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  #106  
Old 04-13-2018, 11:06 AM
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invguy921 invguy921 is offline
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Really gorgeous work Mark...as usual. You have such an inspiring eye for design. Much can be learned by watching you build guitars. Thanks for sharing your work! Love it!!
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  #107  
Old 04-13-2018, 11:46 AM
virob virob is offline
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Originally Posted by Mark Hatcher View Post
Bear claw Sitka has been the preferred choice for these maple guitars and for this guitar we selected a particularly nice one:

It has great tap tone that's right for the maple set and small jumbo size.

Sitka tops average 7 grams per cubic inch. This one comes in at a lightweight 6.45gr/cubic inch. The top is also very stiff like you might expect from the high grain count.
So in my book this top is best of all worlds: it's stiff, light, and beautiful.

Hi Mark, I'm really interested in your comments above. What is it about maple that makes this piece of sitka the preferred choice? is there a unique tap tone that works particularly well with maple the the SJ sized guitar? I'm curious about the thought that is put into choosing this wood combination and what the end goal is to be. Both woods you have chosen are stunning!

thanks
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  #108  
Old 04-15-2018, 04:17 AM
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Mark Hatcher Mark Hatcher is offline
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Originally Posted by virob View Post
Hi Mark, I'm really interested in your comments above. What is it about maple that makes this piece of sitka the preferred choice? is there a unique tap tone that works particularly well with maple the the SJ sized guitar? I'm curious about the thought that is put into choosing this wood combination and what the end goal is to be. Both woods you have chosen are stunning!



thanks


The choice of a top for a Maple guitar centers around what my goals are for a maple guitar as opposed to say a rosewood or mahogany guitar. Usually, when you read folks opinions of maple guitars someone will say something along the lines of “well I played this maple guitar that, without looking, you’d think it sounds almost as good as a rosewood guitar”.

My goals making a maple guitar do not include making a mediocre rosewood guitar.

I want a maple guitar to basically have the emphasis on fundamentals, note separation, and clarity of a Mahogany guitar with the purity of tone of the fundamentals that you get with a rosewood guitar. Overall, I also want quick and strong dynamic responsiveness and I want that balanced up and down and across the fretboard. That in my opinion is what makes for a great maple guitar.
So why this top? Well the choice of bear claw is mostly cosmetic. It goes nicely with the quilted Maple. It also can be an indicator of good cross grained stiffness which in this case proved true. Good cross grain stiffness will make my job balancing the tonal response a little easier when I voice the top.
The choice of this lighter weight but, overall quite stiff top helps with the quick response.
The overall timbre of this top when tapping lends itself well to the pure tone I’m looking for in the fundamentals.
So that in a nutshell is the beginning of my thinking in selecting this top for this back and side set on this model maple guitar.

I hope you find that helpful!
Mark
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Last edited by Mark Hatcher; 04-15-2018 at 04:54 AM.
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  #109  
Old 04-15-2018, 04:31 AM
byudzai byudzai is offline
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How is this even real? And how do I make it mine? That's the most beautiful guitar photo I've ever seen.
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  #110  
Old 04-15-2018, 07:58 AM
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How is this even real? And how do I make it mine? That's the most beautiful guitar photo I've ever seen.
Thanks byudzai! Here is a link to the Flickr album that shows some of the steps in making this guitar real:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/283528...57671140236986
If you want to make that picture yours I don't have any blocks in place and you can download a full resolution file of that photo.

Now if it's a guitar like this one you want you can secure a start date on my build schedule which currently is just rolling into 2020.
I got three guitar back and sides sets from the billets I made this guitar from and they are all sold but, 2020 gives me time to source an equal or better quilted Maple set to reserve for your build.

Thanks, Mark
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  #111  
Old 04-15-2018, 12:03 PM
virob virob is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark Hatcher View Post
The choice of a top for a Maple guitar centers around what my goals are for a maple guitar as opposed to say a rosewood or mahogany guitar. Usually, when you read folks opinions of maple guitars someone will say something along the lines of “well I played this maple guitar that, without looking, you’d think it sounds almost as good as a rosewood guitar”.

My goals making a maple guitar do not include making a mediocre rosewood guitar.

I want a maple guitar to basically have the emphasis on fundamentals, note separation, and clarity of a Mahogany guitar with the purity of tone of the fundamentals that you get with a rosewood guitar. Overall, I also want quick and strong dynamic responsiveness and I want that balanced up and down and across the fretboard. That in my opinion is what makes for a great maple guitar.
So why this top? Well the choice of bear claw is mostly cosmetic. It goes nicely with the quilted Maple. It also can be an indicator of good cross grained stiffness which in this case proved true. Good cross grain stiffness will make my job balancing the tonal response a little easier when I voice the top.
The choice of this lighter weight but, overall quite stiff top helps with the quick response.
The overall timbre of this top when tapping lends itself well to the pure tone I’m looking for in the fundamentals.
So that in a nutshell is the beginning of my thinking in selecting this top for this back and side set on this model maple guitar.

I hope you find that helpful!
Mark
Mark, thanks for sharing that information, it was very enlightening, thank-you! You have elegantly described maple's strengths. I also checked out a couple of your youtube maple/sitka recording, to hear what your guitars sound like. Whoever gets this guitar is very lucky.
Is the quick response you mentioned from this piece of sitka also a function of the size of the guitar (small jumbo josie)? Would this be less of a concern for an OM sized guitar? Maple is considered to be a a bit bass shy, do you like the SJ size to help achieve a better tonal balance?
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  #112  
Old 04-15-2018, 01:54 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by virob View Post
Is the quick response you mentioned from this piece of sitka also a function of the size of the guitar (small jumbo josie)? Would this be less of a concern for an OM sized guitar? Maple is considered to be a a bit bass shy, do you like the SJ size to help achieve a better tonal balance?
The quicker response of the top is a function of it being more light and stiff. There is less weight to get moving and everything else being equal, sound tends to travel faster through stiffer wood.
The small jumbo size is one of the ways to get a little more bass and the quicker responding top is probably more important on the larger bodied guitar.

Mark
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  #113  
Old 04-25-2018, 05:43 AM
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I've been getting a lot of interest in Maple lately and I've been hard at it searching for more. I just got in a couple of very nice billets. Love new wood days!



Mark
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  #114  
Old 04-26-2018, 11:06 AM
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A local southern New Hampshire newspaper has a nice article on me out. The reporter interviewed me at the shop for about 2 hours and I'm surprised how much he got!
http://www.ledgertranscript.com/Hatc...itars-16453055

Thanks for viewing
Mark
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Last edited by Mark Hatcher; 04-26-2018 at 11:19 AM.
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  #115  
Old 05-04-2018, 08:05 AM
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Default Headstock Plate

Here is a picture of the headstock overlay I am working up for this Quilted Maple Josie guitar:



Thanks for viewing!
Mark
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  #116  
Old 05-04-2018, 09:03 AM
Nemoman Nemoman is offline
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Whoa--that is very cool!

Such fluid movement executed in some beautiful woods!
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  #117  
Old 05-04-2018, 02:04 PM
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Originally Posted by Nemoman View Post
Whoa--that is very cool!

Such fluid movement executed in some beautiful woods!


Thanks Nemoman! The woods are Cocobolo, quilted Maple, and Amboyna and Maple burl.
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  #118  
Old 05-04-2018, 02:18 PM
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Wow Mark. Really nice headstock. As always I’m astounded at how you can cut those adjoining pieces to match so perfectly. Piece of art!
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  #119  
Old 05-05-2018, 01:20 PM
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Wow Mark. Really nice headstock. As always I’m astounded at how you can cut those adjoining pieces to match so perfectly. Piece of art!
Thanks cigarfan! We're building on a bit of a theme here. The rosette follows along:

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  #120  
Old 05-05-2018, 02:17 PM
Stevied63 Stevied63 is offline
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Beautiful work, Mark!
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