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  #46  
Old 03-07-2020, 03:27 PM
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Default Woodman Update

I strung up the Redwood/Walnut Woodsman this week. It has a temporary Maple saddle while it settles in to being a guitar. The bridge, truss rod cover, nut, and K&K pick-up are installed. The first thing I did was weigh the guitar:



Three pounds eleven ounces is a very light guitar, as intended.











I hope to get some sound clips up this coming week. I can say now though, that it already sounds great even with the Maple saddle!
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  #47  
Old 03-07-2020, 04:30 PM
SJ VanSandt SJ VanSandt is offline
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Mark, could you remind us how old the redwood and the black walnut are? The redwood is from a railroad tunnel and the walnut from an old mill, if I recall correctly. Also the Brazilian rosewood parts, if you know.

I am very, very excited about this, as you can imagine. This next week is going to be a long one for me!

Stan
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  #48  
Old 03-07-2020, 04:40 PM
SJ VanSandt SJ VanSandt is offline
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I don't think Mark posted this pic here earlier. The first Woodsman had ebony fingerboard, bridge, and binding. I asked if he would consider Brazilian rosewood and he was happy to do it, even finding me an especially dark set so that it wouldn't appear too different from the prototype. I'm thrilled with how it came out.

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  #49  
Old 03-07-2020, 05:49 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SJ VanSandt View Post
Mark, could you remind us how old the redwood and the black walnut are? The redwood is from a railroad tunnel and the walnut from an old mill, if I recall correctly. Also the Brazilian rosewood parts, if you know.

I am very, very excited about this, as you can imagine. This next week is going to be a long one for me!

Stan
I'd be happy to Stan, The Redwood top came from a tunnel on a very old train line which was the first to connect San Francisco and Portland OR. The work on this "Shasta Route" started in the mid 1800's.



The Redwood was harvested from local old growth forests by a company called Dolbeer & Carson which ran the largest mills on the west coast during those times:



The Redwood from this top came from Tunnel 14 which I believe is the tunnel on the top left in this old lithograph:



More recently they replaced the original Redwood timber support beams with concrete. Because this was government work the company doing the work was not in a position to sell or profit from the beams they pulled and beams were simply thrown down into the ravine below.

A local fireman/woodworker/part time guitar maker was aware of these beams and started the slow process of hiking down into the ravine and selecting the best beams to salvage. He would cut pieces that he could carry out:





The billets were taken to his wood shop where he cleaned them up and re-sawed them:







The Eastern Black Walnut came from a friend of my brother who has a business restoring old barns. My brother was asked by his friend if he would be interested in helping clean out an old pile of lumber that was left over in one of those old barns that had been a wood mill. Turns out the pile of lumber was rough cut Black Walnut and it had been sitting in the barn since it closed in 1850! I was happy to go out and help clean that out!



The Brazilian Rosewood came from a retiring luthier up here in New Hampshire. I believe he got it from H L Wild Luthier Supplies in NYC which closed in the mid 1970s

These are all very special woods which fit well with my intention in making my Woodsman model which is, "If it looks old, it's because it is old!"

Mark
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  #50  
Old 03-07-2020, 07:21 PM
Lonzo Lonzo is offline
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I happen to have one of Marks guitars with a Tunnel 14 redwood top and it not only sounds great but has the tightest grain I ever saw. You really have to get close to even identify the lines... wonderful wood !
Good those logs were retrieved and saved from slowly being turned into whatever else than a wonderful instrument!
I bet you will love it!
  #51  
Old 03-07-2020, 07:26 PM
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Three pounds, eleven ounces! Mercy! How do you keep that beauty from just floating away on a gentle breeze?
Brilliant work, as always, Mark. A feast for the senses.
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Old 03-07-2020, 07:38 PM
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As for the Tunnel 14 Redwood... I have some experience with this legendary wood, having built five or six guitars with it (three of which were from Tunnel 13). So I have an idea how magnificent this Woodsman guitar you've just created sounds. The tap tone of the high-grade T-14 tops knocks you back on your heels, it rings like a temple bell, and in the built guitar, it could be described as sounding sumptuous, luxurious, multi-dimensional, even mystical. This may be the King of all woods for fingerstyle guitars.

I just delivered a custom build last month of a Ziricote/T-14 Consort 000 guitar, and my brother-luthier and shop partner Joel Teel is currently about 2/3rds through an African Blackwood/T-14 guitar. Just imagine how that combo will sound!

I'm considering selling one of my kidneys so I can buy a few more T-14 top sets while they're still available. Or maybe I'll drive over to Pensacola and buy a Lotto ticket, and hope for the best.
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  #53  
Old 03-08-2020, 04:14 AM
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Looking schweeet! 3 pounds 11 is astounding! I hope Stan may let me touch it!
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  #54  
Old 03-08-2020, 09:22 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Lonzo View Post
I happen to have one of Marks guitars with a Tunnel 14 redwood top and it not only sounds great but has the tightest grain I ever saw. You really have to get close to even identify the lines... wonderful wood !
Good those logs were retrieved and saved from slowly being turned into whatever else than a wonderful instrument!
I bet you will love it!
Thanks for commenting Lonzo! That Tunnel Redwood has given me consistently great results. I was fortunate to in get early on that and had a lot of sets to choose from and I chose a lot of tunnels 13, 14, and 15.

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Originally Posted by theEdwinson View Post
Three pounds, eleven ounces! Mercy! How do you keep that beauty from just floating away on a gentle breeze?
Brilliant work, as always, Mark. A feast for the senses.
It is certainly a light guitar as was planned. People are often surprised how lightly built many of the vintage guitars are. Thanks for commenting Steve.

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Looking schweeet! 3 pounds 11 is astounding! I hope Stan may let me touch it!
Well tell me what you think if you do!

Mark
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  #55  
Old 03-08-2020, 01:15 PM
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I too am very pleased that Stan is bringing this guitar along to the party. I hope I have been a good enough boy to be allowed to play it! Beautiful woods and guitar and story.
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  #56  
Old 03-08-2020, 04:16 PM
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I too am very pleased that Stan is bringing this guitar along to the party. I hope I have been a good enough boy to be allowed to play it! Beautiful woods and guitar and story.
Thanks Tom, if you get a chance to play it, I’d be interested in your impression.
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  #57  
Old 03-08-2020, 07:02 PM
SJ VanSandt SJ VanSandt is offline
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I too am very pleased that Stan is bringing this guitar along to the party. I hope I have been a good enough boy to be allowed to play it! Beautiful woods and guitar and story.
Of course you can play it, Tom, as long as I get to play your new guitar(s) too. (I think I'll get the better end of that deal!) And Dennis, Kevin, anyone else who can find the time. There are going to be way too many guitars at your party! And Doug is bringing another new Hatcher too.
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Old 03-09-2020, 02:47 AM
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That is one supremely classy looking guitar. Exceptional work, Mr. Hatcher.
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  #59  
Old 03-09-2020, 07:48 AM
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That is one supremely classy looking guitar. Exceptional work, Mr. Hatcher.
Thanks ukejon! I like that it is so different from everything else I do. It really stretches my technique and brain muscles!

Mark
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  #60  
Old 03-09-2020, 10:01 AM
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Won't be long we'll be seeing this beauty in person!

But at 3 lbs. 11 oz. I think we'll have a hard time holding it down--it'll want to just keep floating away!

Amazing work--congrats, Stan and kudos, Mark!
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