Hatcher's Studio 2022 #2

[NTS]

That’s a really striking rosette you’ve made for your beautiful guitar. I know cutting stone that thin is very difficult and takes a lot of practice. Congratulations on making it work so well.

[Mark Hatcher]

Originally Posted by ukejon

Beautiful rosette. Is differential shrinkage a concern at all?

Thanks ukejon. Differential shrinkage isn’t and issue as long and the Ebony is well seasoned first. The stone isn’t all that different from abalone.

m

[Mark Hatcher]

Here is the headstock I am working on for Dustin's grand auditorium:



The overlay is BRW with Snakewood binding and maple purfling. We have a blended truss rod cover inset into the sculpted overlay.



The backstrap is Snakewood. We have the Scheller ball bearing tuners on this with Snakewood buttons. This is the first headstock of this type that I have used the Scheller tuners and I needed to plot new hole locations so the tuners would set right. The profile of the Schellers is quite different from the Gotohs I used to use. This would not be an issue with a headstock with straight sides but it's a whole different story fitting them to this curvy profile.

m

[Nemoman]

Super elegant, Mark--looks fantastic!

And that is definitely a stealth-mode truss rod cover...

[rule18]

That's a great look. Tricky bit of tuner placement, nicely done.

[Mark Hatcher]

Originally Posted by Nemoman

Super elegant, Mark--looks fantastic!

And that is definitely a stealth-mode truss rod cover...

Thanks Nemoman!

Originally Posted by rule18

That's a great look. Tricky bit of tuner placement, nicely done.

Thanks rule18, I'm happy it worked out.

Here is where I am with this guitar:





A couple jobs to do yet: heel cap, side markers, the facet for mounting the strap button in the cutaway and finally a good going over and detailing. With that done it will be ready for finish.

One thing I find interesting about finishing Snakewood is it really brightens up and shows much more red when finished. When done all of the Snakewood will come up like the fretboard and tuner buttons already are.

m

[Lonzo]

Hi Mark,
That is one heck of a snakewood fretboard... really a nice one!
... and I actually had to look 2 or 3 times to see that trussrod cover. Great job.

[NTS]

That’s really a nice looking guitar. I especially like the fret board.

[Dustinfurlow]

Going crazy over here, my friend. This is looking wonderful and was very happy to come across a guitar with Schellers on it at Woodstock and confirmed yet again they are uber smooth and responsive.

Photography-nerd comment unrelated to the build: loving the warm, taupe backdrop for these!

[Treenewt]

That looks gorgeous, Mark! No doubt Dustin is beside himself waiting to get it in hand! Can't wait to hear him play it!

[Mark Hatcher]

Originally Posted by Lonzo

Hi Mark,
That is one heck of a snakewood fretboard... really a nice one!
... and I actually had to look 2 or 3 times to see that trussrod cover. Great job.

Thanks for commenting Lonzo. There are some tricks to sinking the truss rod cover into the headplate like that!

Originally Posted by Dustinfurlow

Going crazy over here, my friend. This is looking wonderful and was very happy to come across a guitar with Schellers on it at Woodstock and confirmed yet again they are uber smooth and responsive.

Photography-nerd comment unrelated to the build: loving the warm, taupe backdrop for these!

Glad you're liking how this is coming along!
Thanks for noticing the choice of color for the back drop. Now you know what color to wear when you're out playing because you know it is really all about how nice you can make the guitar look when you play

Originally Posted by Treenewt

That looks gorgeous, Mark! No doubt Dustin is beside himself waiting to get it in hand! Can't wait to hear him play it!

Thanks Treenewt. I'm looking forward to hearing him play this too!

m

[Dustinfurlow]

Matches the case, too!

[Mark Hatcher]

Originally Posted by Dustinfurlow

Matches the case, too!

That’s right, the Visesnut taupe colored case will go very well with this guitar.

m

[Mark Hatcher]

I have the sides all joined on the torrefied Hard Maple Greta model. I also cut in a Maple leaf sound port:



m

[NTS]

That’s a very cool pic of the sound port while utilizing the light. The guitar is coming together nicely.