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-   -   My First "Kit" (https://www.acousticguitarforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=205633)

OddManOut 04-22-2011 08:08 AM

Thanks for the compliments! I am happy with how it turned out even if the finish is less-than-perfect. I like how the various design elements came together and 'popped' under the shellac.

I'd love to see some pics of the guitars you guys are building. Do share!

enalnitram 04-22-2011 08:38 AM

It looks fantastic! you should be proud. When I did finish for the first time (french polish), the surfaces I futzed with the most, in order to make them look the most clean as I was working on them, turned out in the end looking the worst. overall, I got a good and presentable result, but I overworked it and overthought it, making it all go on longer than it should have. I learned you just have to put it down well, and deliberately, and rub it out. (or buff, as the case may be).

it's funny how when you're building something, those little spots where things didn't go as well as you wanted them to, continue to stick out in your consciousness, but most everyone else seems to not notice. it's like a curse. on my #1 I pieced a couple of pieces of purfling together, and it makes me cringe when I look at it, but when I show it to people now and mention that, they'll always say, "wait, where is it?"

your guitar looks amazing and it's going to be a keeper. fantastic job, and it all goes together visually. love it!

Kitchen Guitars 04-22-2011 09:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OddManOut (Post 2591944)
Thanks for the compliments! I am happy with how it turned out even if the finish is less-than-perfect. I like how the various design elements came together and 'popped' under the shellac.

I'd love to see some pics of the guitars you guys are building. Do share!

My stuff is all beginning to end photo-documented and posted here. The Brazilian Parlor Restoration Project was supposedly the most read/participated upon post on the forum :)
Part 1
http://www.acousticguitarforum.com/f...d.php?t=146041
Part 2
http://www.acousticguitarforum.com/f...d.php?t=167889

First build
http://www.acousticguitarforum.com/f...d.php?t=157945

second
http://www.taylorguitarforum.com/for...d.php?t=188555

My third is on the main page still.

Keep building!

Triumph1050 04-22-2011 12:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OddManOut (Post 2591944)
Thanks for the compliments! I am happy with how it turned out even if the finish is less-than-perfect. I like how the various design elements came together and 'popped' under the shellac.
I'd love to see some pics of the guitars you guys are building. Do share!

Still waiting on custom engraved pickguard(one shown is my template), head logo and some finish work.
See some crappy cell pic photos below...

http://www.fquick.com/images/vehicle...jpg?1303065406

http://www.fquick.com/images/vehicle...jpg?1303498065

Neil K Walk 04-22-2011 03:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OddManOut (Post 2591944)
Thanks for the compliments! I am happy with how it turned out even if the finish is less-than-perfect. I like how the various design elements came together and 'popped' under the shellac.

I'd love to see some pics of the guitars you guys are building. Do share!

I'm not nearly as far along but the figuring/grain of the mahogany back on mine is very similar:

http://i727.photobucket.com/albums/w...d/IMG_2368.jpg

OddManOut 05-01-2011 07:50 PM

Almost There: Glued Bridge & Neck
 
Here's a quick update on the Mahog/Adi OM Deep Body I am building with Larry Nair of Tahoe Guitars.

We are getting very close to stringing her up! Today we glued the neck, did a little detail work and sanding on the bridge before gluing it, mounted the tuners and roughed in the nut.

The finish has cured for a few weeks and the neck set remained perfect. I was wondering if we would have to tweak the neck angle at all, but no need. We put hide glue on the cheeks of the tenon and on the fingerboard extension and clamped her down.

We used hide glue on the bridge as well. The bridge was mounted unslotted. Larry feels it is better to use the actual position of the bridge to place the saddle slot rather than the other way around. He has a nifty homemade gig to guide his router on the mounted bridge.

We pressed in the tuner bushings and mounted the tuners (Grover Sta-Tite gold). We reamed the post holes to remove the shellac residue, pressed on the bushings and tightened up the mounting screws. If only the rest of buiding a guitar could be so easy. ;)

I also chose some antique bone bridge pins. The yellowed bone with black dot looks really good against the blond satin shellac.

The bits attached with hide glue have to remain clamped for 24 hours, so we have one more work session before she's strung up.

Remaining is to slot the bridge, ream the string holes and slot the bridge plate, mount the pickgaurd, and do the final setup.

Enjoy the pics.

Click for full set of pics.

http://i659.photobucket.com/albums/u...h/IMGP0288.jpg

Perfecto!

http://i659.photobucket.com/albums/u...h/IMGP0261.jpg

Heating the gluing surfaces with a heat lamp to give a little more working time with the hide glue:

http://i659.photobucket.com/albums/u...h/IMGP0307.jpg
http://i659.photobucket.com/albums/u...h/IMGP0335.jpg

Note the little crack in the top by the truss cutout. That was our second "bump" in the build. Fixed with some CA:

http://i659.photobucket.com/albums/u...h/IMGP0267.jpg
http://i659.photobucket.com/albums/u...s/IMGP0305.jpg
http://i659.photobucket.com/albums/u...s/IMGP0332.jpg
http://i659.photobucket.com/albums/u...s/IMGP0324.jpg

OddManOut 05-15-2011 11:23 AM

It's Alive!!!!
 
After several months and many hours of cutting, bending, gluing, shaving, sanding and finishing, luthier Larry Nair (Tahoe Guitars) and I finished my mahogany/Adi deep body OM. Obviously there may be a few set-up tweaks as things settle in, but it is up-and-running as of about 20 hours ago.

This last work session was all set-up work (thus perhaps not the most interesting picture set), but very interesting to go through this on a virgin guitar. Prior to slotting the nut we had it tuned up to pitch and capoed at the first fret. The intonation was shockingly good.

I have to say Larry's set up specs gave a result reminiscent of churned heavy cream: butter. ;)

So...how does the guitar sound? Well...I have to be philosophical here. It is my first guitar build and Larry's first OM (he's done mostly 00s and dreads). We based it on a sweet vintage Martin 000-18, though mine has a 25.4" scale, a few modifications to the top thickness, the bracing and increased body depth. Starting with a proven design is a good thing, changing up some key specs is risky.

So...how does it sound? F-bombing amazing! Seriously (and I know I'm biased) from the get-go it has had a wonderful voice. I noted in the first five minutes of play (prior to the nut slotting) it had a wonderful-though-subtle overtone bed and a clear, sweet, balanced voice. In its first 20 hours of life it has gained depth and volume across the spectrum and the overtones have come alive. The voice reminds me of several good Froggy Bottoms I've had the pleasure to play...cutting the line between a good traditional voice and a more modern Goodall-like voice.

It is sensitive to a light touch but has a lot of headroom. i.e. it has a very large dynamic range. I think we have the Adi spruce top to thank for this. I chose this one out of a dozen top sets because it had excellent stiffness and tap tone.

Honestly, both Larry and I were amazed even after two hours of life. It was an emotional time for both of us as many hours of effort paid off quite nicely, certainly exceeding our expectations in terms of its initial voice. It is a fine, fine sounding guitar even at this early stage.

It will be interesting to see how it develops over the next week or so. I will keep you posted.

Final Specs:

Tahoe/OddMan OM

AKA The "OMOM"

Top: Adirondack Spruce
Back/Sides: Honduran Mahogany
Neck: One-piece Honduran Mahogany w/ full volute and two-way trussrod
Body/Neck Binding: Curly Maple
Bridge/Fretboard: Ebony
Finish: Modified Shellac
Frets: Gold EVO
Tuners: Grover Sta-tite Gold 18:1 ratio

Quilted sapele headplate, scalloped Adi bracing w/ no tongue brace, rope top purfling, chevron backstrip, green abalone rosette w/ accent rings, green abalone willow leaf 12th fret marker, curly maple heel cap and end graft,, bone nut and saddle, antique bone bridge pins, tiger stripe teardrop pickguard


Lower Bout: 15 1/8"
Upper Bout: 11 7/16"
Waist: 9 5/8"
Body Depth (max): 4 5/8"
Nut: 1 3/4"
Saddle: 2 1/4"
25.4" Scale
Length (including heel): 20 5/16"

-----

I know it is a bit sappy, but here is a link to a video of the first note the guitar played (Larry and I were being goofs as usual):

First Note

Here is a link to me quietly noodling on the guitar at 6 am this morning. Not my finest musical moment nor a great technical achievement with the internal mic on my camera, but the darn thing is playing sweetly!

OM at 20 hours old

Click For Complete Album <---Note the subalbums with beginning-to-end pics.

http://i659.photobucket.com/albums/u...p/SAM_0031.jpg
http://i659.photobucket.com/albums/u...p/SAM_0035.jpg
http://i659.photobucket.com/albums/u...p/SAM_0041.jpg
http://i659.photobucket.com/albums/u...p/SAM_0040.jpg
http://i659.photobucket.com/albums/u...p/SAM_0075.jpg
http://i659.photobucket.com/albums/u...p/SAM_0084.jpg

Larry checkin' her out:
http://i659.photobucket.com/albums/u...p/SAM_0086.jpg


Me having a go:

http://i659.photobucket.com/albums/u...p/SAM_0060.jpg

And the final result of our efforts:

http://i659.photobucket.com/albums/u...M/SAM_0087.jpg

gitnoob 05-15-2011 12:51 PM

Congrats on your first born! Looks and sounds like it turned out great!

So, what's next? First solo flight? :)

Neil K Walk 05-15-2011 04:00 PM

Congratulations! Loved the first note video!

mhammond 05-15-2011 10:18 PM

Neil:
Congratulations, it plays! The magic moment when you realize it really does make music is very special, something to be savored. What I have always found to be the most amazing part it how much it changes in the first few hours. It must be some kind of spell by the spirits of the forest
being lifted, I dunno.. No one has ever offered an explaination that made sense, it just happens. All the effort has paid off!

Time to celebrate! :up:

kennyk 05-16-2011 11:15 AM

Just re-read this wonderful thread. Absolutely fascinating.

So, when are you starting your next self-build? :up:

Seriously, though, congratulations on the journey.
I've just had some good news; I've been accepted on a Guitar making course at a local(ish) college in Glasgow here in Scotland. I start in August. Boy does that seem a lifetime away now.

Love the 'first note' video. I think that's the neatest moment of guitar building, and it's the first time I've seen it documented. :)

JimR 05-16-2011 08:07 PM

It looks as if you've built yourself a very nice guitar, OddManOut. Congratulations, that is truly a guitar to be proud of..


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