Could be the most challenging build I've ever seen.

Thanks! I tend to agree.

rosette finished
 

https://i.imgur.com/sKZtp5E.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/12qujF2.jpg

Love that rosette!

Wait till the finish makes it pop...!

Burton is coming up with some Straight-up Ninja shenanigans but I can't post yet. Stay Tuned!

I don't post much on this forum, but I have to comment on the amazingness of this thread. Wow.

Ninja?

Is he painting the whole guitar black?

It's hard to describe. He's taking high quality photos now so stay tuned! :)

Finally, a BIG headstock and bridge reveal!
 

edited, image hosting issues

Quite a creative design of both headstock and bridge! Rest assured Burton will make it an even better reality.

Love the headstock Burton. Just a question about the string paths for the E strings. Won't they have quite an angle to them?

Hey Ken!- The E strings head up to the furthest posts- The D and G hit the closest ones. it isn't so bad. The tricky part will be getting used to the pegs coming out the back of the head not corresponding to the strings in the normal way.

Also, it needs to be said- This headstock is directly inspired by one made by Mitsuhiro Uchida, someone whose work and design sense I hold in the highest regard. It is so similar that I felt it was necessary to contact him and propose what I wanted to do and get his blessing before proceeding. I was able to do that and am very appreciative of his time and permission, he was very gracious. I think it will look good on this guitar and I am excited to tackle the details :)

The bridge will be fun too- I know it looks like a fan fret but it is a straight 25" scale. I angled the bridge to match the compensation of the saddle. The bridge on the original is so thin and I didn't want to change that but it had no compensation- This allows me to keep the bridge thin and have a little fun with the design. It will be interesting to see how the triangles read when they are carved into the pyramid style. In plan like this it references the rosette well and I am curious to see if it still does when the lines aren't quite as sharp.

I appreciate everyone's comments! thanks for following along. Matthew and I have been throwing around ideas for this guitar for (I think) literally 2 years! It is nice to finally have the design set in stone. I can't wait to see it for real.

Spent the morning thicknessing the top- Made a mess! But it feels good. These little guitars can have some thin soundboards before the braces go on. I should start gluing those later this week.

Thanks Burton. That makes more sense now.

Interesting. So, how will you manage the crossing strings? Wind some higher on the tuner posts than others?

None of them will cross if I understand you right- The paths are a little angled on the outer strings but not too much. Since I will be making the string shafts I can control exactly where the string will anchor. The easiest way to describe it is to show the design it is based off of- below is the Uchida headstock that was the inspiration:

He used a Rodgers Lacote style machine on that headstock. I'll be heavily modifying Waverly machines for this one. The buttons will look like pegs coming out of the back of the headstock and there will be decorative brass plates covering the tuners on the sides.

We really wanted some style of inline (like tuning pegs, on the original) tuner for this but I had no confidence in the 16:1 pegheads after handling a few. I worked for a while on a tuner with a miter gear that would have been close but wasn't confident enough of long term stability to use it here. What we worked up feels like a good compromise.

That's pretty amazing Burton. I'm not sure I understand what the tuning machines will look like on the back of the headstock. Are they alternating/offset at all or are they perfectly in line? I guess I'm wondering on the tightness of the spacing between the knobs.

BTW, one of your buddies (I believe) Trevor Healy is building a 00 for me.

Hi Paul,

Excellent choice on getting a guitar from Trevor! His work is great. I wish I got out there more to see what he is up to- For anyone else reading this we are talking about this talented guy:

http://healyguitars.com/

On the headstock- They will be staggered. If you look at the below picture you can see the little circles which correspond to the shaft the peg/button will attach to.

I'm still making the plates so I may be able to tighten up the whole thing (have the shafts closer together). I'll need to see where all the holes will fall. If I can shorten the head I think it would be a good thing, the guitar is tiny!

Ahhh, very cool. Thanks for elaborating.

Ah, I get it. The drafting of what look (to me) holes for the tuner posts had me thinking that you weren't using slothead tuners.

Very elegant.

Tuner work
 

Burton's been working on the tuners.

edited due to image hosting issues

Man, if you keep this up, you're gonna make my beloved guitar of yours just look like another simple everyday guitar...! :D

Burton's wearing that pencil out on this one.

You know it!

I've been remaking the bodies for some Waverly gear sets trying to get them lighter and fit better with this headstock design. Also, I'd like my own tuner design anyway, so this shape may be something I still use on standard headstocks too. One thing I love about 510's is that they completely fill the opening from both sides and the bushing locks to the tuner- It helps alleviate any mismatch or slop in that area. My version has an extension there and part of that will be visible in this guitar's headstock opening as a polished ring around the tuner shaft.

This is just the prototype- so not polished or even completely finished (and have a non-slothead shaft in place) but it does show the idea pretty well. I really like the small size and with the nylon bushings in there everything is smooth but tight. Once the imitation pegs are made and in place I think they will look really good.

Very interesting. As an architect, I really appreciate the detail and design going into this instrument.

Your work is always very impressive.

Great job Burton. Just let me know when I can send my check to get in on the ground floor of LeGeyt Tuners stock.

Thanks guys! Randy- I sent you a PM

Ryan, will do :) Can't wait for that day.

That's all really nice Burton but when am I going to get my ukulele tuners? Seriously, can't wait to see the finished headstock.

I think it's really cool that a majority of posts in this thread are from fellow luthiers. :)