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  #31  
Old 01-14-2019, 09:18 AM
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Joel Teel Joel Teel is offline
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I've decided that it's time to come up for air, and step away from the flying sawdust and sticky glue-globs for a moment.....and "step up to the mic."

I can be a rather introverted character...and although I've learned, during my half-a-century on this spinning orb, how to be a little more comfortable in my own skin, the spotlight shining on me is still somewhat awkward...especially with all of the nice things that you folks are posting.

Don't get me wrong...I'm truly humbled and greatly appreciative that my work is being well-received, and that you folks are taking the time out of your busy days to comment...and I'm equally appreciative that Jeff has taken a chance on this unknown guitar builder. So thank you all from the bottom of my heart.

Jeff mentioned earlier that he'd like for me to talk a little bit about the theme of this build. In doing so, I should begin with the fact that Jeff is a Pastor in Washington, and that he will be leading his congregation in worship with this guitar when it is completed. the two specific requirements were that it have Maple back & sides, and that it have a "Chi Rho" symbol inlayed at the 12th fret. He then instructed me to incorporate any other symbolic elements into the guitar that I felt would properly carry the theme.

Before I go further, I realize that all persons on this forum don't follow the same spiritual beliefs...some even being agnostic. This is neither an indictment nor a sermon...but simply an explanation of the theme behind the build. I'm always willing to have further discussion about my personal faith (and my faith-based business...Two Hands Guitar Co.) with anyone who might be interested...though out of respect for this community, it would be more appropriate via PM, email, or phone.

From the early days of the Christian church, the Greek letters Chi & Rho were used in reference to Jesus Christ...which is the theme of this build...and after much thought, I decided that it would be most appropriate to use "color" to carry out our theme.

Jesus is referred to as "light" many times in the Bible, and the more that I looked at the Maple & Sitka, the more it began to represent "light" to me. Jesus is said to be the "light of the world" and He illuminates within the darkness...this idea prompted me to use black Ebony for the bindings to represent the darkness.

Ultimately, the Christian Faith is based upon the salvation of mankind, through the blood of Jesus...and this concept is represented through the use of red-dyed veneer lines in the purflings for this build.

The idea behind the rosette, was to mimic a stained-glass window, such as you'd find in many churches. Jeff liked the idea...so I went from: "Hey, Jeff, I think this would be a cool idea"...to: "How in the world am I going to pull off this stained-glass thing." To say the least, I was quite pleased (and relieved) with the results...and am overjoyed that it has gotten such a great response from you folks. Thank you all for the comments.

Jeff later requested that we inlay three small crosses on the heel cap, which will represent the crucifixion...and finally, I will be slightly modifying my headstock logo for this particular build. There will be a very small red dot inlayed into the palm of the hand to represent the wounds that Jesus received by the nails that were driven through His own two hands...and into the wooden cross.

I realize that today, in our society, people are very polarized, and easily offended. If you were offended by this post...it was not my intention to offend you. If you were intrigued by this post...I invite a conversation.

Thank you all for your time...and for your comments,
Joel
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Last edited by Joel Teel; 01-14-2019 at 09:56 AM.
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  #32  
Old 01-15-2019, 04:54 PM
bubbaprime bubbaprime is offline
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Thanks for giving us some of the luthier's perspective here, Joel!

This is one of the nicer aspects of the custom build, getting to know the builder and sharing the vision for the instrument. Ultimately, the payoff is revealed in finding sympatico and seeing that vision become reality.

For anyone considering Joel for a custom build, I will say he has been a joy to work with. He has been an excellent listener and offered excellent guidance in areas that I have not been overly directive about. Communication has been regular and detailed with every step along the way and Joel has made himself available for phone conversation as I have found the need.

I've been involved with my work in some unplanned areas the past couple weeks, so I'm behind with posting photo updates of the build. I do believe I'll have some freedom near the end of the week to prepare them and upload to my web host. The ride only gets better from here... More to come soon

Thanks for looking in!
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Edwinson EPS "iCrucified" [2011]
Edwinson Consort "Spirit" [2016]
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Martin OM-21 Ambertone [2017]
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  #33  
Old 01-15-2019, 05:11 PM
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Gorgeous, simply Gorgeous!

Given the theme of this guitar, I anxiously await sound clips of the choir of Angels that will singing from it.
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  #34  
Old 01-19-2019, 11:14 PM
bubbaprime bubbaprime is offline
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Originally Posted by Godfather View Post
Gorgeous, simply Gorgeous!

Given the theme of this guitar, I anxiously await sound clips of the choir of Angels that will singing from it.
Thank you, GF, for looking in! I also await hearing this beauty and fully anticipate it sounding exactly like a choir of angels.
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  #35  
Old 01-19-2019, 11:32 PM
bubbaprime bubbaprime is offline
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Sorry for the late update, life has been swinging fast and furious since the beginning of the New Year and doesn't seem to want to slow down much. Nonetheless, Joel has been faithful with keeping me updated with build photos and I was able to spend some time today getting them sized for the web and uploaded to my host site.

We have all the bracing completed. Joel uses a hybrid X-brace for the top and radial fan bracing. Here are some finished photos of the top with another from the back and sides waiting to be boxed up.





There are some aficionados and players who look at the guitar more as an instrument and tool, which is fine... I also acknowledge this, but I also embrace the guitar as something more. I see the guitar, especially one that has been imagined, talked about, then tooled and built from a customized approach as something organic. These guitars are truly unique, having voices and personalities of their own. I could go on and wax even more poetic, but I'll spare you. In the case of this build, I asked Joel to "breathe" life and personality into the instrument. I encouraged him to speak to it as if you would a plant and even write encouraging words, thoughts, and inspiration on the insides of the soundbox. I do believe this helps the guitar know who it will be and also know what will be it's purpose.





And now a few shots of the box getting closed up.







I'm getting excited about the next stages as we begin to see binding bringing the soundbox together and soon we'll tackle the neck. Thanks for sharing this ride with me! More to come...
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Taylor 514e FLTD [2013]
Taylor 714e [2016]
Martin OM-21 Ambertone [2017]
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  #36  
Old 02-02-2019, 11:09 AM
bubbaprime bubbaprime is offline
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It's been awhile since our last update. Joel has been busy with finishing and final setup work on a couple of guitars that are getting ready for delivery (as I understand it). Still, he has been working on the two guitars he has in-process, one of which is my quilted maple/sitka guitar.

Our last update left us with the box being joined and prepped for binding. The binding is ebony with koa and red-dyed veneer purfling to accent and join the other build elements. As Joel has previously mentioned, he incorporates bound sound hole, bound soundport, and a top bout comfort bevel as standard in all his builds. Here are some photos of the of the binding process.

Box joined and ready for binding channels to be cut:



Look at that beautiful quilted maple!!!



Binding Channels cut



Joel does meticulously clean work!



Binding the binding





Next post will include some finished photos of the binding and the end graft!

More to come soon!!!

jb
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  #37  
Old 02-02-2019, 01:09 PM
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Schweeet!!!!!
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  #38  
Old 02-02-2019, 01:12 PM
bubbaprime bubbaprime is offline
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Originally Posted by cigarfan View Post
Schweeet!!!!!
X 1,000
Thanks for looking in, CigarFan!

jb
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  #39  
Old 02-04-2019, 09:59 AM
bubbaprime bubbaprime is offline
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Default Bound in the Raw

The binding bands have been unbound and we have a completed sound box. While I have a definite bias, I do believe this is one gorgeous guitar! Joel is doing a fabulous job with bringing this concept to life. Without further ado, here are few photos of the joined and bound sound box.

Check out these beautiful and clean lines!









Finally, for this update, we include a few shots of the endgraft being inlaid.



Inlaid endgraft with front and back beauty shots

Look at that beautifully silky smooth Sitka top!



This quilted maple is just going to explode under finish!

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Edwinson EPS "iCrucified" [2011]
Edwinson Consort "Spirit" [2016]
THGCo. 000-Concert "Chi Rho" [2019]
Taylor 514e FLTD [2013]
Taylor 714e [2016]
Martin OM-21 Ambertone [2017]
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  #40  
Old 02-04-2019, 12:39 PM
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Congrats, the colors go so well with the rosette and once that Maple sees some juice the whole guitar is going to come alive. Wonderful.
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  #41  
Old 02-04-2019, 01:33 PM
Nemoman Nemoman is offline
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Really liking the wide binding on this guitar--seems to accentuate the beauty of the maple even more!
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  #42  
Old 02-04-2019, 02:45 PM
bubbaprime bubbaprime is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TomB'sox View Post
Congrats, the colors go so well with the rosette and once that Maple sees some juice the whole guitar is going to come alive. Wonderful.
I believe you're so right, Tom! Joel has done a great job of choreographing the color scheme with this project. I think the the binding/purfling would have been a great accent alone, but the way the rosette came together with those wood and color choices...well, that just sent everything over the top!

The best part is that there are still a few surprises in store

Annnd, I can't wait to see this girl under finish!

jb
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Edwinson EPS "iCrucified" [2011]
Edwinson Consort "Spirit" [2016]
THGCo. 000-Concert "Chi Rho" [2019]
Taylor 514e FLTD [2013]
Taylor 714e [2016]
Martin OM-21 Ambertone [2017]
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  #43  
Old 02-04-2019, 02:47 PM
bubbaprime bubbaprime is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Nemoman View Post
Really liking the wide binding on this guitar--seems to accentuate the beauty of the maple even more!
I agree, Nemoman!

It is surprising how a subtle tweak here and there can make such a profound difference (positive difference in this case)!

Thanks for looking in!

jeff
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Edwinson EPS "iCrucified" [2011]
Edwinson Consort "Spirit" [2016]
THGCo. 000-Concert "Chi Rho" [2019]
Taylor 514e FLTD [2013]
Taylor 714e [2016]
Martin OM-21 Ambertone [2017]
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  #44  
Old 02-11-2019, 08:49 PM
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Joel Teel Joel Teel is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Nemoman View Post
Really liking the wide binding on this guitar--seems to accentuate the beauty of the maple even more!
Nemoman...the binding/purfling scheme is the same dimensionally as my other builds. It’s really not wider at all...it’s an optical illusion created by the visual weight of the heaviness of the black Ebony. My bindings are 5/64”x1/4” and my purflings are 1/16” .....plus the .020” dyed veneer lines.
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‘17 Two Hands Guitar Co.
000/Concert, Sitka/Brazilian Imbuia

‘17 Two Hands Guitar Co.
0000/Auditorium, Sitka/Indonesian RW

‘93 Taylor 712 (I spent 20 years trying to convince the owner to sell me this guitar)

‘95 Taylor Limited Edition GAWS (I traded my Gibson J-200 for this guitar in ‘95)

TWO HANDS GUITARS
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  #45  
Old 02-11-2019, 08:54 PM
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Joel Teel Joel Teel is offline
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Steve and I did a photo shoot of our recently-completed guitars, so I took a few beauty shots of the Maple guitar too...

IMG_1992.jpg

IMG_1993.jpg

IMG_1994.jpg

IMG_1995.jpg

IMG_1996.jpg

IMG_1997.jpg

IMG_1998.jpg

IMG_1999.jpg

Joel
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‘17 Two Hands Guitar Co.
000/Concert, Sitka/Brazilian Imbuia

‘17 Two Hands Guitar Co.
0000/Auditorium, Sitka/Indonesian RW

‘93 Taylor 712 (I spent 20 years trying to convince the owner to sell me this guitar)

‘95 Taylor Limited Edition GAWS (I traded my Gibson J-200 for this guitar in ‘95)

TWO HANDS GUITARS
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