Build Thread: Klepper 00, Brazilian/Red Spruce

[kydave]

THAT is looking fantastic, Howard!

(I should see if I need to head up toward Humboldt to visit my son about the time that guitar is being completed...)

[justonwo]

Originally Posted by Howard Klepper

Gluing top and back on.



Box closed up.

I recognize that back strip. Looks great! This is going to be one killer guitar. Would love to hear how it sounds.

[Howard Klepper]

Originally Posted by kydave

THAT is looking fantastic, Howard!

(I should see if I need to head up toward Humboldt to visit my son about the time that guitar is being completed...)

Your visit would be welcome, Dave.

[kydave]

Thanks Howard. I'll contact you well ahead of time when I'm next heading North. My adult son is in Eureka, so I get up there a couple times a year.

[Howard Klepper]

Work slowed last week due to storm and holiday preparations. But the binding and purfling is all in now.

Brazilian rosewood bindings, "Z" top purfling, curly koa side purfling, maple/black/maple back purfling and boxed, bookmatched Brazilian end graft.

End graft with top purfling and binding in, back not yet bound:



All bound, with side port:



Closer look at Z purfling:

[Howard Klepper]

The Brazilian rosewood heel cap is on; the heel cap is always the last piece. When I use side purfling, I like to align it with a matching layer under the cap.



And the neck is fit. The neck extension is free of the top beyond the 14th fret.



On to the finish sanding and then lacquering.

[jmat]

Looks like a guitar Howard!

Very lovely craft, looking wonderful.

[WhistlingFish]

Howard, superb guitar!

Some questions, if I may:

1. Is the portion of the neck that supports the fretboard extension a separate piece of wood?
2. I don't see any provision to adjust the truss rod. Am I missing something?
3. Are the braces that run through the upper transverse brace towards the neck block let into the block, or do they just butt up against it?
4. What effect on tone, if any, does the elevation of the fretboard bring about, given that the direction of string pull will differ from the norm?
5. Following on from Q4, is the bracing beefed up at all to counteract the forces pulling up on the bridge?

Thanks in anticipation.

[Howard Klepper]

Originally Posted by WhistlingFish

Howard, superb guitar!

Some questions, if I may:

1. Is the portion of the neck that supports the fretboard extension a separate piece of wood?
2. I don't see any provision to adjust the truss rod. Am I missing something?
3. Are the braces that run through the upper transverse brace towards the neck block let into the block, or do they just butt up against it?
4. What effect on tone, if any, does the elevation of the fretboard bring about, given that the direction of string pull will differ from the norm?
5. Following on from Q4, is the bracing beefed up at all to counteract the forces pulling up on the bridge?

Thanks in anticipation.

Thanks!

1) yes, rabbeted to the neck.
2) yes--at headstock, not yet opened up in these photos
3) tapered and butted
4) a subtle one. Maybe a bit more fundamental.
5) no

[cpabolting]

Your attention to detail is always impressive

[bho]

Originally Posted by justonwo

I recognize that back strip. Looks great! This is going to be one killer guitar. Would love to hear how it sounds.

What is that back stripe? It's gorgeous.

[Howard Klepper]

Originally Posted by bho

What is that back stripe? It's gorgeous.

Thank you. I make my own marquetry strips. That one is an interpretation of the Martin "arrowhead" backstrips of the period from the 1880's to WWI.

Here's a closer look at the pattern, on Juston's Schoenberg/Klepper guitar:

[antsdmb]

Where do you source your awesome purflings from if you don't mind me asking? Make them possibly? The reason I ask is because I have a vintage themed build upcoming and was trying to find some sources.

Beautiful guitar! Love the whole vibe

[iim7V7IM7]

Originally Posted by antsdmb

Where do you source your awesome purflings from if you don't mind me asking? Make them possibly? The reason I ask is because I have a vintage themed build upcoming and was trying to find some sources.

Beautiful guitar! Love the whole vibe

Howard is well known for crafting his own...

[Howard Klepper]

Work always slows down when the guitar goes into the finishing process. In this case it slowed more than usual, with the holidays and a few weeks of weather that wasn't the best for lacquering. Fortunately I have a very patient client.

Finish prep work takes me longer than it used to, especially pore filling. But that pays off later on.

Most of the lacquer coats on John's guitar are sprayed. After the spraying is done, there will be a few weeks of waiting while the lacquer shrinks and hardens.