The Acoustic Guitar Forum

The Acoustic Guitar Forum (https://www.acousticguitarforum.com/forums/index.php)
-   Custom Shop (https://www.acousticguitarforum.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=38)
-   -   Hatcher's Studio '19 #2 (https://www.acousticguitarforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=552478)

Mark Hatcher 07-20-2019 06:47 AM

Hatcher's Studio '19 #2
 
I have some very nice builds scheduled for this second half of 2019. I want to start this thread with a current custom Piña build:

https://live.staticflickr.com/7909/4...559f6246_b.jpg

This build has a Cocobolo back and side set:

https://live.staticflickr.com/791/39...43eb401c_b.jpg

The soundboard is a very old curly Redwood set:

https://live.staticflickr.com/7867/4...201d343f_b.jpg

The bridge and headstock overlay will be Cocobolo and we had put aside a special Cocobolo fretboard for this build:

https://live.staticflickr.com/930/39...dc87edbe_b.jpg

A lot of the trim will be curly Koa. Other features include a cut-away, side sound port, sculpted pillow topped headstock and a fretboard extension.

Some unique planned features are a three dimensional rosette to compliment the pillow headstock and add some unexpected motion with reflections in light and the play of shadows. Also, as I wrote in my notes for this build we're looking for a "fancy medallion style back graft".

I'm excited to have this build started!

Mark

Lonzo 07-20-2019 07:37 AM

Hi Mark,
Thanks for the beautiful journey you took us on in #1 of your 2019 thread ..and for continuing the same with such a nice build 👍
..wonderful woods , another new touch with the 3 dimensional rosette.
The woods alone are spectacular.. but that fretboard is NICE ! Wow! With all the mentioned appointments this is going to look spectacular!
Very much looking forward to following it !;)
Klaus

Mark Hatcher 07-20-2019 03:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lonzo (Post 6116442)
Hi Mark,
Thanks for the beautiful journey you took us on in #1 of your 2019 thread ..and for continuing the same with such a nice build 👍
..wonderful woods , another new touch with the 3 dimensional rosette.
The woods alone are spectacular.. but that fretboard is NICE ! Wow! With all the mentioned appointments this is going to look spectacular!
Very much looking forward to following it !;)
Klaus

Thanks for your comments Lonzo, Redwood and Cocobolo make for a great tonal combination. They can be made to compliment each other and add to a more dynamic response.
I think the soundboard, with it’s dark streaks, looks similar to the Koa trim and will give a nice overall earthy look.

Mark

GeoffStGermaine 07-20-2019 04:15 PM

Looking forward to 2019/2. Great build to start it off! Love the pillow top headstocks!

Stevied63 07-20-2019 05:24 PM

This one is actually for me - will be my first guitar from Mark, and my first parlor sized guitar. I was really taken with Mark’s design style when I saw the lullaby guitar build from a few years back. I’ve given Mark some broad strokes on what I want, but really letting his experience and artistry drive this one. I’m excited to see what people think of the rosette - I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a rosette which wasn’t flush with the top...this design will mirror his pillow top headstock, and will make this guitar very unique.

So Mark...really excited to see this one progress!!

The Bard Rocks 07-20-2019 08:39 PM

SteveD - you will no doubt be EXTREMELY happy by whatever Mark creates. He makes a truly outstanding guitar, with craftsmanship as good as it gets. The aesthetics are even better ("better than it gets"?). We've all been wowed by his superb photos - I have seen and played a number of his creations and can tell you they are every bit as good as his photos make them appear.

And he's fun to work with, responsive to your needs and ideas, willing to try new things, and loves wood as much or more than I do (which is going pretty far as those of you who have seen my wood website know).

Mark Hatcher 07-21-2019 06:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GeoffStGermaine (Post 6116953)
Looking forward to 2019/2. Great build to start it off! Love the pillow top headstocks!

Thanks GeoffStGermaine, that pillow top headstock has been very popular. I think it's profile goes particularly well with the body shapes of my Penelope 000 and Piña parlor guitars.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stevied63 (Post 6117007)
This one is actually for me - will be my first guitar from Mark, and my first parlor sized guitar. I was really taken with Mark’s design style when I saw the lullaby guitar build from a few years back. I’ve given Mark some broad strokes on what I want, but really letting his experience and artistry drive this one. I’m excited to see what people think of the rosette - I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a rosette which wasn’t flush with the top...this design will mirror his pillow top headstock, and will make this guitar very unique.

So Mark...really excited to see this one progress!!

Thanks Stevied63! Your request for a dimensional rosette was certainly a wonderful challenge. Luckily for me you have trusted me with the leeway to make it work. This is a very different element to add to a guitar and the challenge is to make the rosette look like it was always supposed to be done this way. My next post is going to be about putting the back together which I hope will help set the context of what we are doing with the rosette. It's my pleasure working on this with you!

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Bard Rocks (Post 6117154)
SteveD - you will no doubt be EXTREMELY happy by whatever Mark creates. He makes a truly outstanding guitar, with craftsmanship as good as it gets. The aesthetics are even better ("better than it gets"?). We've all been wowed by his superb photos - I have seen and played a number of his creations and can tell you they are every bit as good as his photos make them appear.

And he's fun to work with, responsive to your needs and ideas, willing to try new things, and loves wood as much or more than I do (which is going pretty far as those of you who have seen my wood website know).

Thanks for your kind words Bard! I was just reading your impressive tonewooddatabase. You obviously are a kindred spirit in your love of woods!
It is certainly the woods I get to work with that are the most consistent and influential inspiration in my joy of building guitars.

Thanks Again,
Mark

Mark Hatcher 07-21-2019 07:02 AM

The Back of the the Back
 
Most times the first glue joint on a new guitar is the one that joins the back:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...8ddb3755_c.jpg

It my first "How do you do?" to a new guitar:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...5b44e528_c.jpg

You can tap and flex and prod wood all day long but you don't really get to know a piece of wood until you start working it and gluing.

We're doing a special back strip on this guitar. We chose Koa for the trim. Koa goes great with Cocobolo. Judicious use of the lighter Koa sapwood can add visual dimension and contrast with the Cocobolo where you want it.

Here are the initial Koa cutouts:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...1b560802_c.jpg

Here is a mock-up of the purfling I want to use for the Koa:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...1e435369_c.jpg

The purfling defines a crisp edge to the Koa shapes and make those long thin points look longer and pointier:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...71a166e8_b.jpg

I used an all sapwood for the center Koa round with a touch of spalting to keep things interesting.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...f4e08d24_c.jpg

The curly figure in the Koa will also come alive under finish and it's orientation and chatoyance will also help it pop.

ukejon 07-21-2019 03:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stevied63 (Post 6117007)
This one is actually for me - will be my first guitar from Mark, and my first parlor sized guitar. I was really taken with Mark’s design style when I saw the lullaby guitar build from a few years back. I’ve given Mark some broad strokes on what I want, but really letting his experience and artistry drive this one. I’m excited to see what people think of the rosette - I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a rosette which wasn’t flush with the top...this design will mirror his pillow top headstock, and will make this guitar very unique.

So Mark...really excited to see this one progress!!

You indeed will enjoy the build and especially the guitar. Mark’s judgement as a luthier is impeccable and his instruments are sublime....they start out amazing in terms of tone and playability and then just keep getting better.

Mark Hatcher 07-22-2019 11:26 AM

Let's get to the Front of the Back
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by ukejon (Post 6117879)
You indeed will enjoy the build and especially the guitar. Mark’s judgement as a luthier is impeccable and his instruments are sublime....they start out amazing in terms of tone and playability and then just keep getting better.

Thanks for kind words ukejon!

With the back joined and the center strip in, it's time to turn it over and do the front of the back. First it's gluing and cleaning up the back center graft:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...11b1d604_b.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...1b320478_b.jpg

Then the logo made of Koa with a little sapwood:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...0ebb1f51_c.jpg

After selecting, splitting, shaping, weighing. flexing, pairing, mitering, and joining the back braces get glued on down to the back:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...4c4f7f09_b.jpg

That takes care of the back for awhile. Top is next!

Thanks for following along.
Mark

ukejon 07-22-2019 07:32 PM

StevieD, I hope you realize the amazing responsiveness that results from this type of lattice bracing. Much fun indeed.

Mark Hatcher 07-23-2019 08:18 AM

Onto the top
 
The first thing to do on the top is to join the halves:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...ec96e841_c.jpg

The Old Redwood top has some great curl and dark streaking:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...ce5da143_c.jpg

I needed to thin the top to my target deflection without the rosette installed because once the 3D rosette is in it isn't easily going to go through the thickness sander.

Once that was set it's time to show a mock-up of my intended rosette:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...5355366c_c.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...d60e7a50_c.jpg

This is a curly Koa rosette with sapwood bordered in abalone with black wood-Maple-black wood purfling.

Now the trick is to fit it flush to the top:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...c55ce27a_c.jpg

The purfling is set a bit proud and with a little handwork it is brought down flat with the top:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...54f59c44_c.jpg

It's great to have sharp quality little tools for little jobs requiring precission:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...bfb8a9e0_c.jpg

Here we have it fairly well cleaned up:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...074c9f4d_b.jpg

And a larger look:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...bcc5699e_c.jpg

Now the trick is to figure out how to glue the top braces on a top with a raised rosette!

Thanks for following!
Mark

Lonzo 07-23-2019 08:44 AM

That is simply..
 
.. making me want to see more of that..

.. wonderful wood, such a nice new and very fitting rosette with similarly nice and tasteful abalone appointments.. very cool !
Doesn't really calm my impatiance and anticipation - but in a nice way :D
Keep them coming, this is so informative and educating..

Stevied63 07-23-2019 08:51 AM

Exciting to see the progress! The 3 dimensional rosette is a unique feature that is coming out great. You guys are seeing the end work of a lot of thought by Mark on how he would go about doing a rosette of this nature - lots of sketches and experiments preceded this design.

S

Erithon 07-23-2019 09:17 AM

Very intriguing, Mark. The 3D rosette raises a couple questions:
  • How are you accounting for the added mass on the soundboard? As cool as this looks, I can't imagine you would agree to do it if you felt it would negatively impact tone.
  • How will you join the fingerboard to the rosette? On your builds the end of the fingerboard usually covers the top of the rosette. I bet you have an elegant join all planned out. Maybe something with an elevated fingerboard like the Penelope offers?


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 03:21 PM.

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Copyright ©2000 - 2022, The Acoustic Guitar Forum

vB Ad Management by =RedTyger=