Yes, Niccolo can really put 'em together!
Looking forward to this!

Steve

Nicolo fa alcune belle meccaniche ...:up:

Thanks Tom. But I'm not sure I follow your question. The string pegs are brass. The button stems you see in the pic are metal alloy with brass sleeves and pips at either end. Not sure what the gear (either piece) is made of.

Thanks Dion. Appreciate you following this build! :)

Thanks boss man! Be safe on your trip. We need you back in one piece.

Thank you Dale! Now that things are gearing up, I'm getting less sleep ... funny how that works.

Bob, I couldn't agree more. And he is fun to communicate with! Thanks for following!

Picking a top ....
 

Ever since Steve and Ryan offered the incredible Madi back and sides set, I've had in my mind that we needed to find a master grade top to go along with it. Fact is, the top for this build has been on my mind since before the commission itself. How many times have we heard it ... the soundboard is the central element. So I told Steve master grade - AAAAA is the goal with excellent tap and no-runout plus whatever other key characteristics they wanted to look at.

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After receiving an order of Italian Spruce, Steve and Ryan have been diligently looking for the best Spruce top they have and we made our final selection last night. This fine creamy white Alpine Spruce top received top marks in the run off (not run out!). Ryan tells me there is one bit of visual distraction on the top. Can you see it?

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Here is a close up. Can you see it now?

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Plain and simple, hard to detect. There is a a small bit of bear claw (Ryan calls it a thumb print) on the lower bout just slightly bass side of center on the tail edge.

This is "the one". Ryan told me they thought it was similar to the Italian Spruce used on the TomB'sox SJ I had the opportunity to play last year. That cinched it for me!

Prepping the body ....
 

The work has begun to flow in earnest and Ryan has been a busy man.

Here Ryan starts bending the "away" (cutaway) side. Cutaways are labor intensive up front but boy are they pretty when they are done.

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And next the "players" side. Ryan tells me "the Madi has a sweet candy (cinnamony) kind of smell. Bending it on the heater, the oils gave off a floral scent that stayed with me that was reminiscent of Brazilian."

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Next is gluing both sides and the heel/end blocks in a form. Florentine cutaways by their nature are the most complicated rim. Man, that is a lot of clamps!

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A shot of the unsupported rims sitting in the mold.

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Adding some support with the top linings and arm bevel block. This helps the rim hold its correct form. The heel block is Mahogany with a Spanish Cedar cap. The linings are Spanish Cedar and the end block is Sitka Spruce. The arm bevel support is laminated Redwood. Basically a bunch of lightweight yet strong woods.

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Profiling the rims to their final shape for the back - something sphero-cylindrical.

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Bracing the back ....
 

First, gluing the center seam reinforcement ...

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And then the ladder braces. Carving is next up.

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Wow--this box is really coming along now!

That is really an amazing Italian top--that is a really small visual anomaly. I thought I had it located on the first larger pic and then discovered it was just a speck of something on my monitor screen!

Really cool to see this one coming together...

Dennis, this guitar is going to be SPECTACULAR!!!! The woods are OMG beautiful! The back and sides are so pretty now without any finish I can't even begin to imagine. If the Italian top is like mine, you will be verra happy!!!!!

I think this has the potential to be the most beautiful guitar that I have seen come out of the oldest town in Texas and that SAYS A LOT!!!!!! So glad for you.

Looking fantastic!

Dennis,
I don't what to say that hasn't already been said.
So again, because you surely aren't sick of hearing it yet, let me say what a stunning guitar you commissioned!

Congrats and I'm thrilled to be along for the virtual ride!



Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

This has the makings of a really special guitar. Beautiful wood choices. Looking forward to watching her come together! :)

More quality progress ....
 

Well thank you sir. Ryan did mention how they have streamlined their process some. It really shows in the rapid pace things are happening.

I am really psyched about the top (not to mention some other choice pieces here). I am going to be calling it Alpine Spruce since it does come from the Italian Alps.

Thank you very much Tom! :) We are two verra lucky guys to have such wonderful instruments under construction. BTW, I think your inlays are some kinda schweet!

Thanks Paul! I think so too!

Thanks Amy! Welcome to our incredible journey. Glad to have you!

Thanks Doug! Glad to have you follow along.

And now ....

A shot of the bottom linings being glued in.

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Carving the back braces.

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All the braces are sanded along with the inside of the back and now we have a completed back plate. The back linings were profiled and now the rims are ready to fit to the back. Next up, installation of the side braces.

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Things may slow a bit over the next couple weeks as the "boss" is taking a little trip (well deserved). When he gets back we will be going over rosette design and how we are going to work the Lignum Vitae into the mix (hopefully some cool herringbone purfling).

Thanks again everyone for following along!

Imagine my surprise when I got this. Ryan says they changed their OM shape to cloverleaf.

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I love the new shape, maybe a little hard to play, but innovative for sure...:), but wait, I thought Steve was Scottish, not Irish...hmmmm

^^^ Can you imagine trying to get your arm around that thing :eek: :eek: :eek:

For those who didn't realize ... that was a joke! Thankfully, they didn't change the shape!!!!

Now on to some more progress pics.

First up is fitting the back to the rims. Using these high tech stretchy things, Ryan holds the back in place while he uses a dental tool to mark the brace pockets.

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Then the notches are routed with a dremel tool.

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The notches help align the side braces over the back braces. This shot has the side brace stock glued in place.

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Next up is likely some soundport work.