Pair of 12F Modified Dreads for Jack - Videos Added

[SJ VanSandt]

Originally Posted by Kenneth Casper

Ken

Those hand rubbed bursts are as beautiful as any I've seen. Just truly gorgeous guitars. I had to go back through the whole thread to see what I'd missed, and I'm glad I did: it's always fun to see it evolve from start to (almost) finish. Great work!

Stan

[mountainguitar]

These are gorgeous guitars, Ken! You do such beautiful work!

I had my Casper Huron out tonight- a beautiful guitar and it's opened up nicely. The tone is great and it's so easy to play! You are really a gifted luthier!

beth

[Kenneth Casper]

Originally Posted by SJ VanSandt

Those hand rubbed bursts are as beautiful as any I've seen. Just truly gorgeous guitars. I had to go back through the whole thread to see what I'd missed, and I'm glad I did: it's always fun to see it evolve from start to (almost) finish. Great work!

Stan

Hey Stan, I too am glad you dropped in! I appreciate you taking an interest. Thanks for the kind words regarding the burst. Always a different mindset to go from trying to shoot the perfect burst with the spray gun to hand rubbing a burst and intentionally introducing imperfections.

Hope all is well with you in Texas!

Originally Posted by bmh1

These are gorgeous guitars, Ken! You do such beautiful work!

I had my Casper Huron out tonight- a beautiful guitar and it's opened up nicely. The tone is great and it's so easy to play! You are really a gifted luthier!

beth

Beth! I love it when a customer drops by! You are always so kind with your comments. I built a Huron last winter to keep around the house, so I have one for local folks who drop in. That guitar quickly became my go to guitar when I sit down to play. Hopefully your shoulder is doing better so you can enjoy playing more.

Ken

[David Wren]

Originally Posted by Kenneth Casper

David, thanks for dropping in to check out my thread. Very much appreciated. The neck laminations fanning out over the heel has kind of become my thing. Folks seem to like it. We get to Toronto fairly regularly. My wife is from there and most of her family is still there. I'll have to give you a shout sometime before we go, and maybe I could swing by your shop and say hi.

Ken

From the looks of your shop, you'd be very dissapointed by my little low tech shop ... but definitely pop by next time you're in town for a coffee!

[TomB'sox]

Sorry for being so late to the party, but after seeing those hand done bursts, I just had to say something as they are fantastic. What a wonderful look, simply superb!!!!

[Halcyon/Tinker]

Another tip of the hat for those hand rubbed bursts...

[j. Kinnaird]

Beautiful work Kenneth. The Osage orange purfling line was an inspired choice and watching your CNC machine work gets me jonesing for one bad.

[Kenneth Casper]

Originally Posted by David Wren

From the looks of your shop, you'd be very dissapointed by my little low tech shop...

Low tech makes your work all the more admirable!

Originally Posted by TomB'sox

Sorry for being so late to the party, but after seeing those hand done bursts, I just had to say something as they are fantastic. What a wonderful look, simply superb!!!!

Tom, you are welcome to join the party anytime! I'm glad you did, and I very much appreciate your comments regarding the bursts. Means a lot.

Originally Posted by Halcyon/Tinker

Another tip of the hat for those hand rubbed bursts...

Thanks so much Ed! I'm sure you have done a few of these and have experienced that bit of trepidation when putting dye to a nice white spruce top!

Ken

[Kenneth Casper]

Originally Posted by j. Kinnaird

Beautiful work Kenneth. The Osage orange purfling line was an inspired choice and watching your CNC machine work gets me jonesing for one bad.

Hey John, appreciate you checking in on my thread! So much high quality work on this forum. The bar is set pretty high. Jack wanted a very simple inlay in the fingerboard, which we did. I recommended the single pin around the fingerboard and headstock. The overall design remains simple, but better pairs the neck with the body.

I have had my CNC over a half dozen years I guess. At this point, I can't imagine not having it. If I had known when I bought it how steep the learning curve was going to be, I might have skipped it! Where it really shines is inlays. A good luthier with a nice set of files and planes could probably knock out a neck in not much more time than it takes me to setup my CNC and mill it. But having hand cut and inlaid shell, the speed and accuracy of the CNC simply can't be beat. If you do get one and want to talk, I'm happy to share my experience.

Have a good week everyone!

Ken

[Guitars44me]

Originally Posted by SJ VanSandt

Those hand rubbed bursts are as beautiful as any I've seen. Just truly gorgeous guitars. I had to go back through the whole thread to see what I'd missed, and I'm glad I did: it's always fun to see it evolve from start to (almost) finish. Great work!

Stan

I just read the whole thread again myself. These instruments look MAGICAL!

The bursts, the rosettes, the Osage strips, the flared neck stringers, the slot diamonds and squares in the FB, and the super clean and precise work.

The new owner must be STOKED

way to go!

Paul

[Kenneth Casper]

Originally Posted by Guitars44me

I just read the whole thread again myself. These instruments look MAGICAL!

The bursts, the rosettes, the Osage strips, the flared neck stringers, the slot diamonds and squares in the FB, and the super clean and precise work.

The new owner must be STOKED

way to go!

Paul

Hey Paul, thanks for taking the time to read through the thread and sharing the nice comments. I know you had been following along, but still can be fun to go back and see where we came from as Stan had mentioned. Hopefully when the guitars are all done and Jack has had time with them, he will share his thoughts on this thread. I'd like to hope 'Magical' is the word he will use!

Ken

[Tim McKnight]

Originally Posted by Kenneth Casper

Where it really shines is inlays.
Ken

I totally agree. BTW I know three top tier inlay artists who are now using CNC's to do their work but my lips are sealed to protect their identities.

Friends and casual observers, those hand applied bursts are VERY difficult to apply and to make them look as cohesive as the ones Kenneth did. Well done my friend!

[Kenneth Casper]

Originally Posted by Tim McKnight

I totally agree. BTW I know three top tier inlay artists who are now using CNC's to do their work but my lips are sealed to protect their identities.

Friends and casual observers, those hand applied bursts are VERY difficult to apply and to make them look as cohesive as the ones Kenneth did. Well done my friend!

Tim, We do share a mutual affinity for that particular piece of automation! I am able to do some pretty neat inlays that I wouldn't even attempt otherwise.

I also very much appreciate you acknowledging the bursts I put on these two guitars. Means a lot coming from someone who has been there. I think with anything, a job done right can look simple and belie the effort behind it. Many thanks, Tim!

Regards,

Ken

[Jwills57]

Hi, Guitar Friends--Thought I'd weigh in here on the difficulty of creating bursts such as these, with a thought that I shared with Ken. I'm an artist when I'm not playing the guitar, mostly so-called modern abstract art, and an important part of the abstract art process is to achieve a result that has the perception of some accident and randomness but that is actually due to a very studied and calculated and intentional plan. Not easy to do, at least in my experience. I think Ken's bursts on these guitars are a perfect example of this idea--you don't want a perfect, flawless result with these kind of bursts but to achieve that end requires a lot of perfect, flawless planning and practice. Cheers and have a wonderful day. Best,Jack

[Kenneth Casper]

Originally Posted by Jwills57

...you don't want a perfect, flawless result with these kind of bursts but to achieve that end requires a lot of perfect, flawless planning and practice...

Thanks for chiming in Jack! Great seeing your name pop up on your build thread! Though you have never done a burst on a guitar, you do have a good appreciation given your painting background. I'm glad we were able to capture what you were hoping to have on these two guitars. I had a guitar player friend drop by my shop this afternoon. He looked at the two bursts and simply loved how they turned out. He thought the burst along with the osage orange purfling gave a real old school vibe. Fun stuff.

Hang in there, Jack. We are getting close! Looks like a warming trend is coming, so hopefully I can get lacquer on early March.

Ken