New Wilborn build/Nautilus style/Braz-Adi

[WilbornGuitars]

Originally Posted by TomB'sox

I have said it before, it is too bad the top can't be clear so we could see the insides like that whenever we wanted to.

This is as close to clear as I can get. This is an Arum I built a couple months ago. The spruce transmits light pretty well. In fact, the light in this shot is coming through the Euro Maple back, and then through the top as well! But you can sure see the bones.


Willa_4622.jpg

[alohachris]

Aloha,

I really enjoy watching innovative luthiers & their instruments evolve. The Nautilus provides innovation in spades. If the previous Nautilai are anything to go by, this guitar should be a monster for tone & amplitude with these tone woods & craftsmanship married to Ben's new designs. There's a hint of the old Schneider/Kasha designs in the bracing that's trying to utilize more of the top. The experiment & quest continues. Bravo!

One word of caution: Sapwood.

Sure, sapwood, especially spalted like here can provide a very attractive, striking, bookmatched contrast in a guitar back. But if the inside of the back is not finished, sapwood is also very attractive to wood borers like the ground termites, powder-post beetles, wood eating ants & others that are unfortunately found in high numbers in the Brad's location of Reno, NV. Keep away from & check your firewood pile, treat your home for ground termites w/ regular inspections, & inspect your guitar interior with a mirror, Brad. It's not always easy to see what's going on inside your guitar near the end block.

Take it from a former Island luthier who used to use sapwood backs in his Koa guitars & ukulele, bugs & sapwood are a very bad combination to leave unchecked & unfinished. Sapwood represents the line of least-resistance to the wood borer family of insects. They prefer it! One uke of mine with a wide swatch of sapwood on the back came back to me from the Phillipines with holes all over. I had to replace the back (without sapwood). There were also a few incidences in Hawaii as well where bugs rule & loved that soft sap, & were, like Brad, "suckers for sapwood." Because I am also a retired distributor of Island Hardwoods & ran a Koa mill & kiln, I've seen where the borers like to go - straight to the sapwood.

So let these experiences serve as a cautionary tale to those here who may not have come across this issue or who cannot conceive that it would exist for their guitars or regions. Sapwood needs to be finished for protection. Guitars do not always stay in areas that have fewer issues with borers. Perhaps the BRW sapwood is harder than most species & has a less desireable scent to termites or powder-post beetles. But while searching for woods all over Brazil, the tell-tale holes & trails were always right there in the BRW sapwood. I hope no one here has to find that out.

Other than that cheery note, Bravo on Ben Wilborn's fearless & new guitar designs & perfectionist craftsmanship. His customers like Brad are very lucky to be teaming up with him. I look forward to the next Ben recordings. Bravo Again!

alohachris

[WilbornGuitars]

Originally Posted by alohachris

Aloha,


One word of caution: Sapwood.


alohachris

I appreciate that, thank you. I do believe that you are right; sapwood is more delicious than heartwood. As far as structure goes, the Dalbergias have a very dense sapwood in general, with working properties about the same as the rest of the wood. Even in the case of the spalting on this back, the wood is very dense and intact. (I would never build with it otherwise). As far as Brad leaving this guitar in the woodpile goes, I can only caution him and hope that he keeps it in the case instead. I do like the idea that finish will provide a layer of protection against wood eaters, and I'll add that to my list of "pros" for finishing the interior, which you will notice I have done on this guitar.

[Treenewt]

Super late to this thread...but WOW...what a guitar! Thanks for sharing the build process and thoughts behind it, Ben. And Brad...good Lord...this one looks to be special, indeed! Congrats!

[WilbornGuitars]

I have come up with a name for this new model. It’s called The Sidewinder. This is in keeping with my names drawn from nature that reflect the serpentine shape of the soundport/arm bevel configuration. I have tried to avoid names taken from mathematics (where this curvature is described as the Golden Spiral, or the Fibonacci Curve) because I am not a math-inspired builder. I just see the beauty and functionality of this lovely shape. I also like the name Sidewinder because it is going to be a fierce and dangerous guitar, too.


A couple of technical things I thought I would share:

Nothing makes clean miters more unlikely than poorly fitting bindings. I go to great lengths to shape them so that they just drop into place. These are bent in my bending machine, while taped tightly to shaped surrogate sides that impart not only the horizontal, but the vertical contours as well.


This is a linear representation of the curved contours of Brad’s guitar. I use this jig to shape the (sacrificial) surrogate sides.


This is the template I use to cut the soundport and arm bevel channels.
The weird little peninsula is to support my router at the end of the cut.


Here is the victim, preparing for his doom.

[cigarfan]

Ben, this is so much fun to watch. Thinking through every last detail. My mind would explode. I sure am glad I just play em'. Absolutely stunning! Can't wait to hear it at the next B.I.G.

[WilbornGuitars]

Originally Posted by cigarfan

Ben, this is so much fun to watch. Thinking through every last detail. My mind would explode. I sure am glad I just play em'. Absolutely stunning! Can't wait to hear it at the next B.I.G.

Thank you! I’ve got my fingers crossed for BIG 2021.

[AZ Cardinal]

I do like the name "Sidewinder", although my fingers were crossed for the name, "The Wilborn Brad". Oh well...

Seriously, It has been sooo much fun to pop into the workshop to see this build and to really watch the progress and thought that Ben is putting into his guitars.

Also, Thank you to Aloha Chris for his concerns on sapwood. I have read many threads on its potential negativity on tone, due to its softness etc. Also, its "softness" has the potential for invaders and weakness. This particular set is so structurally sound, and firm. Also, I know beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I just love the contrasts personally. Always have. I have also talked to some pretty big time builders at shows, and pretty much all them said that there is no effect on tone, and if it does, minimal at best. I could not say no to this set when I first saw it! Plus, the thought that it could be hundreds of years old makes it fun to think about!

Besides, even if the back falls apart, or termites go to town on it, Ill just take it back to Ben and get a new one... Haahaaaahaaaa!!!

[Hanter]

Lovers of sapwood and wild figuring unite!

I know exactly what you mean, and you will live in constant regret if you had chosen otherwise.

[AZ Cardinal]

Hi, was at the Wilborn shop yesterday, and have a quick update of this incredible guitar taking shape!


Channels cut for the bindings. The exact shape of the inside of the soundport gets dialed in in the next few steps.





I love this look!




The longest, curviest miter I ever have to do. That little peninsula of spruce is incredibly vulnerable. I don’t even like looking at it.



Done!!



Bonus Miter!!!!



Looks Amazing Ben!!
Thanks for looking!
Frog

[Guitars44me]

Amazing work! Go, Ben, Go!!!

Brad, you must be really jazzed... and rightly so, as it will sound even better than it looks, no doubt!

This is fun to watch.

Salud

Paul

[AZ Cardinal]

Good day! I am so excited to get these new shop photos from Ben.. I’m just gonna be quiet and post them...
















Just staggering Ben...
Thanks for looking today,
Frog

[MThomson]

Oooooooh. That's incredible!

[TomB'sox]

Looking frogalicious to me! Can't wait to hear the sound this beast will put out! You may need to mic Ben up and you play without!!!

[Nemoman]

Schweeeet!

Love the bindings--is this the first Nautilii style that he hasn't done in ebony?

Very cool!