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  #16  
Old 03-13-2022, 10:25 AM
Itzkinguitars Itzkinguitars is offline
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My European dealer has just listed another guitar of mine, thought I might share

https://www.siccasguitars.com/shop/g...in-2021-no-24/







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  #17  
Old 03-15-2022, 12:17 PM
Itzkinguitars Itzkinguitars is offline
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I've begun work on Vasu's cutaway crossover guitar and Vasu recommended I post more detailed progress photos. Hope you all don't find these terribly boring!

The first step of any build is preparing the neck. First I plane 3 sides flat and square, slightly tricky with this figured Spanish cedar we chose but a sharp low angle plane produces excellent results



Next the scarf joint is cut, cleaned with a block plane, glued, then the head is planed to thickness





Then a channel is routed to accept the carbon fiber reinforcement. I normally use QS rock maple for this but due to the figured neck and high tension carbon strings we plan to fit the guitar with I thought something a bit stronger in the neck might be best.



Next the Brazilian rosewood head plate (cut from the same board as the fingerboard and bridge) and the heel are glued and cut to shape




Now I remove the waste from the neck and clean with a block plane





The tricky part of making the neck... cutting some precise slots and rabbets for the neck to accept the sides. the base side rib will be fitted with a wedge while a rabbet is cut on the treble side to glue the rib flush with the fretboard.

(this is a 2mm deep saw cut for the cutaway rabbet)



and finally I rough out the heel, I took some inspiration from the late Tom Doerr for the heel design. This isn't the final shape, the final carve will be similar but it will remain oversized until the neck is carved



Now to carve the headstock crest, drill and slot the head, and cut the string ramps!
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Last edited by Itzkinguitars; 03-15-2022 at 01:05 PM.
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  #18  
Old 03-15-2022, 12:29 PM
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Thanks so much for posting...these pictures are exactly what I love to see!!
Love it!
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  #19  
Old 03-15-2022, 03:11 PM
Itzkinguitars Itzkinguitars is offline
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Vasu supplied a board of Brazilian to use for the fretboard, headplate, and bridge. Here's the book matched head plate and fretboard



Next I joined the Brazilian back Vasu sent. We opted to forego a center inlay







Then trimmed it roughly to shape and compared the color match with the head/fretboard.


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  #20  
Old 03-15-2022, 10:47 PM
vpolineni vpolineni is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by canuck7 View Post
Thanks so much for posting...these pictures are exactly what I love to see!!
Love it!
I'll second that. I know we all love to see build pictures and understand each luthier's process. Thanks Brian for chronicling our build, it's exciting to see it come to life!

As I mentioned before, this will be a lifetime guitar so I decided to splurge and go for brazilian rosewood for most of the appointments (I think the only exception is binding which will be kingwood). It appears we got lucky with the color match as they are from different boards (and vendors). As exciting as the brazilian rosewood is, your choice for the neck knocked my socks off. I'm quite certain I'll stare at it each time I take the guitar out of its case.

I'll be interested to read your thoughts about the soundboard chosen and of course there's the rosette but it might take some time for its big reveal!
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  #21  
Old 03-16-2022, 01:35 AM
MThomson MThomson is offline
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Loving the thread so far. It's great to see the details of how the build comes together and marvel at the craftsmanship involved. Looks like this is another beautiful build coming together.
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  #22  
Old 05-03-2022, 04:31 PM
Itzkinguitars Itzkinguitars is offline
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Vasu has requested a rosette theme that's taking a considerable amount of time to complete thus the lack of updates. In the mean time here are the backs of the various guitars I currently have in progress.

From left to right: Ceylon satinwood, padauk (with ziricote wedge), Madagascan rosewood (Dalbergia Greveana), African blackwood (the densest rosewood-Dalbergia melanonoxylon), Brazilian tulipwood (a rare rosewood-Dalbergia decepularis), figured Mediterranean cypress, Madagascar rosewood (Dalbergia Baronii), and Brazilian rosewood

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  #23  
Old 05-03-2022, 05:21 PM
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What a nice rainbow of tonewoods!

That Brazilian tulipwood really looks amazing.
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  #24  
Old 05-03-2022, 08:55 PM
vpolineni vpolineni is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Itzkinguitars View Post
Vasu has requested a rosette theme that's taking a considerable amount of time to complete thus the lack of updates. In the mean time here are the backs of the various guitars I currently have in progress.

From left to right: Ceylon satinwood, padauk (with ziricote wedge), Madagascan rosewood (Dalbergia Greveana), African blackwood (the densest rosewood-Dalbergia melanonoxylon), Brazilian tulipwood (a rare rosewood-Dalbergia decepularis), figured Mediterranean cypress, Madagascar rosewood (Dalbergia Baronii), and Brazilian rosewood

It's true, I requested an intricate rosette after viewing various designs with Brian. I wanted to choose a design that would be new to him so that he'll continue to grow as a luthier. I'm delighted that our build provides that opportunity and can't wait to see the final product.

In the meantime, it's great to see his other works in progress and particularly nice to see so many multi-piece backs. It appears the classical world is more open to this than the steel string market. Speaking of appearance, it may seem like the first four are multi-piece but there are two more! The tulipwood and other madagascar rw (baronii) are as well. Kudos to Brian for such excellent joinery!
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  #25  
Old 05-04-2022, 01:12 PM
Itzkinguitars Itzkinguitars is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Nemoman View Post
What a nice rainbow of tonewoods!

That Brazilian tulipwood really looks amazing.
Thanks! I’m really excited to use the tulipwood. It’s quite hard to find due to the general scarcity of the trees and their small size (really more of a shrub that only grows in a small part of north eastern Brazil). The only anecdotes I’ve heard of this wood’s use in guitar making is that Richard Jacob “Weissgerber” used tulipwood for a guitar late in his career in the 40’s or 50’s and proclaimed it the best rosewood he came across. Not sure if I’d go that far but the tap tone is glass like with high dampening, much more similar to African blackwood than the more famous rosewood from Brazil (D. Nigra).

I’ll be pairing the tulipwood with this really exceptional reclaimed cedar top, the light color with pink stripe down the center should compliment the aesthetic well and it’s also impossibly tight grained, covered in medullary rays, and stiffer than most of the spruce I’ve worked with. Very excited for this guitar!

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  #26  
Old 05-05-2022, 10:53 AM
Itzkinguitars Itzkinguitars is offline
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Since accepting Vasu's commission we've become quite friendly and regularly chat about tonewood and guitars; due to Vasu's love of steel strung guitars the topic is often brought up. While I had built an OM style guitar last year for a friend I hadn't really had much interest in folk guitars since my teen years. That was until these continued conversations with Vasu which have inspired me to design a new steel string model ever so slightly larger than a Martin single 0, my favorite sized steel strung guitar.

I didn't have a time frame for when I'd build the first one, especially considering I'm working on the largest batch of instruments I've ever built in a single go, but while resawing a very old ziricote board I picked up locally that will be for a commission later this year I was left with an orphan back and side piece with each just thick enough for a back and side set if resawed within .5mm of final thickness. My curiosity got the best of me and despite the slightest blade drift or error at the bandsaw turning these boards into firewood I decided to give it a try. Luckily the sawing went better than expected (can't praise Laguna's resaw king blades enough) and I've decided to build the first of these new steel string models from ziricote and some hazelfichte I picked up from Rivolta in the Italian alps. As luck would have it, I also found a set of Waverly steel string machine heads purchased on a whim years ago that had been hidden away in a forgotten corner of my shop. If this turns out as well as I hope the second will be for Vasu but with some quite interesting wood choices and features.

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  #27  
Old 05-18-2022, 11:45 AM
Itzkinguitars Itzkinguitars is offline
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Carving headstocks is one of my favorite aspects of guitar making. A rectangle becomes an intriguing shape that acts as a signature for the maker at a satisfying pace. For Vasu’s guitar we’re incorporating a few design aspects from the great 19th and early 20th century Madrid based maker Vicente Arias. The first of which to be completed are these “bee sting” string ramps. Carving these takes about triple the amount of time as the square or rounded ramps I normally use but they offer a unique and aesthetically appealing alternative.

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  #28  
Old 05-22-2022, 12:44 PM
vpolineni vpolineni is offline
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One of the benefits of working with Brian is having access to a human wikipedia on the history of classical guitar. I liked the aesthetics in the Arias style bridge and lo and behold, when he presented three different headstock options I chose the Arias style again!

I appreciate the extra time required to put into it, it's a beautiful design. I plan to bring this guitar to B.I.G for everyone to see and play it!
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  #29  
Old 05-23-2022, 03:18 AM
steveh steveh is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Itzkinguitars View Post
Carving headstocks is one of my favorite aspects of guitar making. A rectangle becomes an intriguing shape that acts as a signature for the maker at a satisfying pace. For Vasu’s guitar we’re incorporating a few design aspects from the great 19th and early 20th century Madrid based maker Vicente Arias. The first of which to be completed are these “bee sting” string ramps. Carving these takes about triple the amount of time as the square or rounded ramps I normally use but they offer a unique and aesthetically appealing alternative.
Very nice indeed; some great skills on show here.

Cheers,
Steve
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  #30  
Old 05-29-2022, 12:06 PM
vpolineni vpolineni is offline
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Default Rosette!

I don't pretend to know how this was created, but the process is beautiful to me. I'll let Brian chime in on how difficult this was to create, in the meantime here are some pictures to share with you all!

Somehow this:








Became this:


And was inlaid for me to stare at every time I play the guitar:


Kudos to Brian for creating such a beautiful rosette which compliments the guitar perfectly, in my opinion. Staying with the them of brazilian rosewood, the rosette is entirely made out of black dyed veneer, european maple veneer, and brazilian rosewood veneer.
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