Osthoff Guitars '2016

[D.Kwasnycia]

John, this looks stunning. Love the figured birch, nice touch!! The Cocobolo is outstanding as well!

[John Osthoff]

Originally Posted by D.Kwasnycia

John, this looks stunning. Love the figured birch, nice touch!! The Cocobolo is outstanding as well!

Thanks Dennis, of course I had nothing to do with the wood except for finding it.

Here are couple (sort of random) pix, since I didn't really document the SJ very much. First up binding the fretboard



In this shot, I am using a rough template to choose a piece for the (Ryan Style) bevel. In this case I settled on a piece of Macassar Ebony.



Here is the bevel being glued in place using the hi-tech clamping method.



And the bevel (before finish)



And a shot of the rosette

[emmsone]

Originally Posted by John Osthoff

Although I borrowed this shot from and earlier build, it shows the inner core of the composite bridge patch that I have been using. It sort of uses the I-beam approach for strength. A maple veneer is bonded to the one side and the top plate of the guitar makes up the other side.

Hi John, obviously i'm late to the party here, but i'm just reading through a lot of the custom build threads front to back to try and assist myself with my own current build and I came across this bridge plate. Having studied Aircraft Design and Engineering when I was at university, i'm absolutely loving this design and implementation!!
I'm building to a set of plans for my first build but this is exactly the type of idea and innovation i would be interested in going 'Off Plan" to think about including in future builds (should this one go well enough to encourage myself to continue). Although I have no access to a CNC and/or laser cutter and the chances of me being able to hand carve a bridgeplate like that are about 3.8%.
Regardless, i had to comment on this as its awesome!!

Dave

[John Osthoff]

It has been a while since I have had a chance to drop in here. (It seems like a lot of my post start like this.)

I have been busy in the shop after the Woodstock show and I am working on a couple of new projects and doing some commission work. For those of you that came to show you got to see my A16 (Archtop) that one is back in the shop awaiting a couple of tweeks before we offer it for sale. I have another one of those in the works too. (More on that next year.)

One of the things that came about after the show is a new model for me. I was going through wood in the shop. (It is one of my favorite distractions) and I found a really nice Adirondack top. The more I investigated this piece I found out it was not going to be big enough for my current smallest model, a GP or 00. I didn't want to make this addy into a 4 piece top. Long story (a little shorter) I am going to use this top on a single 0 (12 fret model.) I plan to depart a little from my norm on a couple of the things but not too far. It will be getting double sides, and I should finish up the molds in the next couple of days. It is going to get mahogany back and sides. More details coming soon.

[SuperB23]

I had the pleasure of owning the first Osthoff SJ prototype from 2011 and I made the mistake in a weak moment of selling it to a good friend. I've tried a few times to buy it back over the years. John builds killer guitars that are on par with the best of the best!!! I've played and owned guitars from some of the best builders on the planet and John's guitars are right there with those builders!!

I love that high tech bridge plate!! Beautiful work John thanks for sharing!

[John Osthoff]

Originally Posted by SuperB23

I had the pleasure of owning the first Osthoff SJ prototype from 2011 and I made the mistake in a weak moment of selling it to a good friend. I've tried a few times to buy it back over the years. John builds killer guitars that are on par with the best of the best!!! I've played and owned guitars from some of the best builders on the planet and John's guitars are right there with those builders!!

I love that high tech bridge plate!! Beautiful work John thanks for sharing!

Thanks for the comments Bob. Hopefully my more recent SJ's have improved since that prototype. (I think that have.) Maybe one will land out in the Bay area for you to check out at some point.

[Jamiejoon]

I was very much enjoying this thread, and was curious in particular about how the Katalox and the Blackwood guitars turned out. Very nice work. The thread ended before the guitars were finished...did they spring to life elsewhere?

[LouieAtienza]

John, just wanted to drop by and say thanks for hanging out with me Friday night! I needed that beer!

[John Osthoff]

Wow this thread must of been a bit buried. (I do fall off the grid now and then.)

Originally Posted by Jamiejoon

I was very much enjoying this thread, and was curious in particular about how the Katalox and the Blackwood guitars turned out. Very nice work. The thread ended before the guitars were finished...did they spring to life elsewhere?

The Katalox guitar was a commission and is now with it's owner. I think that is his 8th Osthoff. He will be coming to the shop this Friday, to wrap up the specs on #10. He was gracious enough to allow me to take it to show last October, and it was really well received. I will see if I can dig up some photos of it.

The African Blackwood guitar remained with me for while and now at Guitar Gallery in Nashville. You can check out the details and get a listen to it here.

Thanks Jamiejoon for asking about them.