Sexauer/'16
 

Happy New Year. The transition between 2015 and 2016 finds me in the middle of 3 guitars. Before I describe them, and for any new to my style, there is a thread here in the forum describing my work in the last half of 2015 and segueing into this thread right HERE. There are a series of threads before that as well if you have a few hours to spare.

The L00 Pernambuco is curing, another week I think, and then I finish it before you very eyes.

My 4th Nylon strung is a Classical BRW/Italian, and is in the finish process, 3rd of 6 coats. The latest is my 5th Nylon strung, and is a Flamenco Blanca in Catalpa and American White Spruce. It may go into finish today.

I am not certain of my UPS scale accuracy, but it says this guitar weighs 2.3 lbs without the finish, bridge, or tuners. Definitely the lightest I've made!


http://mojoluthier.com/lpics15/254NF/weight1.jpg

Bruce, did you go with Mahogany or Spanish Cedar for the neck of the Blanca?

I don't have any Spanish Cedar, never have had. I went through a pile of my "potential neck" stock and picked the lightest weight off-quarter piece I had. The guitar has its pore-filler on and will get varish next day I work. Probably tomorrow as it's suppose to storm which keeps me inside. I carved a prototype peg to make sure I could, and it works as well as hoped. The binding is Jatoba, and so will be the pegs.

Wowza Bruce :up:

Always love watching your work come together Bruce! Happy New Year:guitar:

I got the first coat of varnish onto the Blanca today, as well as the 4th coat onto the Classical:
http://mojoluthier.com/lpics15/254NF/1stcoat.jpg



This BRW is so beautiful I made an attempt to share it, but it comes up short I think:
http://mojoluthier.com/lpics15/252N/3rdcoat.jpg

Both shots are beautiful Bruce..:up:

Kudos

Since I may never make another "Flamenco" I want to put traditional tuning pegs on it, having always favored the purity of them. People say they are difficult to deal with, but they say that about violins too, and I know that a properly working violin peg is a beautiful thing to use, though many people have never used anything but improperly working violin pegs. Point is, I think I can get these right.

I am making my own pegs because none of the violin family pegs seem right to me, all being either to small, or too large. My pegs will have bigger grabs than most, and be a little shorter as they don't have to pass through a pegbox. Here's a photo of the pattern, the carving tool, the roughed blanks, and one which may be finished.

http://mojoluthier.com/lpics15/254NF/1stpeg.jpg

Those pegs are cool. I went back and forth in my head a ton of times if I wanted pegs for my build coming up. In the end decided I wanted tuning machines.

If you don't like the pegs, I believe you can modify the headstock for machines. At least I have seen this type of work done on other forums.

JRW

Marvellous work Bruce, as always! Happy new year! :)

I'm so into the Blanca...and the violin pegs. You make beautiful art Bruce. Can't wait to see how these turn out!

Because of the realities of the market place, I do have a back up plan for putting in conventional tuners, but I seriously hope to find someone who appreciates it for what it is; a complete piece . . . or, the complete piece I hope it will be.

I spent the day making these:

http://mojoluthier.com/lpics15/254NF/6pegs.jpg

And indeed, I had to re-carve the first one to match.

Violin Sale!
 

Some of you may be aware that I make violins. Making them and selling them are two things, as the violin market is very conservative and credentialing is much more important than in the guitar world. I have nothing but my guitar-making cred to support me, and in the violin world that is often considered a strike against rather than for!

So my big news this year is that after just ten years of effort, I have sold one of my violins. The build was documented to some extent here in AGF and may be recalled as my attempt to make a "fiddle" as opposed to my several others, which are "violins". My customer is a serious and talented player in San Antonio named Riley Hemphill, who bought it for all the right reasons. He sent me this photo today:
http://mojoluthier.com/lpics15/signumber5.jpg

Cool shot and congrats Maestro...:up:

Following Bruce's progress is like eating a slice of fresh,ripe pineapple. I look forward to the new post every day. Tom