CigarFan's 2020 Cuban/German 0 - Page 4

Bruce Sexauer · #46 01-17-2020, 05:14 PM

For those late in joining us, I would like to remind you that this guitar will be delivered at the up coming B.I.G.(er) event in March, and it would be great if you were there to witness this. Contact Tom Bowersox on Facebook to make it happen.

The top binding is complete. And, by the way, there is a side port in this guitar!

TomB'sox · #47 01-17-2020, 06:33 PM

Looking better and better all the time Bruce and Dennis!!! So exciting that Dennis is going to experience this for the first time at B.I.G.!!!!! BTW folks, getting to know Cigarfan is reason enough to come to the event. The gentle giant with the voice of an angel would be an apt description of the man himself. Then we have the newly minted Bruce with increased blood flow to all his capillaries, I thought he had energy before!!!! He is going to be vibrating this year!!!

Bruce Sexauer · #48 01-17-2020, 06:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TomB'sox

Looking better and better all the time Bruce and Dennis!!! So exciting that Dennis is going to experience this for the first time at B.I.G.!!!!! BTW folks, getting to me Cigarfan is reason enough to come to the event. The gentle giant with the voice of an angel would be an apt description of the man himself. Then we have the newly minted Bruce with increased blood flow to all his capillaries, I thought he had energy before!!!! He is going to be vibrating this year!!!

I started to see the effects of my Aortic Valve stenosis 5 years ago, not that I recognized it initially. I now know that the last year and a half before the surgery I was actually impaired! I had thought it was just when going "cardio", but now I see that it was impaired sleep and a dulling of every waking moment toward the end. That would include the time at last year's B.I.G., so Tom may not even recognize me.

cigarfan · #49 01-18-2020, 06:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TomB'sox

Looking better and better all the time Bruce and Dennis!!! So exciting that Dennis is going to experience this for the first time at B.I.G.!!!!! BTW folks, getting to know Cigarfan is reason enough to come to the event. The gentle giant with the voice of an angel would be an apt description of the man himself. Then we have the newly minted Bruce with increased blood flow to all his capillaries, I thought he had energy before!!!! He is going to be vibrating this year!!!

Very kind of you to say Tom.

I too am looking forward to seeing the new Bruce. If he was hampered in any way last year, I just can't imagine a more energized version.

I am really looking forward to getting this guitar in my hands. Lookin' schweeet Bruce!

GeoffStGermaine · #50 01-18-2020, 09:05 AM

Whenever I see one of Bruce's guitars coming along in a thread here it makes me question whether I actually like modern appointments more than classic/traditional. This is anything stunning instrument! There's something very special about seeing how Bruce builds his guitars.

Thanks for sharing Bruce, and great to see you back at it!

Bruce Sexauer · #51 01-18-2020, 04:11 PM

I have completed the binding on the FT-0C-JB/2 and will tackle the dovetail cavity and the graft next. The neck is coming up fast, and I lost some sleep last night considering the difficulty of the bridal join given the asymmetrical headstock: nothing is square to anything else.

A lot of makers seem to favor binding all the cutaway side joins, kind of like the graft is done. I have done this, but I find it unnecessarily busy and kind of pointless . . . no pun intended. Instead, I just miter the the pieces of side to each other, and in this case it came out quite cleanly.

TomB'sox · #52 01-18-2020, 04:35 PM

Yes, I think if the miters can be made that perfect, they look better without the bindings on both sides.

ChuckS · #53 01-18-2020, 09:35 PM

This sure is a wonderful looking guitar.

cigarfan · #54 01-19-2020, 04:05 AM

I like the clean look and agree with Tom … those miters are extremely well done!

Bruce Sexauer · #55 01-19-2020, 03:16 PM

I have cut the joinery for the asymmetrical headstock Bridal Joint/Bird's Beak and soon it will be glued together. I am fully prepared to chalk this up to a "learning experience" if I have to do it again . . . but so far it looks like it's going to come out okay.

cigarfan · #56 01-20-2020, 07:20 AM

It's no wonder that would keep you up at night. Really appreciate your work on this.

TomB'sox · #57 01-20-2020, 03:39 PM

Yeah, I think that one would give me headaches, square, perpendicular, I get that, oblique, obtuse...not so much.

ukejon · #58 01-20-2020, 04:09 PM

It is witchcraft I tell ya.....witchcraft!

Bruce Sexauer · #59 01-20-2020, 04:39 PM

I am taking a break from carving this neck to share some less glamorous process pictures.

Here are the two portions of the bridal joint glued up:

Here is the gluey mess before the faceplates were added:

Here is the heel roughed out:

And here is the beak taking shape:

jmat · #60 01-21-2020, 11:33 AM

Bruce -

I am sure you have answered this before and, alas, one more request. What is the benefit / purpose of the bridal joint/bird's beak? Way stronger? Just cooler? Either way it is cool. I remember Klepper saying something along the lines that he didn't consider dovetail joints to be better than bolt-ons but he liked making dovetail periodically nonetheless and had a sense of accomplishment that he had mastered the craft. I doubt the birds beak is similar for you, but who knows.

Separately, I like that Cuban - it certainly looks very different from Honduran. It looks a bit like some of Osage Orange I have seen perhaps more in grain than color. Both are woods I have never experienced and I am hoping to convince Dennis to to break the Cuban drought by sharing this one with the east coast crowd,

Nice work as always Bruce.

jm