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Build Thread: Indian Hill Concert Engelmann/Wenge for TAMCO
I have a few projects to finish up in the coming weeks, but I'll soon be starting on my next build for Trevor at TAMCO! These are the basic details we've worked out so far...
Concert model Wenge/Zebrawood/Wenge back Wenge sides Engelmann top 12-fret body joint Sound port Before starting I'll be doing some slight tweaking of my Concert shape. The key dimensions are going to stay the same, but the transition points will be changing. Basically the waist and widest point of the lower bout will both be higher up. Here's a pic of how I draw out my shapes... https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-F...o/IMG_2968.jpg I really like using this method -- using a flexible piece like that really allows for natural curves and great control of the transition points (where the piece of wood is pressed against the plastic). I'm quite happy with the re-designed shape and will post pictures of my fancy new mold and drawings soon! Mike |
I look forward to following along. Always so interesting.
Is the shape change for esthetics only or is there a sonic change you are going for? |
Sounds pretty! I'm looking forward to following along. Do you know how you'll bind it?
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Should be finishing up the mould today and really getting started on construction next week! Mike |
I'm really looking forward to this one, the last guitar from Mike sold in a few days.
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Good timing Trevor! The new shape/mould is finally done and I can fully start on this one...
Here's the wood for this build... https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-e...o/IMG_2972.jpg Preparing the center section of the back... https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-K...o/IMG_2990.jpg For the style of rosette I'm planning for this build I install it in several stages. Here I've put in the radial wenge for the main part of the rosette with radial zebrawood for the soundhole binding... https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-v...o/IMG_2992.jpg Next, I route out channels for the radial zebrawood that will surround the wenge... https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-w...o/IMG_2995.jpg Today I'll finish up joining the back sections, install the rest of the rosette, and hopefully get started on bracing! Busy busy day ahead.... Mike |
Yesterday lived up to my expectations and was indeed busy busy busy!
Started the day off by finishing up the rosette. Here I've removed the teflon strips and mostly cleaned up the rest of the rosette before installing the radial zebrawood purfling... https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-f...o/IMG_2997.jpg And here it is all cleaned up! https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-i...o/IMG_3011.jpg Here the final pieces of the back are being joined... https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-v...o/IMG_3001.jpg And this is how it's going to look! I think under finish the transition from the outer wenge to the inner sapwood of the zebrawood will be quite nice. I also like tying in the color of the sapwood to the engelmann spruce on the top... https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-w...o/IMG_3003.jpg Here I'm checking the deflection of the top as I thickness. In this case, I'm going for the same relative deflection as the last engelmann guitar I sent to Trevor. Since this is a slightly larger shape than my OO, it will deflect slightly more, but the ratio of deflection to length will be the same... https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-o...o/IMG_3007.jpg That's it for now! Mike |
Not too many exciting pictures this time, but the guitar is moving right along.
Some of the other guys in my shop have been getting excited about laminating their liners so I thought I'd give it a try this time. First thing this morning will be to clean up the lamination job and see how it turned out! https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-k...o/IMG_3066.jpg The back is about half braced so hopefully I can finish it up today and get it glued to the frame. More pictures later! Mike |
It's been an incredibly beautiful week in Montreal and things are moving right along with this build. Here's a shot of the laminated liners...
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-Q...o/IMG_3070.jpg The wenge laminations definitely made the rims stiffer, but I would approach it differently in the future if I try it again. I think I would pre-bend and laminate the liners before gluing them onto the sides -- certainly would make cleaning it up a lot easier! As I've mentioned in previous threads, I view my backs more as reflectors than an active partner with the top. Because this is really a 4-piece back, I needed 3 back strips and decided to pre-laminate them all into a 15' arch. This equals a stiff back! https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-L...o/IMG_3073.jpg Despite the stiffness, the back still rings like a bell and I was quite pleased to get a closed ring and a half... https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-H...o/IMG_3079.jpg I now have half a box and it's time to start bracing the top! https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-m...o/IMG_3080.jpg Mike |
Around 5 years ago I braced a guitar with a pretty different bracing pattern (at least for me) and despite thinking it was one of my best sounding guitars, I hadn't tried that style of bracing again -- until now!
Here's the start of the bracing process... https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-r...o/IMG_3083.jpg Those scoops in the V-braces will have larger braces crossing over them -- I like to have a reasonable amount of "scoop" on either side of intersecting braces to avoid concentrated points of stiffness as much as possible. This is the final, and mostly uncarved, pattern... https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-V...o/IMG_3085.jpg Something else that might be hard to notice is that I like to have all of my braces connected to other braces or the liners around the edge. For example, the V-brace that starts at the tail end and goes into the waist has been notched out to overlap the two cross-grain braces near the bottom. I figure that if braces both fight string tension and transmit/distribute vibration I want to have a connected and closed of a system as possible! Mike |
An X over a V - that's really interesting. I would love to hear this one!
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Getting close to finishing the woodwork on the body for this build. Here's the top with fully carved braces and ready to be glued to the sides...
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-n...o/IMG_3091.jpg I'm very excited to hear how this one will sound and am glad I revived this old bracing pattern. I don't think it's going to lay dormant again after this build! And now it's a full box! https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-t...o/IMG_3094.jpg It's nice to finally get a good idea of what the newly modified shape looks like. It's one thing to see drawings or the top/back on it's own, but now that the body is fully formed I think you can really see the true shape. Today I'll finish cleaning up the sides and get started on binding. I'm going for really clean and defined lines on this one -- I think a simple maple line will look really classy with the chocolaty wenge. Mike |
I like your new shape. Looks like a larger chamber in the lower bout. Betcha the low end will be awesome. Thanks for sharing Mike.
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I like it too, I'm really looking forward to getting my hands on it.
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Looking forward to the pictures of the finish. His FP work is outstanding.
If you read my post Mike, if you don't mind me asking how much percentage of your time per build is spent on the finish? |
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The woodwork on the body for this guitar is nearly done! Just finished up the binding yesterday and all that's really left is to cut the mortise and clean everything up. I start the binding process by cleaning up the sides and then installing an end wedge... https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-A...o/IMG_3096.jpg Once that has dried and been sanded, I rout the main binding channels. In the picture below I've taped a strip of the maple purfling to the top. Because the router references off of the top, when it passes over this area the cut is bumped out slightly (the thickness of the maple + tape to be exact). Bumping it out like this allows me to miter the maple purfling strips with the maple strips in the wedge. https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-F...o/IMG_3098.jpg Here's a shot of the binding jig I use... https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-n...o/IMG_3099.jpg By changing out the aluminum rollers and the depth of the router bit you can custom cut for essentially any binding/purfling combination. It takes a bit of practice and concentration, but once you've got it, it's a really flexible and fast way to make the cuts. My concentration was tested once at Sergei's when I was routing a Adi/Brazilian guitar and a woodchuck burst out from under the bench and ran through my legs in the middle of a cut (both the guitar and woodchuck were fine)! Ready for binding.... https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-4...o/IMG_3102.jpg All taped up... https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-s...o/IMG_3108.jpg Bound! https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-s...o/IMG_3112.jpg https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-f...o/IMG_3110.jpg Mike |
Now that the woodwork is mostly done on the body, it's time to get the neck prepped for carving!
Somewhere underneath all of that tape there is a fingerboard... https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-T...o/IMG_3119.jpg There are also some head veneers in that mass of clamps... https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-L...o/IMG_3117.jpg I'm hoping to get the fingerboard glued by the end of the day today so I can carve tomorrow. If everything goes according to plan I should be able to have all of the woodwork done in the next few days and begin french polishing this weekend! Mike |
Once the head veneers are dry, it's time to rout the headstock shape. This kind of routing can be risky -- it can be very easy to tear out a chunk of the headstock if you try to rout around a corner. To help prevent that, you can see that my headstock template has two sides. This allows me to first I rout the top of the headstock and scoops while there is still a bunch of excess material. Once those cuts are made, simply flip the template around and rout the sides...
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-m...o/IMG_3121.jpg This is also about the time I finish up my fingerboard prep. Below I've just cut the end of the fingerboard to it's final shape (it matches the top of my headstock)... https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-D...o/IMG_3123.jpg And now the fingerboard is glued on and the neck is ready to be carved today! https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-f...o/IMG_3126.jpg Mike |
Woodwork is done, pores are filled, time to french polish!
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-q...l+woodwork.jpg Mike |
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I didn't know that a finish could take 3 weeks, I can understand why luthiers favour lacquer finishes! Great progress on the guitar, I've been meaning to head to TAMCO if your guitar is there when I make the journey to Brighton I will definitely play it! |
Greetings everyone!
It's been a little while since I've posted on here -- a few unexpected trips last fall and the typical holiday cross-country shuffle led to a longer time away from the shop than I would have liked. This guitar was basically put on hold mid-October but now that I'm back in the shop full time it should get finished up in the next few weeks. Here's how it looked this afternoon when I pulled it down of the shelf for the first time in a couple of months... https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-k...o/IMG_3676.jpg https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-I...o/IMG_3684.jpg I'm quite happy with how the french polish is looking and if nothing else it's had plenty of time to dry! I'll be doing some final touches on the neck and starting in on the bridge in the next few days. I'm hoping to have the initial string-up sometime next week! Mike ps. One of my trips was spending a few weeks in Abu Dhabi visiting my brother and his family before they moved back to Boston. I was blown away by some of the designs and mosaics in the mosques and think I've found the source of inspiration for one of my next show guitars... |
I am looking forward to following this guitar Mike. It looks great so far.
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This is looking sooooooo great Mike! Love the woodchuck story too!:)
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I made some good progress on this guitar yesterday. Every time I glue a bridge on with the vacuum clamp I can't help but think of Han Solo trapped in carbonite... https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-3...o/IMG_3689.JPG After the bridge went on I got the fingerboard prepared for fretting and took a fancy picture... https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-x...o/IMG_3693.jpg Today I'll finish up the fretwork, make a nut and saddle, and might even do an initial string up! Really really excited to hear how this one (and my revived bracing pattern) sounds... Mike |
Looking good Mike, I can't wait to get my hands on it.
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Exciting day yesterday as I got to put the strings on for the first time. Still needs a chance to stretch out and settle into being a guitar, but so far I'm really happy with how it sounds. I'll try to get a video or some audio posted soon!
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-u...o/IMG_3698.jpg Mike |
It looks absolutely phenomenal Mike ... love it!
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Finally got a chance to record a video demo for this guitar...
http://youtu.be/hhLoN0Cxpbg I did do a very slight tweak on the audio -- there was a faint background hiss that I reduced. Other than that, no reverb, compression, or audio trickery. Also, the right channel is the mic next to my ear pointed at the sound port and the left channel is the mic in front. Thought it might be interesting to see if any difference can be detected between the player/audience perspective! I'm extremely happy with how this one turned out and, as I suspected, I think this rejuvenated bracing pattern will be sticking around for a bit! Mike |
This is beautiful.
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