J. kinnaird oversized Slope Dread 12c build. My #6 with John!
 

Greetings fellow Custom Shop friends and BOSS AXE fanatics !

Yet another John Kinnaird super Custom now on the Bench!

This is my SIXTH custom with the Maestro! Hahaha. We continue to chase ENORMOUS acoustic tone, along with every comfort feature we know of...

The woods:
Highly figured Oregon Myrtle from John's stash for back and outer sides

Spanish Cedar for inner sides, solid linings, laminated neck, and laminated neck and end blocks.

(Thanks to Bruce Sexauer for the beautiful and inspiring recent builds with Myrtle, which helped us choose this B/S set from John's deep stash.)

A killer Bear Claw Western Red Cedar top, which John says is as responsive as any WRC he has ever worked with. Yow!

Bridge, Fretboard, and binding wood(s) still to be decided. But I am leaning towards Texas Ebony again, if John agrees.

Features:

this will have our full "Pablo Package" of ergonomic and sound enhancing features:

1.77" Nut, (slightly more narrow than our recent 1 25/32" builds).
2.25 string spacing at the saddle
25" scale for warmer tone and easier reaches for my old left hand.
asymmetrical slim carve neck with carve extending into the FB binding
Slim V on the bottom (Fingers). Barely rounded slim V on the top (thumb)

Carbon Fiber Tube and NO truss rod
Well rolled fret board edges

Smaller Upper Back, Armrest, and Cutaway bevels,
Rounded edges throughout entire guitar
sound port at neck side of Upper Bout bend.
12 fret with rounded "Venetian" cutaway
elevated Fretboard extension to free entire top
CF struts from neck block to waist will allow lighter bracing and build.

Manzer Wedge. 5/8". Thus the slightly smaller comfort bevels
John's nifty recent adjustable neck
Skipping fan frets/multi-scale. I will play a lot of Slide on this, as always.

We are resurrecting John's old oversized Slope Dread shape.
16.25" Lower Bout!
And will be doing a subtle recurve/cut on the BASS side of the neck as well as a more regular Venetian (rounded) cutaway.
The idea is to push the 25" scale 12 fret neck back so the saddle sits where a 25.5" scale would land. Closer to the widest part of the top.
Snakehead headstock for almost straight string pull.

Plus, All John's standard features like Super hard Jescar gold color frets, Laminated neck with plenty of CF clear through the Headstock
Both front and backplate, and ducktail volute for super strong and lightweight headstock/neck

Gotoh MINI 510 tuners, with wood buttons for lightest weight...
and more. I am sure I will remember something else. Hahah

Built to be tuned down to D concert, (down one whole step from standard), Open D and Drop C, where my guitars stay.

I have again requested the lightest build John feels is prudent.

Thank You John!!!

More coming soon! Hope to get some wood pics up pretty quick, too.

Play on, and tune up often!

Paul

Attachment 63305. Not sure this is the actual shape shown, but good shot of the Myrtle

Attachment 63306 here is the Bearclaw WRC


Attachment 63307

Zircote binding strip. We will probably go with Zircote for bindings and maybe bridge and fretboard too. John really likes it, and it is sure pretty. Apparently super strong too.

Cheers

Pal

Boss Paul. Congrats!!!

Still here rooting for you to try out Lucky Strike. It’s …. CRAZY good!!!

I think that is zircote. We can look at TE but I fear it will be the wrong color for the myrtle

Attachment 63311Attachment 63312

Different shot of back, and sides too.

I hear ya, Han! Maybe you can talk John into a deep LS discount???

I am real happy with all our 4 WRC builds so far.... and John says this BC WRC is spectacular!

More soon

Play on and Happy Saturday to all

Paul

That is some of the prettiest WRC I have ever seen. Beautiful! Congrats Paul!

Wow! Another one? That punch card is full. Buy 6 get one free, right?

Cutaways rough drawingAttachment 63327

Mold inserts for cuts
Attachment 63328

Just talked to John. Probably going a bit more Wedge. 3/4" or so.

Sides being cut and bent today, I believe.

Woohoo

Paul

Nice Idea!
 

Hey Seth, Great idea, but John really deserves extra "hazardous duty" pay for dealing with all my stuff!!!

Thanks for checking in! Let's talk soon if you have a few minutes.

That axe sharing on the patio was great fun. My best friend would LOVE to play your PreWar OM!

Looking forward to your Urlacher build thread, and would love to share when it gets to ya.

Cheers

Paul

Zircote!
 

The Zircote looks GREAT in that pic. Save me some fiddleback Mahogany purfling Please. Bet they will look killer together.

Time to go for a bike ride!

Paul

Since the pictured top wood looks like no WRC I've seen, I look forward to more pics of it. It looks like Madrone, to me. I doubt very much that it is, but that's pictures for you! I have never noticed Bearclaw in Cedar.

I had never seen BC cedar either. Allied was selling some and I had to try it. Its cedar for sure. The bearclaw is not nearly as pronounced as in some of the spruces but its there. Kevin got a set on his Graybeard

Assuming the material is quartered: I have only seen virtually straight as an arrow parallel growth lines on WRC. Similar to Wenge, in that one way. The one photo I saw here was not the whole piece, and I would be unable to recognize Marilyn Monroe if the picture were only her mole :)

I have cut a lot of WRC in my time, and even split a house’s worth of shakes from it in my 20’s in Hot Springs Cove on the west coast of Vancouver Island. My first 25 or so guitars were all WRC. Surely that quality hasn’t changed . . . already.

WRC.
 

As an aside, and to hijack my own thread:

The victorious US Olympic rowing crew in 1936 Used a scull made from one LOG of WRC, by a genius scull builder/carver who's work was rarely, if ever, beaten!

"The Boys in the Boat" has a lot of great stuff about the builder, as well as the USA rowing Team and the Hitler Berlin Olympics.

That was back even before Bruce split all those shakes! Hahahaha

It pleases me greatly to have you two builders I admire so much discussing my build! You both RAWK. May your herds increase!

Thanks again Bruce, for the inspiration.

Paul

I have not worked with WRC since I first used Spruce, not because there's anything wrong with WRC, but I hear something in Spruce I can't get over. If asked (and unable to talk convincingly enough) I'd willing use it again.

NOT a hijack, but a short story: When I started building guitars, the logging industry was in full swing in BC, where I lived. It was virtually all first growth trees ranging in diameter from 2' to 8', and there were moved around in "booms" by tugboats. Hundreds of trees loosely grouped together and contained by trees chained in a row around the herd. Inevitably, the occasional tree popped out over the "fence" and drifted away. These trees, if not recaptured, became free agents and drifted where they would, often ending up on Greater Vancouver's beaches. While still a bit true today, there were vastly more fifty years ago. An enterprising luthier such as myself could grab a friend and go down to the beach with a two man cross-cut saw and a couple of splitting wedges and take home any amount salt water cured old growth Western Red Cedar. I did this many times, and was never challenged by authorities, nor did I expect to be.

This salvaged cedar had a unique quality that I have yet to see in the lumber yard or the supply house; it is the color of semi-sweet chocolate. I saw this in several different beached trees, so I believe it is the salt water, but I don't actually KNOW this, it just seems obvious. One of the "alleged" secrets if the Stradivari violins is that his spruce was (may have been) transported by water. Since he built due south of the alpine forests, it seems unlikely to me that water ways were the more convenient route, but marketers will say anything to add to the story . . . IMO, of course.