Sexauer's guitars for HGF/13 - Page 7

Mary · #91 07-20-2013, 07:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bruce Sexauer

...
Packing gear for two onto the bike was a challenge. Was unable to include four days worth of clean clothes, but that's all part of the adventure. This is the first time I've bike/ camped with a passenger.

I remember meeting her the first time in Montreal and again in your neck of the woods. I mostly remember how much fun I thought your wife and baby girl are. I enjoyed seeing the deer, but the precious time with your daughter is the best part of these pictures. Will she be manning your booth with you? Maybe our tables will be close and I will have time to say more than just a fly by "Hellooooo" to her.

Gosh, Bruce, Healdsburg is almost here again. It's only days away now.

Bruce Sexauer · #92 07-20-2013, 09:43 AM

Always so good the be addressed by the First Lady of Lutherie, Mary! Laurelyn will be at the Festval, but employed by LMII this time, apparently working in the information booth. Ah, the possibilities!

Mary · #93 07-20-2013, 10:10 AM

You are funny. I will add that title to my resume and use you as a reference for my next job. I saw a beautiful shop owned by a certain AGF luthier in Petaluma. Maybe he will hire me!

I forgot that Laurelyn has had time to become a grown up. How did the time slip away?

But, Dad... what an ideal beneficial place for her to work. Very smart planning.

Bruce Sexauer · #94 07-20-2013, 10:47 AM

I thought you might appreciate my title, which I consider entirely accurate, by the way. It's kind of like "Master"; best attributed by another.

Laurelyn started a guitar a couple of years ago, but stepped away for a variety of reasons understood by many of us. I can imagine stepping back as time passes, though I do not count on it, of course. What a blessing for you McKnights that Adrianne has chosen to participate.

It's been 72 hours now:

Mary · #95 07-20-2013, 12:37 PM

Looking forward to seeing the finished product.

Billy Boy · #96 07-20-2013, 01:38 PM

Plenty of room to pack for one...and enough room to pack for two...

Okay, now back to Bruce's stunning guitars...

Bruce Sexauer · #97 07-20-2013, 07:32 PM

Although I have had a '39 Indian and a Harley era Aermacchi, I have never had a Harley V twin! A couple of years ago I got offered a low miles Fat Boy for a guitar, but had no garage space at the time. I have had at least 42 bikes! Now if you'd like to trade THAT beauty . . .

The colors aren't quite right in these pics, the Magnolia is greener than this! I did get the guitar woodwork done in under 4 days, beating my previous record by 3 days! If you factor in craftsmanship I beat the previous record by lightyears, as this guitar is very close to flawless, and nothing I did over 25 years ago was this slick, and that's how long my personal quickest record has stood. These woods are relatively easy to sand compared to either rosewood or spruce. The neck is normal, however. The fingerboard and head overlay are Amazon, by the way.

This is the Catalpa:

The Magnolia has serious medulary display:

I lined up a black streak in the FB with a simlar one in the headplate:

Bruce Sexauer · #98 07-22-2013, 02:59 PM

I buffed out the Amazon 0 guitar this morning, and will assemble the neck to the body this afternoon, most likely. Here are a few shots to demonstrate the "glass like" quality of the finish:

I succeeded at focusing on the light in this one!

Bruce Sexauer · #99 07-22-2013, 06:15 PM

I am enjoying making this WRX more that I expect to succeed at telling you. It is so different yet seems so right.

Here are a couple of shots to try to capture how cool the Magnolia looks. The first is unadulterated, and the second tweaked to get closer to what the color actually looks like to me.

needspeed · #**100** 07-22-2013, 06:42 PM

Now that looks more greenerer!!!!!!!

Ian John · #**101** 07-22-2013, 11:08 PM

That looks fantastic Bruce! Does the green.. look go brown with age or UV?

Bruce Sexauer · #**102** 07-23-2013, 09:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ian John

That looks fantastic Bruce! Does the green.. look go brown with age or UV?

I have no idea what will happen as I haven't seen this wood before. That would be normal, though.

vin45 · #**103** 07-23-2013, 10:23 AM

Gorgeous coordination of the woods, Bruce--as usual. Is the back strip on the Brazilian a rectangle or your normal tapered form just looking rectilinear in the photo perspective? If it is rectilinear, how did you choose to do that?

Richard Mott · #**104** 07-23-2013, 11:06 AM

Bruce--You're sailing some what uncharted waters, at least with the magnolia, it sounds like. Based on what you've seen from it so far, do you have any sense of what the guitar might sound like? I'm guessing that the lightness of the magnolia may put it on the mahogany-spectrum, but perhaps that's totally wrong. Any thoughts or clues ahead of stringing it up? --Richard

Bruce Sexauer · #**105** 07-23-2013, 11:31 AM

The "backstrip" in the 0 would be tapered except for one small detail; there is no backstrip. The coloration and quality of the joint were such that I decided to inlay the center purflings as though there were a backstrip but since I used the same wood for the bindings as for the body it is pretty much a sleight of hand thing. I labored for some time in the past about how to make a unique backstrip treatment w/o a marquetry strip ala Martin, and settled on the tapered backstrip that appears to run right out of the graft. This is actually a fairly challenging thing to do though it appears quite simple. Especially as I am not jigged up for it, but do every one by eye. There are a lot of little miters to go wrong, and little to do about them if they do. I feel justified to be proud of most of them. . .

The Magnolia is indeed uncharted waters, but I feel that is is not particularly risky. The back and sides shape the tone, no doubt about it, but they are just an influence on the life the guitar lives, they are not the beating heart. Without a good top there is no life to guide, and for this heart I have used Catalpa. I have made two previous instruments from this wood and both are exceptional. One is an all Catalpa guitar, the other an all Catalpa Ukulele. Both instruments are at the top of my pile for performance and tone. This is the first time I have used it for the top alone, but I expect great results, though of course I could be wrong. On the other hand, I have held the completed box in my hands and played it like a drum, and that tells me a great deal. The heart will beat, the life it will live we cannot yet know.