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  #46  
Old 02-21-2022, 06:32 PM
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Default Rosette Purflings & Rear Headstock Veneer

With the teflon spacers removed, the Zebrawood purflings can be installed between the black fiber/maple/black fiber purflings and scaped flush with the Adirondack Spruce top (nice looking top to boot!).



A Gaboon Ebony back veneer is being glued to the headstock.

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  #47  
Old 02-22-2022, 06:42 PM
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Default Peghead & Veneer

After rough cutting the headstock profile, Steve screws his polycarbonate profiling routing template to peghead (left). Now routed, you can begin to see the two tone Macassar Ebony headstock veneer (right). You can begin to visualize that once the two slots are routed and bound, it will make a definite statement.

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  #48  
Old 02-23-2022, 06:35 PM
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Default Rims n’ Tuners

Here are some shots of placing the ladder braced Macassar Ebony back onto the lined rim assembly. The large elastic straps affix the back so they can use a dental tool to scribe the brace locations into the reverse kerfed Honduran Mahogany linings. Even without finish, the striking figure of the striped heartwood and pale sapwood.



Here are the lined rims with rough spruce side reinforcement strips being glued in place. The OD of an elliptical sound port can be seen in the upper bout. The marked hole is larger than the actual port which will be bound and purfled.



Finally, a set of custom tuners for the guitar from Rodgers Tuning machines. We chose a black geometric pattern engraving pattern on 110 mm brass plates with Black MOP elliptical buttons to visually tie into the Ebony appointments of the instrument. We also used less ornate straight sleeves and short style pips for a more contemporary aesthetic.

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Last edited by iim7V7IM7; 02-23-2022 at 06:42 PM.
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Old 02-23-2022, 06:52 PM
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Shazam--those tuners are gorgeous!
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  #50  
Old 02-23-2022, 09:46 PM
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Shazam--those tuners are gorgeous!
Aren’t they?! That what most tuners want to grow up to look like.

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  #51  
Old 02-24-2022, 07:53 AM
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Exciting and beautiful stuff.

scott memmer
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  #52  
Old 02-24-2022, 02:47 PM
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Exciting and beautiful stuff.

scott memmer
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Nemoman;6941082]Shazam--those tuners are gorgeous!
Thanks Gents...

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Originally Posted by Steve Kinnaird View Post
Aren’t they?! That what most tuners want to grow up to look like.

Steve
Yes, Rob definitely made you some "adult" tuning machines there. Being that you live in Texas, I think you should wear your best pair of boots when installing them...
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  #53  
Old 02-24-2022, 04:22 PM
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Shazam--those tuners are gorgeous!
That's exactly what I thought too - they make even ebony buttoned Gotohs look boring.
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  #54  
Old 02-24-2022, 09:40 PM
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Thanks Gents...
Yes, Rob definitely made you some "adult" tuning machines there. Being that you live in Texas, I think you should wear your best pair of boots when installing them...
You got it pardner. I’ll even wear my spurs for that set!

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  #55  
Old 02-26-2022, 11:16 AM
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Default Bracing the top - Part I

Now that the rosette is installed, Steve and Ryan have begun to brace the Adirondack Spruce top. The top was of average density, but is quite stiff. This starts by laying out the brace pattern on the top. They also conduct deflection testing on their Sitka Spruce brace stock when it all at the 5/16” thickness to understand the relative stiffness between the x-braces, tone bars and finger braces. After that some are trim to a 1/4” thickness.



Here is the top in Steve’s go-bar deck with the x-braces and tone bars installed on a 25’ dish. The finger braces will be installed later.

You also may notice next to the African Padauk bridge plate an additional brace installed parallel to the lower edge of the bridge plate. This style of brace is attributed by many to luthier Don Musser who shared plans for this via the Guild of American Luthiers in the early 1980s. Don’s goal was to both mitigate against structural bridge “budge” and to provide alternative structure to allow to taper the x-brace on the low E string side a bit more in the lower bout than the high E string side for enhanced bass response.

Like all things in luthierie, others ideas are experimented with and adapted. Steve has been using this type of brace in his guitars for about 30 years now. He retains some localized stiffness in their carve of this brace on the high E string side. This is why the 2-5/16” note (which is the target bridge spacing) was written on the underside of the top to remind them of the high E string location when latter carving the brace. I also believe it also allows him to adjust his tone bar carves as well (the nearer one is different than the farther one). The end result is he has found that it enhances the treble response in a pleasing way.

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  #56  
Old 02-27-2022, 08:57 AM
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Looking terrific, Macassar has got such a rich texture! And those tuners… whoa.
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  #57  
Old 02-27-2022, 09:31 AM
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Looking terrific, Macassar has got such a rich texture! And those tuners… whoa.
Thanks…

While the Macassar Ebony is indeed beautiful (and quite dense) Steve chose it because of its acoustic potential given my goals for this instrument. Some Ebonies are quite high in damping and have a dead tap to them. Others can be more lively, not rosewood lively, but not ebony dead either. This set has some tap tone to it.

Most higher damping woods are of moderate density (e.g., Koa, Maples and Mahoganies) but density and hardness also can impact the timbre of an instrument. This set is quite dense as most Macassar is. Steve and Ryan thinned this back to about 0.070” (which is quite thin) to try to compensate for this. It still will be on the heavier side for a guitar of its size. This will be my first moderate damping/dense wood guitar so I am interested to hear how it sounds.

With all this talk about the visually striking back and sides, my experience is the lion’s share of a guitar’s tone is in the top itself. The Adirondack Spruce top set that Steve selected for this project that he sourced from Randy Lucas also has him excited. The process of voicing the top is upcoming shortly as they cave the top braces.
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  #58  
Old 02-27-2022, 10:02 AM
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Smile Looks YUMMY

The whole enchilada looks muy Sabrosa!!!

Those tuners are sure pretty…

Your descriptions of what is going on are very enlightening. Thanks for making things so understandable.

I have no doubt you will be thrilled with the results.

Paul
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  #59  
Old 02-27-2022, 12:30 PM
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Originally Posted by iim7V7IM7 View Post
Thanks…

While the Macassar Ebony is indeed beautiful (and quite dense) Steve chose it because of its acoustic potential given my goals for this instrument. Some Ebonies are quite high in damping and have a dead tap to them. Others can be more lively, not rosewood lively, but not ebony dead either. This set has some tap tone to it.

Most higher damping woods are of moderate density (e.g., Koa, Maples and Mahoganies) but density and hardness also can impact the timbre of an instrument. This set is quite dense as most Macassar is. Steve and Ryan thinned this back to about 0.070” (which is quite thin) to try to compensate for this. It still will be on the heavier side for a guitar of its size. This will be my first moderate damping/dense wood guitar so I am interested to hear how it sounds.

With all this talk about the visually striking back and sides, my experience is the lion’s share of a guitar’s tone is in the top itself. The Adirondack Spruce top set that Steve selected for this project that he sourced from Randy Lucas also has him excited. The process of voicing the top is upcoming shortly as they cave the top braces.
I always appreciate your thorough answers, and fully aligned on the top driving more tone than the back and sides. I read somewhere (can’t remember where) that the order on what affects sound the most is body size - top - back and sides, which to me makes sense once you think about it.

In any case, looking forward to following along what is sure to be a sweet, sweet instrument.
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  #60  
Old 03-01-2022, 03:46 PM
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Default Binding the Peghead

Steve routed a 0.100” deep ledge around the perimeter to accommodate the b/w purfling, as well as the 1/16” Gaboon Ebony binding.



Here is a shot of the b/w purfling in installed.



This is a shot of Steve installing the pre-bent Gaboon Ebony binding pieces. As you can see, these are the most demanding areas to bind on his guitars.



This is a shot of Steve mitering the point in the ebony binding. It is so black! He could have simply butted the joints, but mitering is a better solution (and more fun!). Heis using a single-edged razor blade for this task. His fingers are taped to keep from getting stuck to the CA glue to the work.



Now, with the second piece of Gaboon Ebony binding installed, he just needs to install a remaining piece down the right side of the peghead veneer.



The peghead binding and purfling is finished in this shot. You might have noticed the darker color in earlier pics. That was a swipe coat of shellac to protect the wood from CA glue stains. Now that everything is installed, the peghead veneer, binding and purflings has been lightly sanded to level everything, and that kissed off the shellac coat back to bare wood.

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