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Guitars44me 07-25-2020 06:21 PM

Sweet!
 
This is most appealing and Beautiful!

I am SURE you will be thrilled with the results

Thanks for sharing all this.

Paul

blindboyjimi 07-25-2020 07:28 PM

1 Attachment(s)
Nick has to be on a least #700 or so guitars? My 1980 is in the low 200’s, my 1989 in the mid 400’s and my former 2007 was in the 570’s. I’d love to know the proportions. I see about 90% OMs and 10% Jumbos and the rare dreadnaught. I think I’ve seen only 2 dreads. One was a hand rubbed sunburst 12 fret that was at Healdsburg about 8-9 years ago and written about by John Thomas in the FBJ. It popped up for sale about 5 years ago at Luthier’s Collection.
Attachment 41372

I should have jumped on it and there was another that required a lot of repair to bring back and someone here on AGF spent a lot to get it right, but it appeared well worth it. I don’t recall ever seeing an 0/00/Slope shoulder/J-185 or any other shapes. I play alone in my home and don’t need the volume of a Jumbo or Dreadnaught. I’ve had a Stefan Grossman HJ-38 which is Martin speak for a dreadnaught depth 16” 0000 and 2 Goodall Concert Jumbos which we’re also 16” but more like OM depth ala Martin’s 0000 or M shape. If I’m correct the Franklin Jumbo is 17” but it appears to be only 3 3/4” or 4” at the heel. The bass on the Jumbos is addicting. I found the HJ just too boomy with the deep body and regrettingly moved it on. The Goodalls were also wonderful, but my Franklins just got more play. They are gone as well.

Has Nick ever made an OM shaped 16”? Gibson has the J-185, Martin has the M, Bourgeois the JOM, SCGC the OM Grand, and Goodall the Concert Jumbo. I’d jump at a tight waisted Franklin 16” OM shaped guitar. I’d call that the “Goldilocks”....just right. I haven’t played a Jumbo in a long time, but this thread is causing an itch.

iim7V7IM7 07-25-2020 08:24 PM

Nick’s OMC model is larger than his OM model at 15-5/8”. He increases the body size to compensate for the lost body volume due to the cutaway.

https://i1238.photobucket.com/albums...psnnbj6qur.png

mhw48 07-25-2020 08:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blindboyjimi (Post 6448722)
Nick has to be on a least #700 or so guitars? My 1980 is in the low 200’s, my 1989 in the mid 400’s and my former 2007 was in the 570’s. I’d love to know the proportions. I see about 90% OMs and 10% Jumbos and the rare dreadnaught. I think I’ve seen only 2 dreads. One was a hand rubbed sunburst 12 fret that was at Healdsburg about 8-9 years ago and written about by John Thomas in the FBJ. It popped up for sale about 5 years ago at Luthier’s Collection.
Attachment 41372

I should have jumped on it and there was another that required a lot of repair to bring back and someone here on AGF spent a lot to get it right, but it appeared well worth it. I don’t recall ever seeing an 0/00/Slope shoulder/J-185 or any other shapes. I play alone in my home and don’t need the volume of a Jumbo or Dreadnaught. I’ve had a Stefan Grossman HJ-38 which is Martin speak for a dreadnaught depth 16” 0000 and 2 Goodall Concert Jumbos which we’re also 16” but more like OM depth ala Martin’s 0000 or M shape. If I’m correct the Franklin Jumbo is 17” but it appears to be only 3 3/4” or 4” at the heel. The bass on the Jumbos is addicting. I found the HJ just too boomy with the deep body and regrettingly moved it on. The Goodalls were also wonderful, but my Franklins just got more play. They are gone as well.

Has Nick ever made an OM shaped 16”? Gibson has the J-185, Martin has the M, Bourgeois the JOM, SCGC the OM Grand, and Goodall the Concert Jumbo. I’d jump at a tight waisted Franklin 16” OM shaped guitar. I’d call that the “Goldilocks”....just right. I haven’t played a Jumbo in a long time, but this thread is causing an itch.

The Dread that Nick showed at Healdsburg is actually mine now, I bought it directly from Nick a couple of years ago. It's the Dread prototype; Adi/figured Mahogany. It's a truly stellar guitar (I've previously posted about it here: https://www.acousticguitarforum.com/...29#post6036129)
And when Nick finishes my Jumbo it will be number 700! I don't know the breakdown, but I assume that Nick has built more OM's than either of his other two models, with the smallest number being his Dreadnaughts. Speaking of Dreadnaughts, he also built a few Martin inspired Dreads back in the late 70's or 80s, but doesn't currently offer that shape. The 12 Fret Dread is 16" at the lower bout and 4 3/4 at the heel, while the Jumbo is 16 3/4 at the lower bout, but -- as you say -- around 4" at the heel.

mhw48 07-25-2020 08:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by iim7V7IM7 (Post 6448763)
Nick’s OMC model is larger than his OM model at 15-5/8”. He increases the body size to compensate for the lost body volume due to the cutaway.

https://i1238.photobucket.com/albums...psnnbj6qur.png

Such a beauty! It was a real pleasure following the build of your Franklin. I recommend to anyone looking at this thread to read that build too, to see Nick's work on a cutaway in German spruce and Cuban Mahogany and for a really detailed and informative thread on how Nick works: https://www.acousticguitarforum.com/...d.php?t=522401
Nick, or his wife Jeanne, mentioned that he's made his Dreadnaught in a 14 fret version, which would resemble a 16" wide OM except for the greater depth, but I assume Nick could build a shallower version.

mhw48 07-26-2020 11:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Guitars44me (Post 6448668)
This is most appealing and Beautiful!

I am SURE you will be thrilled with the results

Thanks for sharing all this.

Paul

Thank you Paul, I am really looking forward to this guitar. I have enjoyed the build threads here on AGF, am happy to have the opportunity to post my own, and to share my enthusiasm for Franklin Guitars!

mhw48 07-26-2020 11:59 AM

The Far side
 
2 Attachment(s)
I got caught up in posting on the construction of the back stripe and forgot to post the pictures of the other side of the box. We went with a simple alternation of black and white purfling inside the figured Maple bindings. I thought that it would compliment the rosette, and I like the look of the thicker black line outlining the top. All of this should work well with the nearly black African Blackwood body.

mhw48 07-27-2020 08:01 AM

1 Attachment(s)
The back and sides with a wipe of Naptha gives an idea of how the African Blackwood will look under finish and shows off the backstrip. The color is very rich, not a solid black but more like a really dark chocolate.

mhw48 07-28-2020 10:51 AM

4 Attachment(s)
At the end of a conversation about tuner possibilities — we’ve settled on Schaller GrandTunes, nickel with ebony buttons — Nick was about to start working and he remarked that he builds guitars Monday through Friday, but reserves his weekends for working on his inventions.
I’m not sure what inventions Nick is working on at the moment, but if they're anything like one of his earlier ones -- which he joked is his “proprietary” neck set machine -- they are bound to be cool! The neck set machine is quite ingenious, so I thought I'd include some photos of it that Nick sent, and a description:
It is constructed out of an old belt sander that he rescued from the garbage. He made a platen with a radius that matches the radius of the top of his guitars, and installed the platen on the surface of the belt sander, underneath the sand paper. He then constructed a vertical unit that holds the neck blank. It is adjustable on both the x and y axis. He then is able to sand the heel of the neck to fit precisely against the body.

pegleghowell 07-28-2020 10:57 AM

A work of art.

mhw48 07-28-2020 11:05 AM

Nick attaches the neck to the body with bolts, which, he says, has gotten him a lot of grief over the span of his career. Especially at the start in the early 70's, when he was an unknown builder not yet 20 years old, anything that departed from the techniques used by Martin was considered heresy. "Who does that kid think he is?!?"
Nick can build with with a traditional dovetail neck joint, but chooses not to for several reasons. He feels that the the way he attaches the neck actually produces a tighter, firmer contact between the heel of the neck and the body of the guitar. And, of course, a neck reset can be done much faster with a bolt on neck.
In any case, it seems to have served him well, since 49 years later he's still using it.

mhw48 07-28-2020 11:29 AM

2 Attachment(s)
The heelcap is aligned with the centerline of the back and then glued in place.

mhw48 07-28-2020 11:35 AM

2 Attachment(s)
The adjustable truss rod is installed in a slot routed in the neck blank and then covered with a mahogany strip. Next, the fingerboard is aligned and glued to the neck blank.

iim7V7IM7 07-28-2020 12:35 PM

Aren't you going to explain how Nick makes his own truss rods? :)

nickk 07-28-2020 12:51 PM

Sounds like you need a Hurdy Gurdy too, I'm thinking about building one...


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