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Old 04-20-2016, 06:36 AM
Vee_Voe Vee_Voe is offline
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Default My Custom Build From Vietnam

During my trip to Vietnam this Spring I was suprise to find out that a childhood friend of my wife comes from a family of luthiers. Being in Vietnam many times and had my fair share of experience with the guitars produced there. I bought a couple og guitars from a gentleman by the name Thanh, he's popular with alot of tourists as far as guitars go. They're relatively inexpensive ($200-$800 depending on how much bling you want). Most are made from woods I've never seen before, mahogany and Indian rosewood here and there. They had Koa as well, though I believe it was monkeypod that they were trying to pass off as Koa. Most of them sound great, loud/lush. They're usually finished in matte or poly, i couldnt really find a poly finish one that sounded good. Fit and finish was "ehh", "Gibson on a bad day"

Anyhow me and my wife visited her friend's home to meet her father who was the head luthier at the family shop. His name is Thuc, he's been building instruments for over 50 years, he started when he was 8 working with his father in the shop. In his beginings he was building mainly Vietnamese folk instruments, just think of heavily scalloped neck guitars with 3 strings, body is usually made from a gord. Very nice man, immediately as I stepped in his home i noticed a stash of tonewoods off to the side, he saw me eyeballing the pile so he said I was free to go through them if I wish, these were tonewoods which he has imported from the U.S. and Europe, too many to name but most of your usual suspects. I was suprise to see a luthier out of Vietnam that cared so much about wood, folks there usually just build off what is cheap or abundant.

I was invited to come check out his workshop the next day. Very small shop, 5 man operation. Father is the head luthier, the son is in training, finisher, inlay artist, and a cleaning guy I was checking out his tools, your normal hand tools and the thing that suprised me was that he gets alot of stuff from stewmac(frets, lacquer, bindings). He doesnt have hide glue but he does have titebond (the norm around Vietnam is usually CA glue). I decided to have him make me a guitar, it will be based off a Martin 00-45sc. I sat for hours going through his stash at home and picked out a sitka/ziricote set. Sadly I was leaving Vietnam and he will have to ship me the guitar when he is done. Here are some photos of the process so far. I've visited small shop luthiers as well as big names such as Martin and Collings, and I must say this man is doing pretty well for what he has as far as tools, the work might not be 100% clean but the couple of guitars he had built that I played were very nice playing/sounding instruments. I am aware of the humidity in Vietnam, I live in central Oklahoma in an older home which can get to 85% humidity in my living room during the Summer months. I have brought back a couple of guitars before and eased them into the climate here with no problems, Thuc also does a very thin finish on the interior of the body as an option, I opted for it since the guitars of his I played prior had the inside finished as well and they both still sounded spectacular.













Last edited by Vee_Voe; 04-20-2016 at 06:54 AM.
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Old 04-20-2016, 06:38 AM
Vee_Voe Vee_Voe is offline
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I already started planning my next build with him, I cant decide either a 000 12 fret or an OM. The wood combo will be Adirondack with either Macassar Ebony or East Indian Rosewood. He's got the wood picked out for me.





And here are photos of another project he's working on for an Australian customer. Its a Spruce/Koa Cutaway with armrest. Fan bracing of a classical, and varnish finish.


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Old 04-20-2016, 07:30 AM
Kitbuqa Kitbuqa is offline
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Any contact details for this guy?
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Old 04-20-2016, 07:54 AM
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CoolerKing CoolerKing is offline
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Looks great, congrats!
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Old 04-20-2016, 08:17 AM
redir redir is offline
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That's awesome. I absolutely love Zircote, what a beautiful texture it has. I'm sure you will thoroughly enjoy this truly hand built instrument.
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Old 05-19-2016, 08:12 AM
Vee_Voe Vee_Voe is offline
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Little update, the sound hole has been cut and the neck is roughed out. Once the glue dries on the binding then it will be off to the inlay artist.









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Old 05-19-2016, 08:14 AM
Vee_Voe Vee_Voe is offline
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Update: the neck is about done, waiting in binding and the rosette surround. Another week or so he should have the guitar fully inlayed. For the back strip I decided on a thin herringbone. Im excited to see it completed soon














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Old 05-19-2016, 08:15 AM
Vee_Voe Vee_Voe is offline
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The inlays are done and the remainder of the binding for the fingerboard. Its coming together nicely. Can't wait to see it under the finish











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Old 05-19-2016, 08:28 AM
6L6 6L6 is offline
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As a Vietnam Vet, it warms my heart to see something like this. Much better use of human skills than war.
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Old 05-19-2016, 08:35 AM
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CoolerKing CoolerKing is offline
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Wow! Congrats.
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Old 05-19-2016, 11:06 AM
LouieAtienza LouieAtienza is offline
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That's awesome! I might have to try working bare feet one day...
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Old 05-19-2016, 12:44 PM
jessupe jessupe is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LouieAtienza View Post
That's awesome! I might have to try working bare feet one day...
said ole' nine toes Louie...hmm isn't that the name of an old campfire song?
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Old 05-19-2016, 01:03 PM
downtime downtime is offline
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Looks nice. Do you have any concerns about humidity?
Are these built in a humidity controlled shop?
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Old 05-19-2016, 01:22 PM
Vee_Voe Vee_Voe is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by downtime View Post
Looks nice. Do you have any concerns about humidity?
Are these built in a humidity controlled shop?
The shop is not humidity controlled, it's anywhere between 70%-85% humidity in Vietnam. It can get up to 85% humidity here in Oklahoma during the Summers. This will be the third guitar that I've brought back from Vietnam. The first 2 I brought them back during the summer months. They have a few months of high humidity and then I during the winter I keep them at 55%-65% (in the case) until the following summer and by last winter I was able to bring them down to 40%-50% with no problems. I know folks usually have problems bringing instruments back from humid countries but I plan to ease this one into the humidity here as well. Both of these guitars still play well and no cracks.

The woods used are originally from the U.S., so I'm sure it's better fit to handle the humidity back here in the U.S. Than the woods there were used on the earlier 2 guitars. The guitar has a thin layer of shellac on the interior, this will help slow the effects of humidity as I go. Hopefully everything will be alright
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Old 06-26-2016, 08:22 PM
Vee_Voe Vee_Voe is offline
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