New Neil Gardiner build thread..........

[Towzer]

Well folks here i go again

I have commissioned Neil to build me a Concert size acoustic
German spruce top
EIR back and sides ( fabulous set by the way )
Bloodwood binding with BW and Abalone rosette
Ebony fretboard , headplate and bridge

I will post pics shortly

Neil lives about 2 hours from me in Toronto Canada
Looking forward to the progress with Neil on this one..
Thanks for looking

[Neil Gardiner]

So, here's a couple of pictures. A couple of the wood and one with the Bloodwood back strip on the East Indian. And one of the beginning of the Bloodwood/shell rosette.

Neil

[Towzer]

thanks Neil
Looking GOOOOD

The EIR looks like Brazilian

[rerwin]

That EIR is great looking Neil.

[jimmy bookout]

Neil,
Any more pictures?

Jimmy

[Neil Gardiner]

Ok Jimmy

Here's a few more pictures. I've gotten the sides bent and the back is braced but no carved.

Neil


The first side out of the bender and just clamped to one side of the mould.


The second side in the bender


Here's the back with the braces all glued up and ready to be carved.


And just another shot of the back with the bloodwood centre strip. Nice cono EIR and bloodwood. Good choice of Towzer's.

Neil

[Neil Gardiner]

A couple more pictures. Got the rosette all done.



Rosette with Bloodwood and Shell rings.



German Spruce top rough cut out.



Here are the sides in the mould with the kerfing starting to go on.



And getting the bracing ready to go on for the top.

Neil

[J.R. Rogers]

Looking VERY nice, Neil! Thanks for the updates.

JR

[Neil Gardiner]

Ok, here's an update. The box is all together and ready to be trimmed up and on to binding.

Neil



Rosewood bindings on the sides.



Back braces carved.



Back gets glued on. You can never have too many clamps.



Top Braces carved.



And the top goes on.



And here is the box together still rough on the edges - needs to be trimmed down. (and obviously I photographed this before I cleaned up the glue squeeze out)

[bobcef]

Looking good Neil

[Neil Gardiner]

Here's a few update pictures of the binding on. I'm really liking that bloodwood. I was a little worried that it might be tough to bend, but so far I have not had an issue with it. And it scrapes up nicely, and I really like the contrast with the EIR.

The box has that nice drum tap tone that I look for at this point.

Next, on to the neck.

Neil





This one is wetted with mineral spirits to give an idea of waht it might look like under finish

[jimmy bookout]

Neil,
The guitar is really looking nice, the bloodwood binding is very cool.

Jimmy

[rerwin]

Really Really nice, I like the contrast of the binding.

[Neil Gardiner]

Well, I finally got this one strung up on the weekend. Sounds good already. Still needs final setup.

Has a Shatten active pickup installed which sounds very good to my ears.

I ended up sending this out for finishing which will be standard practice on all my guitars going forward. This one is UV finish.

More pictures coming soon, but here's one of the finished body before it all went together.

Neil

[Neil Gardiner]

And, as promised here we have some final pictures of this one all together.

Should be off to it's new home early next week.
Neil