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  #61  
Old 07-15-2016, 09:28 AM
Nemoman Nemoman is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Michael Watts View Post
It's that time again... I just woke up to find some pics of the rosette of the MDW in my inbox, it was a hell of a start to the day!

Jason went for a Lapis Lazuli effect on this one with deep blues and gold burls. I may be biased but this could be my favourite Kostal rosette so far!
Well, I'm not biased, and it's my favorite Kostal rosette for sure!

Spectacular...
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  #62  
Old 07-18-2016, 07:00 AM
ericcsong ericcsong is offline
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Its great to see this thread! I'm so excited to see it come together!
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  #63  
Old 07-20-2016, 02:44 PM
Michael Watts Michael Watts is offline
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Originally Posted by justonwo View Post
The best part of waking up . . . is Kostal MDW pics (in your cup?)
Oh yes!

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Originally Posted by Nemoman View Post
Well, I'm not biased, and it's my favorite Kostal rosette for sure!

Spectacular...
It is, I love the colour scheme Jason has chosen here and can't wait to see it against the Maple.

Speaking of which... The back is braced, and for the first time on a Kostal guitar the braces have been capped with Ebony.



This will add strength to the back but other than that won't affect the tone of the instrument.
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  #64  
Old 07-21-2016, 05:13 AM
JonBarclay JonBarclay is offline
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It's going to be another corker Michael!

Love the rosette, the ebony caps on the braces, the maple, the spruce...

Truly you are a most fortunate fellow

Jon
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  #65  
Old 07-22-2016, 08:33 PM
LouieAtienza LouieAtienza is offline
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Originally Posted by Michael Watts View Post
Oh yes!



It is, I love the colour scheme Jason has chosen here and can't wait to see it against the Maple.

Speaking of which... The back is braced, and for the first time on a Kostal guitar the braces have been capped with Ebony.



This will add strength to the back but other than that won't affect the tone of the instrument.
Michael you may end up spending as much time looking inside as well as outside the guitar when done!

Are the braces Spanish cedar or mahogany?
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  #66  
Old 07-27-2016, 12:31 PM
jkostal jkostal is offline
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I have had quite a few people contacting me about this build and many of the questions revolve around "Why a smaller bodied MD" and how is this different than the SK and studio models that Ervin made a while back. I will do my best to answer both questions.

To start, this isn't really a smaller MD but rather a complete redesign of a guitar in order to accomplish certain things tonally and ergonomically. Ervin built a reduced MD about 10 years ago that was called the SK. This guitar was essentially a 9% reduction in size, with everything else remaining exactly the same... building process, bracing, response, etc. The sole purpose of this guitar was to create a smaller bodied guitar for a client that could not handle the larger MD but wanted that shape. Hiro Guitars of Japan liked the idea and ordered 5 of them, but eventually that model went into retirement before I arrived at Ervin's. When I was at Ervin's from 2008-2011, he built four guitars that were called the Studio Model, made out of wenge, and once again were nothing more than a reduction in size with all other things remaining the same.

One of the things that I determined, in my opinion, after playing the studio models as well as one of the SK guitars, was that the MD was well suited to being a large bodied guitar. When reduced in size, maintaining every other aspect of it just did not work well in my mind, and so I started to play with the idea of a smaller bodied MD shape, with everything else being completely different to account for the change in size. I mentioned this to Michael in passing sometime in 2011, and he must have filed that away as well.

A few years ago I introduced my OO model, which was my first small bodied, short scale, 12 fret guitar. I built this guitar from the ground up using my experience and understanding of the guitar to change my approach to building and to create the outcome that I desired. It was an exciting project for me at the time, and taught me a lot about my own guitars, reinforced my own philosophies, and allowed me to experience the changes that I made in the finished product. I was, and still am, immensely happy with this little guitar and it continues to be a huge hit with my clients. One aspect of the OO that I have had to deal with is that I have been unable to come up with a cutaway design that I like and find visually appealing on that guitar. I have sat for hours trying to make it work, and it just doesn't in terms of my own sense of style and design, so my OO continues to be a non-cutaway model.

Fast forward a few years and Michael and I were talking about guitars and once again I mentioned my concept with the MD. At this point I had been playing with it on and off for about 5 years, and I finally felt like I understood my own MDs well enough, and had enough experience with my OMs and OOs to truly understand how the different guitars responded and how my building techniques affected the outcome. I was ready to move forward with this new project, and it just so happened at a time when Michael and I were deep into talks about a new guitar for him, preferably one with a shorter scale than his MD, as well as a smaller body, and it had to have a cutaway. We decided this would be the one.

Redesigning a guitar is sometimes very easy, and sometimes very complicated depending on what you desire to do with it. When I used to teach guitar building at roberto-Venn, students very often would try to reinvent the wheel by creating new models, designs etc without ever really understanding how their initial guitar worked. I used to tell people that you really need to build 10-20 guitars, exactly the same, and then change small things on each additional one in order to fully understand how each new change affects the outcome. When you make 25 changes all at once, whether it turns out good or bad, you don't really know how each of your changes affected the outcome, and what, if, anything, to change to adjust things. So much of my desire to refrain from redesigning a guitar lay in my belief that I needed to fully understand my own guitars as much as possible before I jumped in to something new. Almost every aspect of the guitar affects the tonal outcome, and many of the aspects will affect playability and experience as well. It is not a project to take light heartedly and definitely is not something that you pull off the shelf and execute. This MDW, being labeled SN 99 is actually my 100th guitar. I had intended to label it 100 but Michael has some draw to the number 9, and liked 99 better than 100, so we changed two guitars around! In addition to the 100 that I have made on my own over the last 12 years of building, and nearly 50 guitars that were completed during my time with Ervin, I also have 3 years of teaching guitar building to draw on as well. Each of these experiences has helped me approach this project methodically and with a very clear purpose in mind. The main differences in this guitar compared to my MD are as follows:

- Different size (obviously)
- Top and back thickness, deflection, and radius
- Bracing changed both in orientation and splay as well as shape, width and height of the braces
- Soundhole diameter and location
- Brace material and construction
- Rim construction, glues and materials used
- Headstock angle, neck construction, neck angle, and orientation of graphite rods

The end result will most likely be a smaller bodied guitar that exhibits many of the properties of the MD, but has the ergonomics and playability of a shorter scale, small bodied instrument. While this little gem is 5 years in the making, and a few months of preparation, it is fun to finally see this underway and coming to fruition. As mentioned earlier, I have no idea if this will be a permanent part of my line or just a special guitar made for a talented player that has supported me throughout my career. Regardless of what comes of it in the future, I know that the finished product will be everything that I hope it will be, and I know that Michael will continue to create some beautiful music with it in the years to come. I hope that clears up some of the questions! I sent Michael some new photos of the guitar which he will most likely be posting soon. Thank you for continuing to watch this unfold, and share your thoughts.

Jason
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  #67  
Old 07-27-2016, 02:44 PM
Michael Watts Michael Watts is offline
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Thank you Jason! And here are those pics!

First off here are the sides being laminated



and then bent



and here are the top, back and rim with the Ebony inner sides



You'd be forgiven for thinking that with the amount of wonderful guitars we spec out here at TNAG on a daily basis I'd have become jaded... but the truth is I am hugely excited about this guitar and can't wait to make music with it!
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Last edited by Michael Watts; 07-27-2016 at 03:14 PM.
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  #68  
Old 07-27-2016, 02:48 PM
Michael Watts Michael Watts is offline
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Originally Posted by JonBarclay View Post
It's going to be another corker Michael!

Love the rosette, the ebony caps on the braces, the maple, the spruce...

Truly you are a most fortunate fellow

Jon
Thanks Jon! Yes indeed, I am hugely appreciative of the way the stars have aligned on this one. Having my initials on a new Kostal model is a big deal for me.

Quote:
Originally Posted by LouieAtienza View Post
Michael you may end up spending as much time looking inside as well as outside the guitar when done!

Are the braces Spanish cedar or mahogany?
It's funny, when I'm writing with #32 I often like staring through the sound hole at the ebony within. Very inspiring...
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  #69  
Old 07-28-2016, 09:03 AM
Michael Watts Michael Watts is offline
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More shots from Jason today, here is the back ready to receive its shellac finish



And here it is with the shellac, label and one-off blue pearl wax seal applied!



A closer look



and it's time to box it up!



This is becoming very real all of a sudden!
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  #70  
Old 07-28-2016, 09:42 AM
LouieAtienza LouieAtienza is offline
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Wow... hey wait, Jason's not drinking Maker's Mark?????
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  #71  
Old 07-30-2016, 01:50 PM
Michael Watts Michael Watts is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LouieAtienza View Post
Wow... hey wait, Jason's not drinking Maker's Mark?????
Oh no, nothing but Mountain Dew and determination!

Speaking of which, we now have a closed box!



And that box now has binding channels cut on the back



and front



These two shots give a hint of what's to come...





And contrast beautifully with similar pics from the build of #32 six years ago.



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  #72  
Old 07-30-2016, 08:55 PM
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justonwo justonwo is offline
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That maple is absolutely breathtaking. Just perfect. And the rosette is EXACTLY what I would want in a Kostal. Unbelievable.
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  #73  
Old 07-31-2016, 12:30 PM
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rlxnply rlxnply is offline
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Wow, this is coming together very nicely. Love that rosette and blue wax.
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  #74  
Old 07-31-2016, 03:26 PM
SiliconValleySJ SiliconValleySJ is offline
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Much agreed. Jason, you may have to make blue a standard option going forward. It's gorgeous.


Quote:
Originally Posted by rlxnply View Post
Wow, this is coming together very nicely. Love that rosette and blue wax.
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  #75  
Old 07-31-2016, 03:35 PM
Michael Watts Michael Watts is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by justonwo View Post
That maple is absolutely breathtaking. Just perfect. And the rosette is EXACTLY what I would want in a Kostal. Unbelievable.
Thanks Juston, yes, it really is looking spectacular!

Quote:
Originally Posted by rlxnply View Post
Wow, this is coming together very nicely. Love that rosette and blue wax.
Thank you! There's more to come!

So... 32 was the first Kostal guitar to feature the two-tone headstock which took a significant amount of R+D to get to the point where Jason was happy with it. Here is that same design evolved into the headstock of 99!

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