NICK KUKICH (Franklin Guitar Co.) The OMC (German Spruce / Cuban Mahogany)

[justonwo]

Looking great. This is going to be a monster. I can sense it. Must be my mahogany addiction.

[iim7V7IM7]

John, Yes n’ Yes...

Originally Posted by jmat

Bob - if you back at Artisan this year perhaps you can bring this one along. Congratulations!

[Nort]

Thanks for the explanation about the spline,
that's a really interesting idea.

[iim7V7IM7]

Originally Posted by justonwo

Looking great. This is going to be a monster. I can sense it. Must be my mahogany addiction.

You definitely have a bad case of mahoganitis insanabile with your Brondel, Fairbanks and Klepper! This may be replaced soon by mapleitis insanabile with the arrival of your Circa...

Originally Posted by Nort

Thanks for the explanation about the spline,
that's a really interesting idea.

If you think about it, structurally the spline accomplishes a bit of what a 3 or 5 piece neck construction (i.e. mahogany/hard maple/mahogany) does in a one piece construction, but just at the heel.

[justonwo]

Originally Posted by iim7V7IM7

You definitely have a bad case of mahoganitis insanabile with your Brondel, Fairbanks and Klepper! This may be replaced soon by mapleitis insanabile with the arrival of your Circa...



If you think about it, structurally the spline accomplishes a bit of what a 3 or 5 piece neck construction (i.e. mahogany/hard maple/mahogany) does in a one piece construction, but just at the heel.

Yeah, I have a lot of itises going right now.

[iim7V7IM7]

Nick is applying shellac to seal the German Spruce top of the guitar before applying the nitrocellulose lacquer finish.




Here are some shots of Nick applying an epoxy pore filler to the Cuban Mahogany back and sides. The color of the set is beginning to come through. You can see how on quarter the set is with appearance of the medullary and curl.


Here are some shots of the guitar with some nitrocellulose lacquer applied and intermediate sanding to bottom out some of the of the coats. Interesting choice of sound hole finish blocker...


Nick in the booth...

[jt1]

A gorgeous creation by one of my favorite builders for one of my favorite players. What's not to covet?

There are so many great guitar builders today, but so few great guitar finishers. My friend (and favorite guitar builder and finisher) Kim Walker has told me that the finish accounts for up to 1/3 of guitar tone. Makes sense to me. I've been to numerous guitar shows where many (most?) makers use the same finisher. And, yeah, the guitars, despite build differences, sound astonishingly similar.

Nick's the real deal, in building, which should include finishing.

Please bring this guitar to the Artisan show.

[iim7V7IM7]

JT, it will be there...

Originally Posted by jt1

A gorgeous creation by one of my favorite builders for one of my favorite players. What's not to covet?

There are so many great guitar builders today, but so few great guitar finishers. My friend (and favorite guitar builder and finisher) Kim Walker has told me that the finish accounts for up to 1/3 of guitar tone. Makes sense to me. I've been to numerous guitar shows where many (most?) makers use the same finisher. And, yeah, the guitars, despite build differences, sound astonishingly similar.

Nick's the real deal, in building, which should include finishing.

Please bring this guitar to the Artisan show.

[mhw48]

Man! This guitar is really coming together beautifully!

[blindboyjimi]

That Cuban Mahogany looks stunning under even partial finish and like almost like a Koa. The OMC size is very intriguing. Have you ever spoken with nick about a 14 fret non cutaway in this size (like a Goodall Concert Jumbo or a Martin 0000). The Prairie State is such a big guitar and the OM is so familiar, I’d love to get my hands on something in between by Nick.

[iim7V7IM7]

Originally Posted by mhw48

Man! This guitar is really coming together beautifully!

Thanks...

Originally Posted by blindboyjimi

That Cuban Mahogany looks stunning under even partial finish and like almost like a Koa. The OMC size is very intriguing. Have you ever spoken with nick about a 14 fret non cutaway in this size (like a Goodall Concert Jumbo or a Martin 0000). The Prairie State is such a big guitar and the OM is so familiar, I’d love to get my hands on something in between by Nick.

No, I have never spoken to Nick about that. Why not give him a call? His website lists four models: OM, OM Cutaway, Jumbo Cutaway and Dreadnought. That said, I think that Nick's body bold incorporates the Venetian cutaway, so building a non-cutaway version would likely require him to make a new half mold. Lastly, Nick designed the OMC body shape the size that it was to compensate for the lost body volume from the cutaway. How it would sound without this is unknown (might be great...TBD).

[jmat]

That looks amazing!

[iim7V7IM7]

Thanks John...

Originally Posted by jmat

That looks amazing!

[Diamondave]

Its getting hot in here....

[iim7V7IM7]

Funny how that happens...

Originally Posted by Diamondave

Its getting hot in here....