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Old 01-10-2015, 10:30 AM
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Default Mulling over Maple

Bruce cut some beautiful Bigleaf Maple sides and we are mulling over sets for the back and sides. Out of the 10 - 1" thick back sets that he had is his woodlocker, we are looking more closely between these three sets. All three are nice. The middle one seems to have a more rope like aspect to its curl, while to top and bottom sets have a finer flame.

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  #17  
Old 01-10-2015, 12:09 PM
Marcus Wong Marcus Wong is offline
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Not sure how they tap, but visually, I vote the bottom one! Tighter and more regular figure to my eyes

I'm not sure how the body sizes for Bruce's guitars work, but if I'm not mistaken, yours is Jumbo like? If that's the case, I would personally go for a figure that isn't as tight. Having so much figure on such a large surface area can have too much going on. So possibly the middle one

But from what I see, I think if you were to flip a coin (a 3-sided one that is) and pick whichever it landed on, you wouldn't be complaining about either!
  #18  
Old 01-10-2015, 12:39 PM
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Marcus it is a 15", OM/000 sized body with a Venetian cutaway.

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Originally Posted by Marcus Wong View Post
Not sure how they tap, but visually, I vote the bottom one! Tighter and more regular figure to my eyes

I'm not sure how the body sizes for Bruce's guitars work, but if I'm not mistaken, yours is Jumbo like? If that's the case, I would personally go for a figure that isn't as tight. Having so much figure on such a large surface area can have too much going on. So possibly the middle one

But from what I see, I think if you were to flip a coin (a 3-sided one that is) and pick whichever it landed on, you wouldn't be complaining about either!
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  #19  
Old 01-10-2015, 12:57 PM
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Bob hasn't held these billets, so can't be blamed for thinking they are an inch thick. They are actually about 2 1/4" thick, and getting a recognizable "tap tone" out of them is a bit of a challenge; you could hurt yourself doing that! I actually sent him 10 choices, but we're getting it narrowed down some.

I may be a bit scarce this next week as a family emergency calls me away to Washington state today. Washington being the home of Starbucks, on the other hand, perhaps I will find wifi on every other corner.

On another related subject, I have made a little progress on the BRW/Adi Mini-D as well. Here is the back joined, thicknessed, and templated:



The top and the back braces can also be seen.
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  #20  
Old 01-10-2015, 04:02 PM
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Default 10-Sets

While Bruce is on the road, here are all 10 billets that we could use. 9 are quartersawn and flamed and one was flatsawn and quilted. Which would you choose and why?



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  #21  
Old 01-10-2015, 10:15 PM
Marcus Wong Marcus Wong is offline
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Quilted because I prefer that on acoustics
  #22  
Old 01-10-2015, 10:43 PM
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Quilted because I prefer that on acoustics
Quilt can indeed be pretty, but I am ultimately a quartersawn guy when it comes to archtop guitars. So it will be one of the nine other sets...
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Last edited by iim7V7IM7; 01-11-2015 at 02:30 AM.
  #23  
Old 01-11-2015, 09:09 AM
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Hard to pick as they are all nice. But for some reason the first one in the top left hand corner has me coming back to it.
  #24  
Old 01-11-2015, 09:17 AM
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Wow, Bruce! That's possibly the most gorgeous rosette I've ever admired.
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  #25  
Old 01-11-2015, 09:45 AM
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Hard to pick as they are all nice. But for some reason the first one in the top left hand corner has me coming back to it.
Bruce's pick as well...
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  #26  
Old 01-11-2015, 11:01 PM
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A bit hard to tell, but the second one in right column appears to have strong quartered fleck showing as well as consistent curl.
That is extra figure that is nearly as handsome as the curl.
And if your really like quartered wood...

But like I say, a little hard to be certain way over here in Texas.

Actually, they all look good. How nice to have such choices!

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  #27  
Old 01-12-2015, 12:09 AM
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This sounds like another exceptional instrument you're having made iim7. Can I ask you and Bruce expect the effect will be of having a carved back as compared to a "usual" build?

All the best, Berf
I will let Bruce speak for himself, but I suspect that we're a bit off the map or at least near the edge (where dragons lie). I basically trust Bruce's mastery as a luthier to find the voice of a guitar and find a way to make a top and back work well together in harmony. I like exploring and trying different things. Perhaps being in R&D for 30-years will do that.

Like all of Bruce's guitars I expect it to be responsive and be balanced with good presence in all registers. Where I am hoping it will differ from my existing guitars is:

1) in its timbre: I think it will be a more fundamental dominant guitar, but still retain some overtones and harmonic content with a firm, present bass; clear, warm midrange with thick, articulate trebles;

2) in its immediacy: The notes should develop rapidly with fast transients and punch.

3) in its sustain: A general tendency towards a rapid decay, letting the notes get out of the way but not to the extent that a archtop does retaining some level of sustain.
Thanks for the detailed response iim7. It's really informative to hear your thoughts on this.

As for the woods, it looks like you can't go wrong whatever you choose.

The next big question is whether or not Bruce will have usable shoulder joints once the back carving is done???? Looks like one heck of a job given the thickness of those maple boards.

All the best, berf
  #28  
Old 01-12-2015, 12:27 AM
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I am in a Best Western Motel in Kelso WA and they have pretty fast wireless!

All of those billet except the quilt the be will hve spectacular Medulary display as they are near perfect quarter all the way across, within a degree or so. The shape of the carve will move them away from quarter more than the imperfection of the sawyer's interpretation of the tree.

I will slice a set or two for flat backs off before I rip it in half and join it for the carved back. I plane to carve it in about four session with a day or two between each so as not to hurt myself. I did that on the last one and it worked out quite well. The work gets lighter as the process nears completion, which is also when I become impulsively involved and lose all self control.

I have no idea what kind of sound this guitar will make, and instead my targets have more to do with getting a responsive back with good structural integrity and without any extra weight. This has worked well for me on my previous carved instruments.
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  #29  
Old 01-12-2015, 07:54 AM
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Default eeney meeney miney mo...

After looking over these sets, I am considering these three sets: The top one (Set #9) has a tight and even flame that might look great. The middle one (Set #8) has the wildest rope-like flame and the bottom set (Set #7) falls in between the top and middle sets in terms of the character of its flame.



There is something about the grain of Set #7 (bottom) that seems in sync with the side set.



I can ponder this a bit while Bruce travels...
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  #30  
Old 01-16-2015, 09:22 PM
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Default Back n' Sides Selected

Bruce returned to his workshop today and we selected a bigleaf maple billet to carve into a backset and matching side set.

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