Traditional Dreadnought for Healdsburg

[Wade Hampton]

Originally Posted by murrmac123

Dammit Howard, I love the volute, but I always had the suspicion you couldn't do one ....now all my preconceptions are shattered ...

What you'll find, Murray, is that there's very little Howard can't do. What surprised me when I visited Santa Rosa was when Commissioner Gordon turned on the Bat Signal, and the steel door that leads to this secret cave entrance underneath Howard's shop slid open, and Howard came out driving the....

Wait...I've said too much. I was sworn to secrecy on that.

Never mind. Lovely weather we're having here, aren't we?


Wade Hampton "Secret Identities Are SUPPOSED To Remain Secret!" Miller

[Glennwillow]

Beautiful dreadnought, Howard. I love the looks of the cocobolo with that white adi top and herringbone binding. Wow!

- Glenn

[Taylorplayer]

"Banjos will cringe in fear."

And grown men will cry!........What a fantastic looking guitar.

[Steve Kinnaird]

Wow... you've really got the prewar Martin vibe down, Howard!
(And it's not that easy changing gears from one's own sense of style to recreating someone else's. [And I hope that made sense.])
What I'm trying to say is real kudos for such versatility.
And--it's just pretty to boot.

Steve

[rolleiguy54]

Could you pm me with a price?
Thanks

[racman]

Simply Stunning Howard, as always. I think you should consider a "Herringbone Madness" build instead of the next Dovetail Madness one...

[darylcrisp]

Howard
it may be my misperception, but is the fretboard elevated?

man, that is one tough guitar

d

[zmf]

Wow. Beautiful, but not overdone.

Any chance of a sound clip?

[IndianaGeo]

I wish I could afford a Klepper. I'm a big fan of your work. Maybe someday.

[dannylightning]

yeah, that thing is killer....

[Howard Klepper]

Originally Posted by darylcrisp

Howard
it may be my misperception, but is the fretboard elevated?

man, that is one tough guitar

d

Good eye there, Daryl. I would not call it elevated, but there is a tapered shim under the fretboard that is about 1/16" thick at the end. This is necessitated by my system for arching the top--lateral arching only, so the top does not rise from the neck joint to the bridge as it does with a domed top.

[gitnoob]

Originally Posted by Howard Klepper

This is necessitated by my system for arching the top--lateral arching only, so the top does not rise from the neck joint to the bridge as it does with a domed top.

The techie in me has to ask: why?

Is it because most of the humidity movement is lateral?

Beautiful guitar, BTW. I like the idea of a Klepper hiding inside a dread. Very stealth.

[murrmac123]

Originally Posted by gitnoob

The techie in me has to ask: why?

Howard has a very comprehensive explanation of his arching system on his website, and it makes perfect sense.

Stefan Sobell, btw, also uses this system, although I am not sure whether he does the "spline arch" or whether he uses an arc of a circle.

[gitnoob]

Thanks -- that was interesting. I'm going to have to try that someday.

Arching the top of a guitar in the lateral direction only is an opportunity to raise the stiffness in the direction in which it is lacking--across the grain--and to do so more than in a spherical doming system, because the wood can take a higher arch if it is flexed latitudinally only.

[murrmac123]

Originally Posted by Wade Hampton

What you'll find, Murray, is that there's very little Howard can't do. What surprised me when I visited Santa Rosa was when Commissioner Gordon turned on the Bat Signal, and the steel door that leads to this secret cave entrance underneath Howard's shop slid open, and Howard came out driving the....

Wait...I've said too much. I was sworn to secrecy on that.

Never mind. Lovely weather we're having here, aren't we?


Wade Hampton "Secret Identities Are SUPPOSED To Remain Secret!" Miller

You're not fooling me, Wade.

I am well aware that Howard is Batman/Bruce Wayne.

I also know that Bruce Sexauer is Dick Grayson/ Robin the Boy Wonder.

Additionally, I know that YOU are Alfred, Bruce Wayne's faithful butler.

Aunt Harriet is of course played by any one of the AGF forum mods ...