#1
|
||||
|
||||
Hatcher Guitars Getting Ready to go B.I.G.
I'm very excited to be participating in Tom Bowersox's B.I.G. show in Texas this September! For the most up to date information on the show you can follow Tom's Facebook link: https://fb.me/e/23e9qA644
I am planning to bring four guitars to the show. They are all in the works so I thought I'd introduce them and share their details. Here is one I'm just starting. It will be my Greta GA model with a Florentine cut-away and an arm bevel. It is based on my Red White and Blue theme I have done previously but with some new twists. I have a very special bear claw Sitka top on wonderful multi color pommele figured Sapele back and sides: The top is floatwood used to float a lumber camp in the ocean up in Alaska for about 40 years. The Blue color comes from the iron cleats they used on the float logs to lash the rafts together. That iron mixed with the ocean water and time stain eventually stains the logs. Here are some pictures of the original camp, the iron cleats and the salvaged Sitka logs: In all those logs there was one log that had a small section of bear claw figure and that's what I got: And were off! Thanks for viewing and I hope you can make it to the show! Mark
__________________
Mark Hatcher www.hatcherguitars.com “"A conclusion is the place where you got tired of thinking". Steven Wright |
#2
|
||||
|
||||
Mark, very glad I’ll get to see you at BIG, and very much looking forward to seeing the guitars you bring! You’re off to a great start.
__________________
--------------------------------------- 2013 Joel Stehr Dreadnought - Carpathian/Malaysian BW 2014 RainSong H-OM1000N2 2017 Rainsong BI-WS1000N2 2013 Chris Ensor Concert - Port Orford Cedar/Wenge 1980ish Takamine EF363 complete with irreplaceable memories A bunch of electrics (too many!!) |
#3
|
|||
|
|||
Happy Birthday Mark!!!
__________________
2014 Paul ‘Woolson Signature, “the Samurai” 2014 Keystone MD Germ/ABW 2011 Huss & Dalton Custom OM M Ital/Snkr 1980 Nakade classical, Spruce/EIR and... a bunch of ukulele |
#4
|
|||
|
|||
I really cannot wait! All 3 guitars of yours that I've played just made me want more and more time with them. Looking forward, Mark
__________________
Dustin Furlow -Award-winning songwriter/guitarist, Visual storyteller -D’Addario, G7th and K&K Sound Artist -Music on Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube: www.youtube.com/dustinfurlow -New album "Serene" (Oct '23) and tablature available at www.dustinfurlow.com |
#5
|
||||
|
||||
Looks like a great start to red white and B.I.G.
__________________
Life is like a box of chocolates .... |
#6
|
||||
|
||||
Nice bearclaw!. Great photos of the floating lumber camp, very interesting to see that. I wonder how many of those things are left, and how often they are parted out into nice guitar tops. It will be nice to see these instruments take shape.
__________________
http://www.krausguitars.com |
#7
|
||||
|
||||
That top is stunning with the coloration and the degree and symmetry of the bear claw! Lucky to have it coming to B.I.G.!
__________________
PS. I love guitars! |
#8
|
||||
|
||||
Quote:
Thanks! This was a quiet one which isn't a bad thing I suppose except in these covid times it's getting a little old> Quote:
Thanks cigarfan! This combination really works for me and has been well recieved. Quote:
Thanks for the comments! Mark
__________________
Mark Hatcher www.hatcherguitars.com “"A conclusion is the place where you got tired of thinking". Steven Wright |
#9
|
||||
|
||||
Spectacular top!
I love that top!!! What a beauty.
This Alaska stuff Makes me nostalgic for my 14 years as a traveling musician and band leader in AK... 84-98. All over the state, repeatedly. Yes, the winters were brutal, but I spent a good chunk of most in San Diego. Oh, but what a place!!! I Often get asked if the people were as crazy as they are shown on the TV reality shows. The answer is no. They were way crazier than that! Ha ha ha ha. it was a fun place to be the entertainment!!! Folks were VERY appreciative. The Sitka forests were literally the size of smaller states. No wonder they used it for float camps. There was so much Sitka! This will Rock B.I.G. Carry on Paul
__________________
4 John Kinnaird SS 12c CUSTOMS: Big Maple/WRC Dread(ish) Jumbo Spanish Cedar/WRC Jumbo OLD Brazilian RW/WRC Big Tunnel 14 RW/Bubinga Dread(ish) R.T 2 12c sinker RW/Claro 96 422ce bought new! 96 LKSM 12 552ce 12x12 J. Stepick Bari Weissy WRC/Walnut More Last edited by Guitars44me; 05-03-2021 at 09:20 AM. |
#10
|
||||
|
||||
Hi, Mark,
That blue Sitka looks like it has the quality of legend! Can't wait to see what you do with it. No doubt it will be a Masterpiece, which is your standard thing. I've gotten some of that Alaskan float log Sitka from Brent at Alaska Specialty Woods, and it is superb stuff in the higher grades. And there is no "aroma" quite like it that I've ever experienced, when you run this wood through a sander. It's something you never forget, the olfactory impact of float log Sitka. And in the built guitar, the exotic visual beauty and tonal quality of the wood are out of this world.
__________________
Edwinson |
#11
|
|||
|
|||
I was reading about the ancient 3,000 year old Sitka log that was located and made into guitar tops. I love reading about these old logs that are repurposed. There's something special about it. I happen to think that all guitars would feel more interesting to the owner if they knew a little bit about the tree they came from.
__________________
"Lift your head and smile at trouble. You'll find happiness someday." |
#12
|
||||
|
||||
Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
Amaboyna Burl- Cotton Candy Desert Ironwood- Hot Buttered Popcorn Olivewood- Italian Restaurant Spanish Cedar- Spice Western Red Cedar- School Pencil Brazilian Rosewood- Heaven's Waiting Room Torrified Sugar Maple- Granola Port Orford- Menthol Indian Rosewood- Horse Poop Lignum Vitae- Old Dates And on and on! Quote:
Thanks for commenting! Mark
__________________
Mark Hatcher www.hatcherguitars.com “"A conclusion is the place where you got tired of thinking". Steven Wright |
#13
|
|||
|
|||
Great to hear. Look forward to seeing pics.
__________________
My YouTube Page: http://www.youtube.com/user/ukejon 2014 Pono N30 DC EIR/Spruce crossover 2009 Pono koa parlor (NAMM prototype) 2018 Maton EBG808TEC 2014 Hatcher Greta 13 fret cutaway in EIR/cedar 2017 Hatcher Josie fan fret mahogany 1973 Sigma GCR7 (OM model) rosewood and spruce 2014 Rainsong OM1000N2 ....and about 5 really nice tenor ukuleles at any given moment |
#14
|
||||
|
||||
Here are some more top pics as I go through the next steps:
After the top halves are joined I cut out the top shape. I cut it oversized which gets brought down to size after the top is glued to the sides: The black lines are where I'll bring it down to and the red means cut. After cutting out the oversize profile I clean up the top side with the smoothing plane: Once that is clean it's time to start the rosette. That starts by marking the center point right here:
__________________
Mark Hatcher www.hatcherguitars.com “"A conclusion is the place where you got tired of thinking". Steven Wright |
#15
|
||||
|
||||
Moving along on the Rosette
The next step on the rosette is to drill the center hole:
From there I can cut out the rosette pocket and install the Amboyna burl center ring and the bordering purfling strips: You can see I have white teflon spacer strips here which are place holders for the additional Amboyna burl rings. Here is where it gets tricky. The Amboyna burl sticks that I'll be installing into those groves are best if they are .073" thick. Not .072" or .074, .073". Burl doesn't have any real grain direction and it is very brittle and delicate so I need a clean accurate cut. Preferably a cut that doesn't need to be cleaned up. Preferably a cut that doesn't heat up the burl and make it even more brittle. This is one place where a contemporary hand tool can shine: This is my hand operated rail saw you can think of it as a manual table saw but instead of a carnivorous screaming rotary saw blade it has a surgically accurate Japanese straight saw blade that you put delicate things like this burl across on a sled: The sled rides on linear bearings along four rails with absolutely no play. There are a variety of articulated hold down clamps to keep everything in place as you slide it across the saw blade: Here are the sticks: From here I use heat to ever so gently bend a curve into them. The curve doesn't have to be exact just close enough that the sticks don't crack as they are glued into the pockets left from the removed teflon strips: Then it's just a matter of cleaning it up! Thanks for viewing. You can see this completed guitar at Tom's B.I.G. show! Mark
__________________
Mark Hatcher www.hatcherguitars.com “"A conclusion is the place where you got tired of thinking". Steven Wright Last edited by Mark Hatcher; 05-05-2021 at 10:31 AM. |