Harvey Leach Southwest for TAMCO UK

[Trevor M]

Harv is working on a Southwest themed guitar for me.

Here's my initial sketches for the fretboard. Its a composite of actual and imagined places.





And Harv's work so far.





From Harv.

1. The side of the canyon is cut from Palo Escreto and combined with a light green Corian for the river bank
2. Next a slate blue Corian is added for the river
3. More green Corian is added for the other river bank
4. The Corian is used to create the rest of the river bed.

fretbd2:

1. The grain direction of Tulipwood is oriented to simulate shear cliffs.
2. A section of river is cut from the slate Corian
3. Palo Escrito is used for a section of river bank.
4. The 2 sections of the canyon are combined.

[ZekeM]

I remember when you posted some pics of these sketches last year. I was wondering what became of it. I think Harv is the perfect person to do it. It is going to be magnificent! Keep us updated

[mesa]

This will be fascinating and fun to follow. Harv, Trevor...if you need fresh pic's of the colors around the Delicate Arch / Canyonlands area let me know. Also have fresh pic's of Bryce Canyon. We are in the area and can hop over for a spring hike. We live 5 minutes from the Colorado National Monument.

[Trevor M]

Thanks mesa, I expect Harv will join in at some point.

[BBWW]

Great theme...

[harvl]

Originally Posted by mesa

This will be fascinating and fun to follow. Harv, Trevor...if you need fresh pic's of the colors around the Delicate Arch / Canyonlands area let me know. Also have fresh pic's of Bryce Canyon. We are in the area and can hop over for a spring hike. We live 5 minutes from the Colorado National Monument.

Thanks, I think I'm all set now for images. Too bad.... I could have used some when I was trying to put it all together

Harv

[MBE]

Looks like it'll be a beauty! I will be a happy man if I can afford to get my hands on one of mr. Leach's instruments before he retires. They're such wonderful works of art.

[mikealpine]

It still amazes me that people can take a jumble of wood and other substrates and turn them into such beautiful looking and sounding objects. Harv, I am sure this will look just gorgeous.

[Trevor M]

Looking good.





Fretbd 3



1. The pattern is glued to a piece of Pau Ferro which will create the rest of the scene. The area for the Horseshoe is cut away.

2. Next the Horseshoe is inlaid into the Pau Ferro.

3. Next a section of the foreground is cut from Cocobolo and inlaid into the scene

4. Next the area behind the horseshoe is added.

5. Finally, the details up to the Arch are added.



Fretbd4



Here is the inlay with the pattern sanded away. The top image is as it was cut, however I didn’t like the way the cliff beyond the Horseshoe looked so I redesigned it with a much narrower cliff and a bit more river showing. The bottom image shows the new design which now has much more depth and also connects the river near the Horseshoe with the river near the arch much better.



I think I have had success bending the sides... well sort of (wasted one set of sides, fortunately had another)... I will need to double the sides with some Sapele... I had to really thin it to do the cutaway. I’ll get some progress pics soon.

[ZekeM]

I'm blown away by how that fretboard is turning out. I think this may end up being my favorite leach inlay. That is spectacular. I never imagined it would look so real! It's almost like a picture. This is going to be one hell of a nice guitar.

[Trevor M]

The latest progress from Harv.





Fretbd5

1. The distant mountains are cut from Palo Escrito and purpleheart.
2. The distant mountains are added to the foreground.

Fretbd6

The plateau and Monument Valley are cut from cocobolo, Palo Escreto and Pau Ferro. The stump is cut from Bastogne walnut and the brush from jade Corian. The setting sun is cut from gold polyester.

[JonBarclay]

Amazing art/woodwork, Trevor & Harv! So 3 dimensional, the frets'll look like they're floating

JB

[Trevor M]

asma – The Manchinga back is jointed and glued.

asmb – The rosette is cut from spalted maple. There are 2 templates used, #1 is slightly smaller and will be used to cut the ring as well as the cavity in the soundboard, the larger #2 will be used to cut the purfling channels. The router has a bushing which guides it around the template.

asme – The ring is glued in place.

asmf – The inner and outer purfling channels are cut using template #2, the bit is changed to 1/16” to match the purfling.

asmg – 1/16” black/white/black purfling is glued in the channels

asmh – The rosette is complete

asmi – The top and back are ready to go.

[Trevor M]

Fretbd 8: The scene is completed

Fretbd 9: The sky is cut from turquoise recon stone, because of the limited size the section have to be cut so that the joints fall on fret slot locations.

Fretbd 91: Because the inlay covers the entire fretboard there is no actual “inlaying” rather the entire scene is clamped and glued over the curved surface of a fretboard that has been thinned to account for the added thickness of the scene.

Fretbd 10: Once the glue dries the scene is trimmed to fit the fretboard and the fret slots are cut. Now it’s ready for binding.

[GeorgeHeatley]

This looks awesome so far, looking foward to seeing the fingerboard as part of the guitar.