McNally Dreadnought build - Adi/Mahogany. (pics)

[Coler]

Ciaran is really very good at sending me updates & pictures but I am bad at posting them here. However, things have certainly moved on at a good pace.





So the binding was going on earlier in the week....



And the neck is looking like a guitar neck (ebony fret board over mahogany, ebony headstock covering).



Final decisions made on the spray/finish and some other small things. Really looking forward to seeing the finish.

[Dmeeg05]

Very excited to see this one finished!

[Nemoman]

Looking good--love the top wood on this puppy!

[Coler]

Spray day. Ciaran sprays his own guitars and he does some job:





Looks pretty fine...but [spoiler] I asked for a bit of a burst...









The idea was to keep it light and show off plenty of the grain, including those characterful streaks down the middle. The lighter element in the binding frames it. Perfectly.



This is not the final look...i'm holding off on posting those pictures...

[Dmeeg05]

Nice!! He does a lovely burst. You must be beyond excited!

[Coler]

Originally Posted by Dmeeg05

Nice!! He does a lovely burst. You must be beyond excited!

I'm holding it together just about. This is intended to be "it" for me. I'll have exactly what I want/"need".

Good one to go out on though...

[fregly]

Coler, how do like Ciaran's guitars compared to the other Irish builders ? You are fan, obviously, getting a third now. I have been mulling over ordering an OM mahogany/alpine. His wait times are not too bad at the moment.

[Jwills57]

Cool build thread. There are quite a few new and interesting builders popping up now in that part of the world. Oska Burman, who is building me a couple of guitars presently, Oliver Marchant, and Ash Nightingale come to mind. It sure is nice seeing new blood come into the world of guitar making, not that there's anything wrong with old blood, mind you. I think the young builders today are building more sophisticated and more considered guitars at this point in their careers than did their predecessors at a similar point in their careers; there's just so many more schools and resources and mentoring opportunities available now than in the old days. Sure makes for a lot of great choices for guitar aficionados.

[Coler]

Just noticed my dread post-spray can be seen on McNally Guitars instagram. Wow. Just wow. Can't wait to play it it - if it sounds as good as it looks it will be worth hearing.

Lots of other lovely things to see there.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CmL1VOUs...d=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

[justonwo]

Handsome burst there. Coming along nicely.

[Coler]

Originally Posted by fregly

Coler, how do like Ciaran's guitars compared to the other Irish builders ? You are fan, obviously, getting a third now. I have been mulling over ordering an OM mahogany/alpine. His wait times are not too bad at the moment.

I am just a hobbyist who is lucky enough to be able to afford nice guitars. McNallys were my preference over Lowdens and McIlroys. I think they are very different. Ciaran refers to his sounds as a fusion between the traditional American steel string sound and the classic Celtic sound and that is exactly right in my view. I think his pricing is extraordinary value for what he is doing and delivering.

I should say, I bought my first two from dealers and then commissioned this build. I have no association/affiliation with Ciaran other than being a very satisfied customer. I didn’t know anything about him until I was offered my OM 12 string as an option. I thought I was going in for a Guild F512 but this one blew me away. The 6 string OM came up randomly enough in a dealer local to me and having tried it I couldn’t let it go passed. I part-traded a roughish (but very sweet sounding) D18 Modern Deluxe on the basis that I could always find another of those (and frankly I had lost some confidence in the guitar - it sounded amazing and played very nicely but the neck geometry was not pleasing and my judgment was it was going to be into reset territory sooner rather than later).

So when it was time to replace the dread in my life this seemed like an obvious option. I’m obviously very excited to receive the guitar.

Here are some recordings of my OM (cedar on waltnut). This is just me in my kitchen (a touch of comp/reverb added in GarageBand) and I am nothing to write home about but I think the guitar is well reflected in them. These were done into a zoom recorder, one track.

Bare fingers/short nails in DADGAD



Using a thumb pick in standard here:



Strumming pretty heavy on this original song (in standard, capod):



Drop D and bare fingers (I think)



Here is my NGD thread when I bought this one (some nice pics there)

https://www.acousticguitarforum.com/...d.php?t=634066

I would recommend a McNally to a friend with zero reservations.

Edit: here are some updated shots from when my dread was sprayed:









It will be after Christmas when I receive it (although possibly finished next week, but neither of us wanted it to be shipped over Christmas) and I can’t wait. I spend waaaaaaaaay too long drooling over these pictures.

[JTmusic]

Lovely burst from Ciarán! I actually recognised your guitar from a post he added to Insta recently, looking great. I'm sure it'll sound and play beautifully.

Nice to see you chose the Irish option for the headstock logo as well - maith thú féin!

[Coler]

Hi John, yes it had to be done.

Just got word it's been strung and left to settle. I might get my hands on it next week...

[Dmeeg05]

Helluva start to the new year for ya! Will ya collect it in person? Ciarán always has a pot of coffee on the go!

[mountainguitar]

what a beautiful instrument! Thank you for sharing this with us. So many great luthiers out there. I look forward to hearing what it sounds like soon!

beth