Hatcher High Figure Koa Penelope Sisters - Steel String and a Nylon Crossover

[Mark Hatcher]

Originally Posted by BEJ

I'm begining to think someone locks him in the room with food slot in the door and won't let him out until he passes a finished guitar out the slot. Whatever, there are some great guitars being made, somehow/ someway.

Thanks BEJ and justonwo (I think )

I keep a corner of my shop hung with black sheets and have lights set up there for pictures. My main assembly table is on wheels and I just roll it over for shots. It's fast and easy that way and you can see what I'm working on without a lot of distracting shop clutter in the background.

Thanks

[Billy Boy]

Mark, Absolutely beautiful work...wonderful attention to detail...thoughtful design...really love this entire build thread...thanks for sharing so much of yourself with us!

[Mark Hatcher]

Originally Posted by Billy Boy

Mark, Absolutely beautiful work...wonderful attention to detail...thoughtful design...really love this entire build thread...thanks for sharing so much of yourself with us!

Thanks Billy Boy,

Today I started shaping the headstock for the crossover. I have all of the laminates glued on, top and bottom. The first thing to do is drill the pilot holes for the tuning pegs;



Here I've drawn up the head design;



Then I drill pilot holes to get a scroll saw blade in there to rough out the slots;





Now it's just a matter of cleaning it up and cutting the ramps with rasps, files, and sandpaper;





Thanks for viewing!

[Luca Canteri]

Very nice and neat work Mark. A pleasure to look at.

[DamianL]

I just love these threads from Mark...such a beautiful piece of work and great documentation...

Collect these pictures and you could make a great reference/coffee table book!

Damian

[drcmusic7]

Originally Posted by DamianL

Collect these pictures and you could make a great reference/coffee table book!

Damian

That's a great idea... you got the wheels turning...

It's looking amazing, Mark!

Kindly,
Danny

[Mark Hatcher]

Originally Posted by asp

Very nice and neat work Mark. A pleasure to look at.

Thanks Luca, Damian, and Danny,

I've sent the guitar body out to have the back and sides sprayed. I can't wait to see the Koa pop under the finish!

Thanks Again!
Mark

[Mark Hatcher]

I have Tony Ferguson doing the finish for the back and sides. Tony just sent these pictures of the crossover. This has the first clear coat on but is not yet leveled. The figure is starting to pop;





Thanks for viewing!

[Billy Boy]

Wow! Stunning!

[Mark Hatcher]

Since the fretboard for the crossover is a bit wider (1 7/8ths" nut and 2 5/16ths" string space at saddle) it gave me the opportunity to redesign the extension I usually do on the Penelope 12 fret model. I gave it a little more twist and one more mitre. I'll probably update the steel string to be more like this, I like it better.





Thanks!

[Mark Hatcher]

Hello,

I've got the neck roughed out and worked on cleaning up the headstock today.
It will be a little bit yet before I get the crossover body back with the sprayed back and sides. I'll have time to install the frets and the neck will be ready to start French polishing along with the guitar top.

Here are a couple pics of the headstock with the tuner pegs set in. This is the steelstring body standing in for the crossover.





As always, Thanks for viewing!
Mark

[Mark Hatcher]

I've got the neck pretty well set the way I want. Here's a couple more pics before I start doing the frets;









Let me know if your getting used to this headstock design.

Thanks!

[teehom]

I always look forward to seeing your updates. You have a knack for photography it seems, as well as building guitars.

[Mark Hatcher]

Hello,

Here are a bunch of pictures of the frets being set up and installed. Because I finish the frets with semi-hemispherical ends I cut them to proper length before I install them. This requires consistency of measurement and technique to get good results. It starts with the right radius on the fret wire,



I use a jig to get consistant fret lengths







The fret ends are then hand finished





Part of the fret tang is filed off to clear the fretboard binding,





Finally the frets are ready to install,





Doing the fret ends this way is definitely a lot more work but it makes for more comfortable playing and since I started doing it this way, just cutting them off and filing a flat bevel doesn't look finished to me anymore.

Thanks for viewing!

[dk63]

That's really impassive Mark!