Why wouldn't it?
Now, you're hooked, and will no doubt be soon building more guitars. Engineering is a great background for it. The luthier Jim Worland of Worland Guitars is an engineer who went into lutherie and he builds some exotic instruments. He told me the more difficult the challenge, the more he enjoys it. So, I imagine, advances in stringed instrument design are in your future, unless you choose to just find better ways to make the vintage styles -- a great way to go, IMO.
Thanks for your post, and I'll look forward to seeing and hearing more!
Oh, and congratulations... sometimes you just get lucky. Especially if you're not wasting your time in Cancun!

[pgilmor]

What a great story!! Beautiful guitar that the two of you put together, and I'm sure it will only be that much more special for you because of the process. Something tells me you'll never let this one go.

P.S. LOVE the Koa wedge. Make sure you let us know how it sounds and plays after you've had it for a bit.

[TEK]

Hey Spencer,
Travis here, the guy who texted you about the Eastman I had for sale.
Just checked out your thread, This is very cool. You don't know how lucky you are having someone like Mr. Watson close by and willing to let you help. Although something tells me it was just as enjoyable for him having you around.
Having the opportunity to help out with the build will make this a very special guitar for you and will make it much more special than all the bling that some people put on a guitar. I think the choices you made are going to make you a beautiful instrument. I will be anxious to hear how it turns out. Keep us posted.
Travis

[marty bradbury]

Originally Posted by Dick Sanders

Wow! Spencer, what a cool story, and thanks for posting all the pics of your great adventure and learning experience with Mr. Watson.
You've made some good choices. I think there's nothing quite so elegant as the classic herringbone rosette and purfling on Engelmann.
The fanciest rosettes are interesting, pretty, unique even, but they don't beat yours for looks. And your use of Koa and Rosewood on the back is very nice.
And the fact that you got to be involved in every step of the build just makes this guitar 100 times more special than the best Martin.
You guitar will be gorgeous, and my guess is that it'll sound great too. Why wouldn't it?
Now, you're hooked, and will no doubt be soon building more guitars. Engineering is a great background for it. The luthier Jim Worland of Worland Guitars is an engineer who went into lutherie and he builds some exotic instruments. He told me the more difficult the challenge, the more he enjoys it. So, I imagine, advances in stringed instrument design are in your future, unless you choose to just find better ways to make the vintage styles -- a great way to go, IMO.
Thanks for your post, and I'll look forward to seeing and hearing more!
Oh, and congratulations... sometimes you just get lucky. Especially if you're not wasting your time in Cancun!

What Dick said!! What fun!! Cant wait to see the finished guitar, and maybe a recording??

[Aubade Acoustics]

Hey Spencer, Thanks a lot for taking time to post the build. I enjoyed looking at the photos and hope you enjoy your new baby. IMHO i do not think there is such a thing as an immaculate build. I also do not believe there is such thing as perfect, except for my wife, but it gives us something to shoot for.