Wren Build Thread ... last of 2018 ... Sitka/Koa
 

Hi folks! Again, in the interest of spending more time in the shop than on-line, I'll just be posting one or two build threads for my 2018-2019 season ... thanks for taking the time to watch!

This one is a Concert model for a really nice pro player who has recorded and toured with the likes of Tim Hardin, Andre Gagnon and Jesse Winchester. He was after a very (very) understated look and didn't want anything at all fancy looking, but I think we'll come up with a nice looking guitar that meets his sonic needs.

We chose a really nice Hawaiian koa set that I've been wanting to use for ages, so I'm excited about that!

We also chose an extremely lively Sitka top that I resawed from a (soaking wet) billet back in the late seventies. I only had, and still have, my trusty old Rockwell 14" bandsaw with the height extension ... and really didn't have too much of a clue about resawing wet wood. I ended up painstakingly grinding every third gullet on the biggest blade I could find (to help take the waste wood away and minimize blade heat and distortion). I ended up with some of the liveliest top wood I've ever had, but didn't use some of it because at the time I rejected anything that wasn't completely even in colour! These days, I welcome some interesting colour variations, so I'm getting to use this wood again!

My customer chose my non-cut Concert shape which has a 16" lower bout with ebony binding, fingerboard and bridge ... and as a matter of fact he specified ebony rosette as well!

So here we go ... hope you enjoy the ride!


http://wrenguitarworks.com/WhatsNew/...bendSides2.JPG

We always do, David! Thanks for posting--this will be fun!

Steve

Looking forward to watching this one, David. It will be interesting to see your take on understated: my bet is it still comes out as elegant as ever.

I always love seeing your photos, David.

Ditto. Looking forward to this thread.

Hey Steve ... thanks for the welcome ... and for popping in to this thread!

Hey Stan ... thanks ... much appreciated!

Hey Jim ... thanks! I love taking the photos too!

Hey Carey ... thanks for watching the tread ... much appreciated!

Beautiful koa--love the way it bulges out to match the lower bout.

Love following your build threads, David!

David, I always enjoy your build journals. It is nice to see you back in the AGF custom shop...:up:

Glad to see you back in the shop here on the AGF David. I learn something every time I watch one of your threads and I look forward to following along. Thanks for sharing this build with us.

PS, I can’t wait to see the figure in the lower bout of that back. It looks REALLY interesting what little bit you’ve shown.

Great to see another of your build threads! Good luck keeping that a Koa unfancy! :)

David you already know I am a big fan, that back is crazy!!!