Mark Hatcher's Studio 2017
 

I have a lot in the works for 2017 and want to start off with a current build I am working on. This is a Josie small jumbo model. It has a highly figured African Padauk back and side set:

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This is sometimes called "bacon" for obvious reasons but, this set additionally has some wonderful quilt figuring that I have only seen on one other set which, of course, I also bought. That set was used on a parlor spec guitar:

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This guitar proved the sound potential of these sister sets so I am eager to go big on a 16" lower bout small jumbo.
Going through my stash of tops there was one that really stood out as a match. It wasn't on my clients species wish list but, when I showed it to him when he came to my shop it was the obvious choice;

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We are going for a one-of-a-kind look here and I think we're off to a great start! You just don't see Sitka with this kind of bear claw combined with so much red. It is also an extremely light set of Sitka especially for a bear clawed set. It's wonderful, musical tap tone is an awesome fit for this model and the Padauk b/s set.

So we're off and running!

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There will be a lot more to come!

Thanks for viewing
Mark

Wow that's going to be awesome!

Padauk guitar
 

And I, of course, am very interested in seeing this come too life. I find these things exciting.

Starting off with a bang! Looking good. :)

Beautiful pair, no?

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Now THERE's a bearclaw top! What a great piece of wood.
Looking forward to see how this comes together.

Gorgeous pair. That is by far the most intricate bear claw I have ever seen. Wow!

That is what I was going to say. I have an Edwinson with a stunning bear claw sitka top, but I don't think it can match this one and with finish, oh my.

Congrats Mr. BardRocks!!!! This is going to be an amazing project with a fantastic outcome, my goodness.

Dramatically beautiful!

Hatcher - Crushing it as ever.

Nice.

Love the bearclaw!!!

Thanks for the comments everyone! It truly is an exceptional bear claw top. It's not just the figure though, it's low density is unusual, yet the stiffness is still very good and the tap tone has a nice ring with good sustain. I wish I had more of these tops!

After the top and back are joined I typically further support the back by adding a cross grained center graft. Looking at the back I kept feeling there is something familiar to the look of this and it occurred to me what it was;

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A little better than 30 years ago I lived in Asbury Park NJ. My son was just a baby and we were a new family starting out. We had a house on Sunset Lake. It was a great home built back in the 20s. In fact, Sears used to sell houses back then and this was the model;

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The house was on the north side of Sunset Lake. Here is an old Asbury Park post card. Judging by the perspective it was the view right in front of our house;

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In the late fall and early winter when the sun was low the sunlight would reflect off of Sunset Lake and make dazzling patterns all across the living room ceiling. The pattern in this wood is what brings back those memories.
With all that going on I just couldn't put a strip of plain white Sitka down the center of the back so I dug into the cutoffs from the top wood and got these pieces to use for the graft:

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Here is the inside back shimmering in the light of my memories:

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Another great one Mark. Beautiful.

Thanks for following along Haasome!

Mark

Love that story, Mark.

I really like the wood for this guitar. I will be watching closely. Thank you for posting this.

Rosette
 

Thanks Rob,

I'm a big fan of the wood also. I like the variation of colors in this Padauk. This is why I kept going with the same Padauk when doing the first mock-up rosette:

https://c1.staticflickr.com/6/5610/3...a4687119_c.jpg

We decided this worked but , wanted to go wider on that center cross grain. The thing is, normally with cross grain you can get away with just cracking the piece into place. That's easy with dark wood or woods with dark grain lines especially when it's a thin piece. The cracks just disappear. This is a medium light wood without dark grain lines so the piece needed to be bent into place without cracking. You can imagine how easily a cross grain stick cracks when bending but, with a lot of heat, moisture, and patience it can be done!;

https://c1.staticflickr.com/6/5596/3...5556221f_c.jpg

Thanks for viewing!
Mark

Trim
 

After a little back and forth we landed on the woods to use for the fret board and trim. The fret board will be Macassar Ebony and the binding will be African Blackwood. The idea was to not go with the jet black of black ebony but, still dark enough to show contrast. The dark grain in the Macassar is a perfect color match with the African Blackwood so we'll keep the figure alive up the fingerboard and will have the option to use Macassar for the bridge and maybe the back of the headstock:

https://c1.staticflickr.com/6/5497/3...dd0e720c_c.jpg

Thanks for viewing!
Mark

Looks like a great choice for the fretboard and binding. Another great palette, Mark!

Thanks Nemoman!

Here is a picture of the back with the logo on place. As you can see we have a curly maple chip which could serve as a foreshadowing of things to come!:

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More to come!
Mark

Back Braces
 

Here is a picture of the back lattice braces going on:

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After they are all glued up the back goes into a tapping mold and I shave them down until it taps to a target pitch.

Very pretty work Mark. I sure would like to see your tapping mold. Been thinking about making one of those myself.

What I use is ridiculously simple. Like most, my side molds are just layers of plywood or fiberboard. The top layer isn't glued it's just screwed on and I use that layer to pinch tops and bottoms in and presto, a tapping mold.

Very clever. Thanks.

Top
 

The top braces go on in several layers. This is the first:

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wow! i'm officially dubbing you master hatcher (that should be the next build you do) - these are the most beautiful guitars i have ever seen...

macassar ebony fretboard is gorgeous holyyyyyy

That back wood is delightful! Also, very cool work on the bridge plate. I love it!

Thanks zeebow! I like that Macassar Ebony too. I've loaded up on it for fret boards as it seems to be working it's way into a lot of my build lately.

Thanks justonwo! That back set really is special. Of course, I've got the sides to match. Here is one of those sides being bent:

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Fantastic. By the way, the photo above of the famed Hatcher lattice bracing reminds me of the image that in 2013 absolutely lured me into Mark's lair:

http://i66.tinypic.com/9atlsh.jpg

Beware, don't look at it too long. You may be enticed in as well!