Custom OM - and return to AGF after hiatus

[kebbers]

It's been awhile since I've been on AGF. Life's kept me at bay with numerous changes: relocation, marriage, new job, and my first kid (GREATEST change in my life).

All this time, I've thinned out my herd down to the two guitars in my signature. And frankly, I consider myself fortunate to own the two listed, and that's honestly enough.

At the same time, I had a friend who shared my interest in acoustic guitars (amidst other things) who one day threw me the question of what I would want in a custom build. To be honest, I would've wanted a Gurian S3R cutaway, but that's not easy to find - but in the interest of being creative, I gave my friend a short list of what I would want. And naturally, over the years, I forgot about the list.

Apparently, my friend didn't. Taking it seriously, he acquired the woods necessary along with drafting an insane build plan back in 2010.

Fast-forward to late 2012 - turns out my friend found a local luthier to help him accomplish this build. And it should be complete by summertime.

I'll admit - I didn't take my friend that seriously, especially with the guitar's intricate & sophisticated builds he outlined in numerous emails over the years. And even when he said he found someone to help accomplish the build, I was still dubious about the reality of the build.

Until he & the luthier started sending the following photos.











I don't have much details of the specs beyond what I see, but here's what I've been told so far:

Body shape - hybrid of Cumpiano OM/Fleta classical
Back & Sides - Macassar Ebony
Neck - Port Orford Cedar
Top - Carpathian Spruce
Rosette - Duke Luthier herringbone pattern
Scale length - 26.1"
Neck Joint - Veillette/Kiff joint (Single bolt-on + Turner carbon fiber flying buttresses)
Bracing - Somogyi-inspired triple-X lattice bracing
Cutaway - Scoop cutaway design


Any educated guesses as to how it might sound? My bet is with the wood combination, size/shape, & longer scale length, we're looking at a guitar with good volume & a balanced tone. Can't say much for the bracing, but it should sound quite unique when played.

Some of it might look a little rough to those who are used to seeing more refined builds, but the luthier is a solid builder. In any case, I'm more than humbled to be the eventual recipient of such a fine gift.

Never would have expected to get another guitar - my Gurian and S&P do just fine - but this is over & above what I could've expected, and I'm overwhelmingly grateful for all this hard work & labor of love from good friends.

[J.R. Rogers]

Very nice! What a great friend. Welcome back to the AGF!

JR

[Cazon]

Hi Kebbers
Interesting build indeed - it seems to have flying butresses supporting the neck-block (or is that neck-bracket?) from the waist area of the body. I would love to see more shots through the sound hole.

It is a similar design to that used in my Berg OM.

[kebbers]

Thanks for the welcome, JR. Good to be back when I can

Cazon, you're correct in that there are flying buttresses with graphite rods to support the neck block. According to my friend, this will hopefully eliminate the need for neck adjustments. I've never heard/seen such a support system before -- then again, I left these forums probably right before people started posting them in their own custom build threads.

Unlike other builds with the flying buttress/CF rod designs, mine is sporting only one pair of rods instead of two. I don't have other pictures of those details, but could that be a potential structural issue of not having an additional pair of rods?

[PeterF]

Nice looking build. I can't believe I've only just discovered the custom shop forum!

I don't have other pictures of those details, but could that be a potential structural issue of not having an additional pair of rods?

It won't be a problem. Most guitars don't have any butress braces - it's really just additional support. The forces on a neck are trying to rotate it upwards, so the top rod is in compression and the bottom rod is in tension. Without the bottom rod, the back will just take more of the load.
Which luthier is building it?

[tjp]

If you make the top incompressible, say with an a-frame, is there any need to additionally brace the back? It would seem there is a fulcrum there, and if you stop one side of it the other ain't going anywhere.

[gitnoob]

Originally Posted by tjp

If you make the top incompressible, say with an a-frame, is there any need to additionally brace the back? It would seem there is a fulcrum there, and if you stop one side of it the other ain't going anywhere.

There are guitars made with no back braces, but they are usually bent (or laminated) to add strength and hold their shape.

The back braces also stiffen the back, which affects tone.