Bruce Sexauer forced into Luthier Conundrum

[tadol]

Also, it should be noted that there are 3 main varieties of redwood -

Coast Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens)
Giant Sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum)
Dawn Redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides)

They grow in different environments, and the wood can show an incredibly wide variety of differences. No idea which is being used, or which is better, but just like the differences in spruces, the same is probably true with redwoods -

[sehnsucht77]

Originally Posted by jhchang

Never force your luthier. Would you force your doctor to prescribe a medicine you prefer but he'd never recommended?
You'd better off find another luthier to suit your request.

because if you force your luthier and it doesn't sound good, it really is your fault and you can sell the guitar to recoup cost but your doctor has to deal with malpractice on top of an insistent patient that wants to do the doc's job for him haha

but seriously, redwood is pretty popular with other builders, even charging a premium for it in some cases. did he say why he recommended against using it?

[jimmy bookout]

Originally Posted by Bruce Sexauer

Spruce is a bit bland. Redwood would have to be called an acquired taste, not entirely pleasant IMO. As far as woods I've eaten are concerned, BRW is without peer in the top slot. Padauk is pretty good but can kill you if you eat too much. Tastes like cotton candy, which can also kill you if you eat too much!

Hey Bruce,
I heard koa tastes like chicken, any truth to that?

Jimmy

[dylanheeg]

Wow that blackwood is a beautiful set - I think with that redwood top it will be quite stunning!

[Bruce Sexauer]

Force is a rather strong word for the reality between Tom and I.

I do not know which species this top is as it was supplied, but it is so similar to Coastal that I have on hand that I have to assume it is the same.

I will ask my wife to prepare Koa Katchatori tonight and let you know how it was, if I live. Through the asking, not so much the eating.

I totally agree this instrument will have a stunning appearance. You haven't yet heard about the Snakewood binding and bridge!

[tomgt]

Hi Everyone.....Had a busy work weekend so I'm just getting around to posting some more of my pictures today. The Blue and Green Abalone should
look great against the Redwood !!!

[tomgt]

Here are some more shots of the internal goings on..
Bruce...did you alter your bracing or thickness of the top a lot
for thid Redwood vs your more standard Spruce

[tomgt]

...So I decided on a cutaway and Bruce was very obliging :

[Bruce Sexauer]

I made these braces slightly wider than ordinarily because of the shorter fiber and the potential for surface failure of the redwood in a glue joint. Then, when getting down to shaping the braces, I found that the top has great cross grain stiffnes, but less than I am used to lengthwise, so I altered the tone bars and the sound hole braces to help with that. These are pretty subtle changes, but they a capable of making or breaking the guitar.

[sehnsucht77]

A Bruce: Koa Katchatori. wonderful play of words. i love it

[dirt1966]

Indeed, Mr. Sexauer can certainly put one of these together rather quickly. Would you say start to finish you can get one done in about 40 hours?

[Bruce Sexauer]

Actually, I'd say 150 hours for the basic guitar. The cutaway adds about a full day. My progress may appear particularly quick to some of you because I am building just one guitar at a time. Many pro builders make several at a time, and this makes everything go by more slowly.

One of the bigger reasons I do this is so that I can progress faster in my quest to be the absolute best guitarmaker the world has produced. If you think about it, it's not so much the number of instruments one makes that creates useful feedback, but the number of times one has completed the process and reviewed the results enabling reorganization of the process. So if a luthier builds a batch of 30 instruments, say, they are only going through the process one time. Thus building 1200 guitars 30 at a time is completing the process just 40 times, while building 400 instruments one by one is completing the process 400 times. Not to mention the intensity of the relationship when it is one on one.

Many of you have commented that I seem to be getting better guitar by guitar; it's all part of my plan.

[DamianL]

Speaking of such things...I came across this for the first time today...


Better than the last - Video with Bruce Sexauer

Very good to see into some of the process involved....

[Bruce Sexauer]

Fantastic! Believe it or not, I was unaware of this video. I remember the visit, but I hadn't realized it came to anything. I've probably had ten video crews come by w/o results I ever saw. I will even forgive these kids (high school project) for misspelling my name.

[rlouie]

Originally Posted by bruce sexauer

fantastic! Believe it or not, i was unaware of this video. I remember the visit, but i hadn't realized it came to anything. I've probably had ten video crews come by w/o results i ever saw. I will even forgive these kids (high school project) for misspelling my name.

excellent video.......................