Doerr Guitars four Sterling Series build thread
 

This build thread is going to document four Sterling Series guitars that I'm building in my current batch. For those of you who aren't familiar with my Sterling Series here's a quick rundown on how I do things.

I have three different series that I offer on my website http://www.doerrguitars.com. My Standard, Signature and Sterling Series. Each series progressively has more features and higher grades of woods. Let's get into the details of what my Sterling Series is all about.

All three of my series come standard with Brazilian rosewood in my base price. I have a nice stash of stumpwood and old growth Brazilian rosewood. I've reserved my best quartersawn straight grain or just rare wild figured stumpwood for my Sterling Series.

https://i.imgur.com/KeI4601h.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/65tauafh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/cL9lDyXh.jpg

One of the distinctive details on my Sterling Series is that all the purflings are made out of pure silver. Being that silver is a precious metal it's much more expensive than wood purflings. It's also much harder to work with than the typical wood purflings. I do think it is well worth the extra money and effort as it is just a beautiful subtle look on the guitar that I really enjoy. Here are some examples.

https://i.imgur.com/8J6g61th.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/ltJ2tQJh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/CRDlb5Ah.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/QQWkdTxh.jpg

The Sterling Series also offers a lot of the details that are on my Signature Series such as beveled binding, Ryan-Style bevel, and multi-piece laminated neck. I also have multi fine silver purflings on my headstock, fretboard and bridge. Here are some examples.

https://i.imgur.com/BX1c2Zqh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/8G2GIHph.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/0TkyDnZh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/cNyRG0Mh.jpg

My Signature Series backplate that I've been doing ever since I started building guitars is also upgraded on the Sterling Series. I have two bookmatched pieces of Brazilian that I put on each side of my neck laminations. I then bind them in ebony with multi fine silver purflings. I also use nickel silver Rodger tuners on every Sterling Series.

https://i.imgur.com/UV6fFTxh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/48iSNMJh.jpg

That kind of gives you the rundown of what my Sterling Series is all about. In this build thread I'll get into greater detail of each Sterling feature as I build this batch. I'll also give more details of the 4 guitars I'll be working on in later post. I'm looking forward to sharing this with you all. Thanks for looking!

This will certainly be fun to watch!:guitar:

One of these days we've got to get that Mahogany guitar in the mix!;)

Stunning. Absolutely beautiful.

That is pretty cool...

Oh Boy!! Off to the races with Commander Tom Doerr at the helm......how cool is that!? :):)
Awesome pics, detail and knowledgeable, creative artistry, Tom! Looking forward to more...and more!!
Best,
Fred

This sure is exciting!

I'm loving the silver purfling on the bridge and pins. Subtle and classy.

Can't wait!

Elegantly all dressed up and ready for someone to make sweet music with. What a great guitar, well done!

Beautiful as always, Tom! Thanks for sharing the pictures!

Crazy beautiful. Drooling.

Your work is gorgeous, as always.

Definitely would like to do that someday Todd. Haven't forgotten about that:)

Thank you The Growler!

Thank you Halcycon/Tinker

Thanks Fred! Glad you're looking forward to it. I'm looking forward to sharing:) Hope you're doing well!

Glad you are excited. I do like subtle and classy.

Can't wait for your build to start or this build thread? lol :)

Thanks Mike!

Thanks Daniel! I'm looking forward to sharing this with everyone.

Thanks Jamiejoon!


Thanks Juston!

Why BOTH, of course. :)

Never cease to amaze me Tom...wow.

Tom is one of the most gifted builders I have ever met, as his photos clearly reveal, they are also an absolute dream to play. I'll be watching this thread with keen interest and respect.

Thanks for sharing your gift Tom!!

Go Sterling or go home...!!! :roll:

So much cool details Tom, Love it...

"Wow" is not even enough to describe

One of which is making it's way here in Singapore ain't it? ;) will be following this thread closely Tom!

Thanks much for the kind words Wayne I appreciate it!

You know it DD!

That's all you need to say:)

Yes indeed Marcus!

Yow!
 

Egads, Holy Smokes, and WOOHOO

This will be fun indeed!

Break out the popcorn and adult beverages... :)

Have fun.

Paul

Build details
 

There are many reasons why I'm excited about these four builds. One reason is that they are all my Sterling Series. The Sterling Series has all my favorite options. The details are very time consuming but well worth it and I enjoy doing them.

Another reason is working with some of the finest tonewoods that are available. They all will be built with nice quartersawn straight grain Brazilian and Mastergrade tops. It's truly a pleasure working with these wonderful tonewoods.

Here are some details about the builds. One of my customers who has many of my guitars ordered 2 of my new Modified Dread model. These 2 guitars will be fraternal twins. Both the back and sides will be old growth straight grain Brazilian with a master grade Adirondack spruce top and the other with a beautiful Tunnel 14 master grade redwood top that has 72 grain lines per inch. The Adi top guitar will be a 14 fret with a 25.4" scale. The Tunnel 14 redwood top will be a 12 fret 25" short scale. Both will have a cutaway and my tiled rosette.

The third guitar will be for another great repeat customer who is getting nice quartersawn straight grain Brazilian with Mastergrade Swiss moon spruce top. The model will be my Legacy Select with a cutaway along with a beautiful Brazilian fingerboard and bridge both bound in ebony.

The fourth guitar is my little Trinity Select model with cutaway. It will have a Mastergrade Adirondack top with some old growth Brazilian rosewood. This guitar will have my micro abalone purflings throughout. Also, it will have a portrait inlay of my customers daughter. The inlay will be done by the wonderful Larry Robinson and the scrimshaw work will be done by Bob Hergert. Looking forward to working with the both of them for the first time.

Lots of exciting things for me as a builder that's for sure. Here are a few pics of the woods that I'm using.

One of the twins. Adirondack/Brazilian
https://i.imgur.com/0JqfPBvh.jpg

The other twin Tunnel 14 redwood/Brazilian
https://i.imgur.com/CGNZGJ8h.jpg

The Legacy Swiss/Brazilian
https://i.imgur.com/j6D2AnVh.jpg

The Trinity Adirondack/Brazilian
https://i.imgur.com/UnQVgSsh.jpg

Pic of all the wood for the four guitars.
https://i.imgur.com/u6yWYMoh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/bEwdC5Yh.jpg

Here's a cool pic of some flitched sets of Brazilian that one of the twin sets came out of.
https://i.imgur.com/i7Xf6oWh.jpg

That's all for now thanks for looking!

Absolutely stunning woods....you know where I want to be when they come back from the finish booth!;)

Sounds good Todd! Hey I got the MD back yesterday from the finishers. I'll be posting pics soon of it. I should have it strung up in the next couple weeks. I'll keep you updated.

Yes!! I will definitely make time for a visit.

OMG, Tom.....speechless!!!! But I promise to keep following this thread! LOL :D
Keep up the great work!
Fred

That wood is so cool that it makes me want to cry!

Beautiful, restrained, rich, clean. You are just a top notch builder, Tom.
So impressive!

Thanks Fred! Glad you're enjoying the build:)

That wood makes me want to cry too...especially if I can't get my hands on some more lol

Thanks Ben I appreciate your comments! I am enjoying your Dread build. Beautiful Brazilian man!

Legacy pics
 

Here are some pics of that Legacy. This Legacy will have the classic Doerr look. Beauty in the details. It will have all Brazilian throughout with the b&s, fretboard, headplate, bridge, backplate all bound in ebony. I just like the way ebony frames out everything. That's the typical recipe for my guitars.

Here's a pic of the beautiful straight grain being joined.

https://i.imgur.com/5CdjEFkh.jpg

Legacy sides and binding ready to be bent.

https://i.imgur.com/UxsW9Ndh.jpg

Sides bent before I laminate them.

https://i.imgur.com/wz47QAzh.jpg

I laminate the sides with a vacuum bagging. It works really well.

https://i.imgur.com/XsLzaUwh.jpg

That's is all for now. Thanks for looking!

Rosettes
 

Sorry it's been so long for a update on this one. I get going in the shop and well I guess that's where I'm at my best. Anyway I got quite a bit done some of which I don't have any pics as of yet. A few changes have occurred since I last posted. The Legacy model I'm going to hold off on as the customer will not be able to take till he gets back from working out of his country. I plan on resuming that build in the summer to be ready for delivery when he comes back in October.

So I'll be focusing on the twins and the Trinity. I did happen to get all the rosettes done. The twins have my tiled Brazilian rosettes with silver purflings. The Legacy simple classic rosette with ebony sound hole binding. The Trinity Brazilian rosette with micro abalone purflings and ebony sound hole binding. Here are some pics.

https://i.imgur.com/hmWySm3h.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/eYhiXB9h.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/6apAVR6h.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/gZVRIXOh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/xDHW0Izh.jpg

I'll post more soon. Thanks for looking!