Madrona Guitars Workshop Updates

[Joe Whitman]

The finish has cured enough to get some fret work done. I’m going with the gold frets from StewMac on these. It has a very similar composition to the Jescar EVO frets. It is nice to work with and it’s supposed to be a bit harder than nickel.

[Joe Whitman]

I saw this spalted curly maple stump on my walk through a local NW forest trail. This is what dream rosettes are made of! Unfortunately due to its location I doubt collecting a piece will be possible.

It’s crazy to see how normal the bark is with all that curl inside.

I just might need to make some calls and offer to do some fallen tree cleanup. [emoji846]

[Joe Whitman]

Well I’m back. Had a well timed minor surgery to help me breathe better. And while it was a success and breathing is greatly improved, sanding Cocobolo is now even more annoying. [emoji846]

Jokes aside, the break was good to let the finish on these guitars fully cure. So today I got going on level sanding. I have found over the years that the final sanding starting with the leveling is very important to the final results. One great advancement in my process has been to level sand dry using this special 3M 800grit paper.



This stuff is amazing it allows me to level sand dry, which is much easier to monitor the process and not burn through the thin finish layer.




I also made some stickers with my logo while I was recovering.



Thanks for following along.
Have a good day!

[Joe Whitman]

After level sanding with 800, I wet sand up to 2000 with Abralon pads before going to the buffing wheel.

This is the result after the first buffing compound.









Getting close.

[Joe Whitman]

It always seems like there are lots of little things at the end to get a guitar wrapped up and dialed in. I’m happy to report having strings on both of these for the first time! It’s a moment with each of my guitars I don’t think I’ll ever tire of. To strum a few chords and hear their voice for the first time.

I have to say I’m very happy with both of these even with the temporary nut and saddle that I will leave on for a couple weeks to let things settle in.






As a side note I spent the day with my family last week at the Tulip festival, which is found just a few miles from and in the same valley as the LaConner guitar festival. It’s an amazing sight! They even had a field of purple, I guess I should have thought ahead and got some pictures with my Purpleheart guitar.

[beatbird]

Originally Posted by Joe Whitman

It always seems like there are lots of little things at the end to get a guitar wrapped up and dialed in. I’m happy to report having strings on both of these for the first time! It’s a moment with each of my guitars I don’t think I’ll ever tire of. To strum a few chords and hear their voice for the first time.

I have to say I’m very happy with both of these even with the temporary nut and saddle that I will leave on for a couple weeks to let things settle in.






As a side note I spent the day with my family last week at the Tulip festival, which is found just a few miles from and in the same valley as the LaConner guitar festival. It’s an amazing sight! They even had a field of purple, I guess I should have thought ahead and got some pictures with my Purpleheart guitar.

Beautiful guitars. I love the Skagit River Valley area, one of the most amazing places in the country.

[Joe Whitman]

Getting things wrapped up before LaConner. I’ll do final setup next week and get some final pictures of the guitars. Today I finished up some stands for display.
I like how stable these are and easy to use. I even added a nod to my headstock design.

[Loggerenguitars]

THAT LOOKS AMAZING WOW!!!

[mikealpine]

That purple guitar is gorgeous!

[Joe Whitman]

Final setup starting, the ebony bridge pins just didn’t look right against all that Cocobolo. So I picked up these Waverly tortoise pins. I learned to mark the pins here on the forum. It really helps as as you individually set each one.