Custom Build: John Osthoff SJ - Page 2

Rod True · #16 06-23-2016, 04:04 PM

John's work is very inspiring! Looking great!

John Osthoff · #17 06-27-2016, 05:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tekaitora

John, I don't think I'm alone in stating any information/photos you feel comfortable sharing about your titanium truss rod process would be of great interest and greatly appreciated!

Looking forward to the Dream Guitars recording of this guitar when the time comes. Thanks as always for taking the time to post.

Yes, Dream does such a nice job on the recordings, I look forward to that too. Sure, I can give some details about the trussrod, but it probably sounds more impressive than it actually is.

I have used the double acting trussrods in the past and often have had the rattle, or buzz. Oh that elusive buzz that occurred at one particular note. Putting silicon sealer on the trussrod during installation usually solved the rattle problem (but not always.)

I make up the trussrods in the shop from titanium rods. It is compression rod, with a Allen nut on the threaded end of the rod which gets hidden under my 'stealth truss rod cover.' I use my lathe to turn the end of the rod, then just run a die over it rather than chasing the threads on the lathe. The rod is held at the body side with use of a right-angle bend. I have a bender in the shop to make these bends, although I don't have a picture handy of that. Here is a look (from an earlier guitar) of the rod dry-fitted and oversize prior to the threads being added.

The slot in the neck has a long arc running the length of the neck and the spline (filler strip) matches the radius of this arc. In this shot, the filler strip is being glued in place.

John Osthoff · #18 06-27-2016, 05:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rod True

John's work is very inspiring! Looking great!

Thanks Rod, I remember seeing your (impressive) work many years ago, so your comments mean a lot to me, thanks. By the way, I checked out your recent build thread (great job,) but appreciate the time you took to talk about the sponsorship, at the opening of the thread. I just renewed my sponsorship for another year here at the AGF and of course Dream guitars is also a sponsor. Your respect for the sponsorship has not gone unnoticed. Thanks again.

John Osthoff · #19 06-28-2016, 04:08 AM

I have been busy working on the neck for this one but in the meantime here are a couple shots of the body with the binding installed.

We chose to use snake-wood but not the highly figured stuff for binding material.

tekaitora · #20 06-28-2016, 06:02 AM

Thank you, John for the informative post about your truss rod design, building, and technique! Titanium is a remarkable material - if a pain in the patoot to work with- and the use of it in this application makes a lot of sense. Your ability to make it conform to your needs is impressive!

Love the tasteful snake wood binding - it compliments its surroundings in an elegant and understated manner. Elegant is a word that often comes to mind when viewing your aesthetic choices, John. Thank you for the updates!

iim7V7IM7 · #21 06-28-2016, 06:45 AM

Thanks for sharing the unique details of your process John such as your Ti truss rods...

John Osthoff · #22 06-29-2016, 10:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tekaitora

Thank you, John for the informative post about your truss rod design, building, and technique! Titanium is a remarkable material - if a pain in the patoot to work with- and the use of it in this application makes a lot of sense. Your ability to make it conform to your needs is impressive!

Love the tasteful snake wood binding - it compliments its surroundings in an elegant and understated manner. Elegant is a word that often comes to mind when viewing your aesthetic choices, John. Thank you for the updates!

Your welcome and Thank you. I have not messed with welding titanium, (I guess that can be a bit tricky) and since I am buying the rods almost to dimension, there isn't a ton of machining in this process. It is however a bit of bear to work with,

Quote:

Originally Posted by iim7V7IM7

Thanks for sharing the unique details of your process John such as your Ti truss rods...

You got it Bob.

John Osthoff · #23 06-30-2016, 05:00 AM

Here are a couple more shots of the process/progress on this SJ,

This is the neck blank that I put together a while back. It is big enough to get 2 necks out of, and one was used another cocobolo guitar (an OM.)

In this shot, we had some 'leftovers" from the back and decided to be frugal and use them for the Straight-String-Pull (SSP) headstock. I usually use a rectangular piece when gluing up the headstock overlays, so this time I just had to be a little more careful to make sure the cocobolo landed in the strikezone.

pheumiller · #24 07-21-2016, 08:01 AM

John and I had some great discussion regarding the fretboard on this guitar. We wanted something simple, but unique. John sent me a couple of sketches (below) carriying the theme from the rosette including a ‘new’ design (the third image below) which has more of a fleur-de-lis like influence. I particularly liked this one so we are going that route. In fact, John is now naming that fretboard style for his models, the fleur-de-lis.

Here are some white mother of pearl pieces that will make up the inlay on the fretboard. The pencil marks are just there to help John keep track of the top.

More updates to come soon!!

jim1960 · #25 07-21-2016, 09:41 AM

Working at Dream Guitars must be like setting up house in a toy box.

j. Kinnaird · #26 07-21-2016, 10:21 AM

Beautiful cocobolo. I sure do like the look of that rosette and the cocobolo on cocobolo binding. Classy.

John Osthoff · #27 07-21-2016, 06:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by j. Kinnaird

Beautiful cocobolo. I sure do like the look of that rosette and the cocobolo on cocobolo binding. Classy.

Thanks John,

Actually the binding is made from snakewood. I took these bindings from a section that did not have a lot of figure, but that is what Paul and I liked about these pieces.

LouieAtienza · #28 07-22-2016, 08:29 PM

I like the elegant but not over-the-top fretboard inlays!

Rod True · #29 07-22-2016, 09:45 PM

Thanks John.

Loving this and all the cocobolo! I really like fretboard #2 but all 3 look great.

This is going to be one beautiful instrument!

John Osthoff · #30 07-24-2016, 06:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rod True

Thanks John.

Loving this and all the cocobolo! I really like fretboard #2 but all 3 look great.

This is going to be one beautiful instrument!

Thanks Rod,

I have been on a cocobolo kick lately. I just strung up a cocobolo (OM) and should be posting some pictures soon. Regarding the fretboard, I liked the second too one although initially Paul wanted to stick with first one. It seemed a little more traditional. I was then working on another design at this time and came up with the third idea. For that one I was going through some artwork for inspiration and came across something similar to what is on the 12th fret. That design was in a sections with the Native American designs although it seemed to have a European influence. I just used elements from that and used them for the other markers. I don’t know for sure that there is in fact a Native American design in the 12th fret marker, as its main element looks more to be derived from the Fleur-de-lis design that saw all over Florence and was used by French royalty. There is a lot of debate where this came from, but as a long time New Orleans Saints fan, it worked for me.