Hatcher Studio '16
 

I'm jumping the gun a little bit starting my 2016 studio thread now but, we're just too close to the year end to start a Hatcher Studio '15 #3

I have great projects planned this coming year and nothing gets the ball rolling more than a bunch of new back and side sets. I sent a number of well seasoned billet sets out to Chris Ensor to resaw and I was very pleased with the result. So just a note for the other builders out there Chris is a great guy to work with

Here are some pictures of just the back sets. Of course, I have the matching side sets to go with them:

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/580/2...e059e44f_c.jpg

From the lightest to darkest woods we have curly Maple. This is very light weight wood that I'd recommend for smaller guitars:

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/778/2...71ac002c_c.jpg

The next is one I'm very excited about because I think it is just drop dead gorgeous. It's extremely quilted Western Big Leaf Maple. It's very hard and would work great as a small jumbo guitar. In fact, I already have a set put aside in the upcoming spec series I'm currently working on:

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5702/...5272ebd0_c.jpg

This one is striped mahogany from a big board I purchased years ago. It's very hard for mahogany and has great tap tones and sustain. I have enough extra to make tops, necks etc. This would make an awesome all Mahogany Greta grand auditorium so somebody order one! I'd love to make one and there isn't even an upcharge on this wood:

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/666/2...022bebb1_c.jpg

Finally this darkest set is Katalox also known as Mexican Royal Ebony. Although it is not a true ebony it is harder and stiffer than most ebonies and it rings with a greater pallet of tones than any ebony I've ever heard including Macassar:

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/724/2...1276cddb_c.jpg

Thanks for checking these out!
Mark

Yum - lots of tasty wood here. That quilted maple just POPs. Can't wait to see where it all ends up!

Hey Mark,

it seems that you won't be lacking wood for the year to come.. nice to see that!
Can't wait to see your next builds ;)

If I had a stack of wood like that I would never come out of the shop:D
Anxious to see what you do with it, your builds are always incredible.
Travis

Thanks!

Currently I am working on four spec guitars to display at future shows.
I have a 16ft bench at the back of my shop that has become my "dartboard". I stage my ideas for builds here where I can see them throughout the day. I switch different woods in and out and live with them as they come together. It seems my ideas come best in passing and I can act on them quickly when everything is so accessible.

Here is what I have coming together for the quilted Maple set I said I put aside:

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5794/...676b1a4b_b.jpg

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/636/2...7291d8ee_c.jpg

This will be a cut away Josie small jumbo with a quilted bear claw Sitka top.
The guitar will be trimmed in Cocobolo and have both arm and rib bevels. You can see there is some Maple burl that will find it's way in here somewhere.

Here is a better picture of the top which has both quilting and bear claw figure:

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/720/2...a0d97e46_c.jpg

This will be the third of the four I am building. The first one is just about ready for the finisher. That one is my Pina parlor model. It has figured Redwood on curly Claro Walnut.

Thanks for viewing!
Mark

That quilted Western Big Leaf Maple is simply phenomenal! Looks like you got 2016 all figured out Mark.

Great selection of woods, Mark--this should be another stunner! Is the fretboard going to be Coco as well? Couldn't tell if that piece was for the fingerboard or the bevels--either way, it's a beautiful board...

Wow, that big leaf quilted Maple is every bit as phenomenal in appearance to any of "The Tree" I have seen. Don't get me wrong, that is beautiful stuff too, but this Maple is out of this world. I like the combo you have picked out for sure. It will be stunning if it is like your past work and sound great also!

An all mahogany Greta....dang that sounds like a winner!

Mark, that maple configuration looks amazing! All those chocolate tones against the maple look fantastic. That is going to be a stellar instrument. I'd have to agree with ukejon that an all-mahogany Hatcher, Greta or Josie, would also be a wonderful guitar.

The bearclaw sitka will go very well with the maple, although I suppose you didn't need me to tell you that! :)

Veeeery pretty!

Has anyone ever done a mahogany top on a maple body, and lived to tell the tale?

Good question, Rog! Wonder how something like that would sound. I think I would like that if the maple were tinted darker, though. For some reason I like the look of a lighter top on a dark body, not so much the other way around, so I'd like to see the maple tinted almost to match the mahogany color or darker.

Thanks for the comments everyone! I like the idea of that maple with a lot of Cocobolo trim. Having the additional bands of Cocobolo color on the arm and rib bevel would really stand out and add a nice sculptured look. Not to mention the comfort it would add to a jumbo guitar.

Tonewise I can imagine mahogany working well with maple. There is a strong traditional aesthetic around the top being lighter in color though. I'm thinking the top being darker than the back and sides could make for a case of terminal uniqueness. :)

That quilt is something else. What causes quilting to occur?

3 or more Amish women with nothing to do????

Stress? Genetics? I know it's rare and shows on flat sawn wood. It looks like curly maple when it's quarter sawn but not all curly figure turns quilted when flat sawn so go figure. I've also heard that only grandmother trees can make quilted maple.

That quilt is unbelievable. Will turn out to be a killer guitar for sure and I can already hear the dry, clear and sweet tone coming out of this beautiful box. :D

"future shows"
 

You mentioned you are making spec guitars for "future shows". Is there a show in the works somewhere that you are targeting in particular?

Woodstock would be a natural choice but, I'm also thinking of Memphis and Santa Barbara. In the longer term, when EU currency is doing better against the US dollar, I would like to do shows in Spain, Italy, and of course Berlin.
There are large markets that I just haven't had exposure in.
All this is over the next couple years as there is quite an investment in time and money getting spec guitars together.

Show Specs
 

Here is a picture of the materials for the second spec guitar I've recently started:

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5678/...d54ce24c_c.jpg

This will be a Brazilian Rosewood Greta grand auditorium model with a Florentine cutaway. In the picture you see I selected a light colored Western Cedar top and am using gold EVO fretwire and all gold Schertler open back tuners. There are two pieces of bark from 20,000yr/old+ wooly mammoth tusks that I'll use for the heel cap and truss rod cover. I'll also use wooly mammoth ivory for my edge type fret markers. Finally, for the rosette there is a piece of curly Red Oak burl that fell into my hands while I was bringing in fire wood. I'm going for a subtle organic look on this guitar highlighted with gold and trimmed in Black Ebony.

If someone asked me to build what I think is the best sounding guitar I can build, this is it. It will have a very active cedar lattice braced back and be a culmination of what I believe are the best elements of the best sounding guitars I've made to date.

Hey Mark, looks like this should be a beauty, always fun to pick out the parts/pieces and see where the vision takes you....have fun!

The materials are outstanding together to be sure. The Cedar is very pretty and the BRW goes without saying. However,That Mammoth is fantastic and the thought that part of the guitar comes from your wood pile is both humorous and cool at the same time. I am more intrigue by the "best sounding guitar I can build". I have played two of your guitars and it is hard to imagine anything sounding better than those!!!!

I have a feeling this spec will not be making it to any shows hahah!

Thanks Greg,

Yea, it is fun to pick the parts. Picking them for 4 specs at once is a lot to do.
I'm trying to show different models and keep them each feature rich but, in different styles.

Thanks for the kind words Tom,

It certainly wouldn't bother me if the guitar didn't make it to a show!

Mark

This is already looking gorgeous, and it's just a pile of bits!! Can't wait to see the finished product!

I am going to be real interested in the softwood back. I am guessing that it will be much lighter than normal backs resulting in a more resonant back. Should make for a very 3D sounding guitar.

I'm sorry Fred, I could have worded that better. This is a thin BRW back with cedar braces in a lattice configuration. A cedar backed guitar would be a whole different animal.

You always have the most beautiful wood! I can't wait to see the cedar/brz come alive.

Cherry Picking
 

I visited with a collectable knife maker friend of mine today who is retiring and had the opportunity to cherry pick through a very old collection of wooly mammoth ivory and tusk bark. I also picked up some exhibition grade white mother of pearl as well as some of the best gold mother of pearl I've seen:

Here is a picture of some of the wooly mammoth pieces I got. You can see where they get the term "tusk bark" on that top middle piece:

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5786/...fcbdc86b_c.jpg

Here is some of the mother of pearl. The gold pearl coloring runs quite deep which is rare:

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5756/...cca1d6cb_c.jpg

That gold will definitely find it's way into the BRW spec I'm currently working on.

I was like a kid in a candy store!

Mark

Wow, that wooly Mammoth ivory is fantastic!!!! I know you are putting it into your spec Greta, I wonder how that might look on one of your smaller models? They just dug up a 6 or 8 foot wooly Mammoth tusk on a Discovery show while gold mining, but it did not look like this material!!!!