Two Hands Guitars (shop update)

[fregly]

That mango is somehing else. What sound qualities will it bring? Is it a heavy dense wood, or more in the mahogany realm?

[theEdwinson]

I have to say, it is sure a pleasure to work side by side with Joel. He's a real inspiration. The Pyinma 00 is now ready for finish, and it is just mind blowingly beautiful. I freely admit to feeling quite envious of this one. The design is brilliantly elemental, completely elegant in every aspect, and immaculately constructed, with the cleanest workmanship you'll ever see. And how awesome is it that Joel pulled out all the stops on this one, the first prototype of his Venus 00 model. Outstanding work, my friend!

And now he's upping the ante with this insane Mango set. What a kick to see this happening!

[mikealpine]

I’m also curious about the mango. Looks amazing! Can’t wait to hear the specs on that one.

[Joel Teel]

Originally Posted by fregly

That mango is somehing else. What sound qualities will it bring? Is it a heavy dense wood, or more in the mahogany realm?

Mango seems to share a lot of tactile characteristics (as well as working qualities) with the Koa and Mahogany guitars that I recently completed...as well as the Pyinma guitar that I’m currently building and a previous Imbuia guitar I built a couple of years ago. All quite different tonally from EIR, Cocobolo, African Blackwood and such.

I’ve not yet built a Mango guitar, but I expect that it will produce a warm, balanced, mellow and focused tone...much like these other guitars sharing similar properties. I’m looking forward to finding out what it’s similarities and differences will be.

Originally Posted by theEdwinson

I have to say, it is sure a pleasure to work side by side with Joel. He's a real inspiration. The Pyinma 00 is now ready for finish, and it is just mind blowingly beautiful. I freely admit to feeling quite envious of this one. The design is brilliantly elemental, completely elegant in every aspect, and immaculately constructed, with the cleanest workmanship you'll ever see. And how awesome is it that Joel pulled out all the stops on this one, the first prototype of his Venus 00 model. Outstanding work, my friend!



And now he's upping the ante with this insane Mango set. What a kick to see this happening!

Thanks Steve.
As we’ve talked about before, our aesthetic sensibilities are quite different. I love all of the visual texture that your guitars display, and I admire the beauty you create with the illusion of movement through this visual energy.....elegantly controlled energy.

[Joel Teel]

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Using the router and an acrylic jig to cut the mortise through the body and into the neck block...

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Fine-tuning the cheeks of the heel with a chisel after cutting the tenon with the router...

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The fretboard getting glued to the neck...

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Frets installed...

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Fret ends filed...

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I think this will be just fine...

Thanks for looking...
joel

[theEdwinson]

Originally Posted by mikealpine

I’m also curious about the mango. Looks amazing! Can’t wait to hear the specs on that one.

I've never built with Mango, and never played a Mango guitar, but I have a couple sets of it. I'm keeping a close eye on Joel's progress on this one. The back panels have a much more focused tap tone than the Mango I have. I think this stuff will have a strong Maple vibe. And as we all know now, Maple is a lot more versatile than many people give it credit for. Factory-built guitars do not generally take full advantage of its tonal character. I would venture a guess that it will add some strong fundamentals and midrange to treble punch to the mix, along with a balanced and focused bass response.

Joel asked my opinion on which of two Sitka tops to use for this guitar. I picked up the figured one and gave it one tap; then the other one. I said, with no equivocation, use the figured Sitka top! One tap was enough to convince me- it knocked me back on my heels. This Sitka top is one of those rare, one-in-a-thousand tops that has unmistakable mojo. It's going to be a stellar guitar, no doubt about it.

[Joel Teel]

Originally Posted by theEdwinson

I've never built with Mango, and never played a Mango guitar, but I have a couple sets of it. I'm keeping a close eye on Joel's progress on this one. The back panels have a much more focused tap tone than the Mango I have. I think this stuff will have a strong Maple vibe. And as we all know now, Maple is a lot more versatile than many people give it credit for. Factory-built guitars do not generally take full advantage of its tonal character. I would venture a guess that it will add some strong fundamentals and midrange to treble punch to the mix, along with a balanced and focused bass response.



Joel asked my opinion on which of two Sitka tops to use for this guitar. I picked up the figured one and gave it one tap; then the other one. I said, with no equivocation, use the figured Sitka top! One tap was enough to convince me- it knocked me back on my heels. This Sitka top is one of those rare, one-in-a-thousand tops that has unmistakable mojo. It's going to be a stellar guitar, no doubt about it.

Hey Steve…after looking deeper, I see where Steve K. says that it shares a lot in common with Maple. I had a really great experience with the quilted Maple “Luna 000” that I built for Jeff B. I truly miss that guitar. If this one turns out anything like that one, I’ll be really happy.
This quilted Sitka soundboard from ASW will be a first for me…and I hope that it sounds as great as it taps…and looks.

Originally Posted by mikealpine

I’m also curious about the mango. Looks amazing! Can’t wait to hear the specs on that one.

Hey Mike…it’s going to have the same specs as the Pyinma guitar…
“Venus-00”
25” scale
12-fret join
Sadly…I don’t expect that it will be ready for B.I.G.(er) though. I just don’t have enough time to make it happen with everything else on my plate.


So the final step of the build for me, is to create the bridge and then pin it in the correct location on the soundboard. After that, it’s a whole lot of sanding, spraying, sanding, spraying, sanding, spraying…you get the picture.

After I cut and sand the profile, I draw the layout of the design and determine the position of the bridge-pin holes based on the string spread of the specific guitar…
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The holes are drilled before I begin sculpting the bridge…
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The white pencil gives me a guide to follow as I sculpt the bridge…
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I’ll be back soon with pictures of the bridge…and also the assembled guitar. Thanks for stopping by,
joel

[TomB'sox]

B.I.G. accepts no excuses, we want that Mango done LOL, now get off the computer and back in the shop LOL!!!!!

[theEdwinson]

Originally Posted by TomB'sox

B.I.G. accepts no excuses, we want that Mango done LOL, now get off the computer and back in the shop LOL!!!!!

Crack that whip, Tom! You're the task master! You're the reason us luthiers are working twice as hard as usual this summer!
I would really like to give you my sincere thanks for that.

[Eric Greno]

Nice looking stuff, I am most impressed with you building in Fairhope. I live in Mobile and I stop woodworking due to humidity and heat (shop is not conditioned).

Stuff looks great!
Eric

[Joel Teel]

Originally Posted by Eric Greno

Nice looking stuff, I am most impressed with you building in Fairhope. I live in Mobile and I stop woodworking due to humidity and heat (shop is not conditioned).



Stuff looks great!

Eric

Hello Neighbor,
Thanks for the nice words. When I built my shop a few years ago, one of the absolute requirements was the installation of an environmental system to combat the Gulf-Coast environment. I’m pleased to say that I’m able to keep a constant temp of 76* and 45% humidity level. All the rain we’ve gotten in the last week might wash me away though.

Originally Posted by TomB'sox

B.I.G. accepts no excuses, we want that Mango done LOL, now get off the computer and back in the shop LOL!!!!!

Tom, the Mango build is progressing very nicely…but because I spray my own nitro lacquer finish (which requires me to allow 3-4 weeks for the final coats to sit up prior to wet-sanding) I simply can’t foresee the time needed to finish the guitar properly. Sorry to disappoint you Sir. Here are a few progress pictures, though:

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Here’s a few pictures of the completed bridge for the Pyinma guitar:
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Here are a few pictures of the completed Pyinma build (in the white):

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As always, thank you for looking…
joel

[Nemoman]

The Pyinma guitar looks awesome, Joel!

Great stuff--can not wait to try it out!

Although I am bummed that the Koa one will not be coming along...

[Scallywag]

What size fretwire is on that guitar?

[Joel Teel]

Originally Posted by Scallywag

What size fretwire is on that guitar?

EVO Gold…
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Originally Posted by Nemoman

The Pyinma guitar looks awesome, Joel!



Great stuff--can not wait to try it out!



Although I am bummed that the Koa one will not be coming along...

Thanks Kevin…..the good news on the Koa guitar is that the person who bought it is local, and has offered to let me bring it to the show.

Here’s a picture of the Pyinma guitar with some lacquer on it:
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And here are some interior progress pictures of the Mango guitar before closing the box:
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Here are a few pictures of the closed box held in the cradle to rout the binding and purfling channels:
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The purfling channel around the top of the arm bevel has to be cut by hand with an exacto knife, gramil, and chisel:
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That’s all for now…gotta get back to work. As always, thank you for following along.

joel

[Guitars44me]

These last two instruments are looking REALLY NICE!!!

I love the headstock with the straight string pull across the Nut...

Woohoo

Salud

Paul