|
|
#76
08-22-2022, 09:39 AM
|
||||
|
||||
Quote:
__________________
Edwinson 
|
|
#77
08-22-2022, 09:42 AM
|
||||
|
||||
|
Quote:
__________________
Edwinson
|
|
#78
08-22-2022, 10:02 AM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Quote:
__________________
2013 Stehr Auditorium (Carpathian/Myrtle) 2015 Stehr Auditorium (Adi/BRW) 2020 Baranik Meridian (Blue Spruce/Manchinga) 2020 Wilborn Arum (Tunnel 14/Coco) 2021 Kinnaird Graybeard (BC Cedar/Bog Oak) 2022 Kinnaird CS Student Build (Adi/Padauk) 2023 Kinnaird FS (Italian/Koa)
|
|
#79
08-22-2022, 10:14 AM
|
||||
|
||||
|
The second guitar I'm bringing to the B.I.G. event is the odd-duck Consort 000 guitar. This is the one with the wild-figure Padouk back and sides, and (yet ANOTHER) Tunnel 14 Redwood top. This guitar didn't really know what it wanted to be at first. I was contempating some sort of offset sound hole idea, inspired by Ben Wilborn's Comma series. But it didn't really go anywhere, because I couldn't come up with a design that was as cool and modern as Ben's but without being too derivative. I think it's great to pay homage to your heroes, by riffing on their designs, but I just didn't have it together enough to make a pleasing offset soundhole design that didn't look like outright plagiarism of Ben's inimitable guitars.
So, I settled for an unconventionally shaped center sound hole instead. This sound hole was inspired by the common, generic jellybean. The Ziricote cowl surrounding it on the upper bout was inspired by Batman's costume, or something like that. I built this guitar on the Consort 000 platform, which I guess is the most "conservative" shape I make- based on the shape of Spanish Classical guitars, only a size category larger. So it's kind of a mash-up of a traditional guitar shape, with some rather unusual modernistic stuff thrown in. I know this guitar- named "the Rojo"- Spanish for "red"- is not everyone's cup of tea, visually. But it sounds awesome. It has a good measure of that Somogyi-school vibe, and it has a lot of volume, color, and presence. Owing to the superior tonewoods, of course. I need every bit of help I can get, so I tend to use only the best woods, and that gives me an unfair advantage. I changed up the bracing on the Rojo also. On this one, I cobbled together a lattice pattern in the lower bout. This is the first one I've made like this, and it works! I will definitely be continuing with lattice bracing on some future guitars. I actually carved these braces a bit smaller after this photo was taken. I'm glad I did- it really seemed to liberate the vibrational excursion of the soundboard. And again, this is Tunnel 14 bracing on a Tunnel 14 top. What a killer combo!   Whoops- I have some other business to attend to. I'll post more studio photos of the Consort Rojo 000 later this afternoon. Here are a couple of front and back mugshots.... Thanks for looking.   
__________________
Edwinson
|
|
#80
08-22-2022, 10:15 AM
|
||||
|
||||
|
Quote:
__________________
Edwinson
|
|
#82
08-22-2022, 11:35 AM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Absolutely stunning guitars. Hope to get a chance to check one out.
|
|
#83
08-22-2022, 11:50 AM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Hey Steve, what a great combination of tonewoods, innovation and creativity! Looking forward to seeing you and playing the guitars next week! Dave
|
|
#84
08-22-2022, 12:57 PM
|
||||
|
||||
|
Quote:
Hi, Russell. Your kind words are much appreciated. Mahalo nui loa! I’m sad that you won’t be coming to the BIG show, but I know it’s a long way from where you are, way out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. I’ve never been to Hawaii, but it’s on my bucket list, and one of these days, I’m gonna come out there and visit you, with a really nice guitar in tow.
__________________
Edwinson
|
|
#85
08-22-2022, 02:37 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Dang, another stunner! This level of artistry and craftsmanship is just off the charts!
__________________
2013 Stehr Auditorium (Carpathian/Myrtle) 2015 Stehr Auditorium (Adi/BRW) 2020 Baranik Meridian (Blue Spruce/Manchinga) 2020 Wilborn Arum (Tunnel 14/Coco) 2021 Kinnaird Graybeard (BC Cedar/Bog Oak) 2022 Kinnaird CS Student Build (Adi/Padauk) 2023 Kinnaird FS (Italian/Koa)
|
|
#86
08-22-2022, 04:13 PM
|
||||
|
||||
|
Quote:
I'm looking forward to seeing what you've been working on. I need to force myself to participate more in social media so I can keep up with you and other folks. We'll compare notes at he BIG weekend. Travel safe!
__________________
Edwinson
|
|
#87
08-22-2022, 04:17 PM
|
||||
|
||||
|
Quote:
I've got a couple more that are coming to the show. Remember the Pernambuco/Adi Eclipse OM from earlier in the thread? Something special happened to it when the lacquer work commenced... Stay tuned...
__________________
Edwinson
|
|
#89
08-22-2022, 05:04 PM
|
||||
|
||||
|
Here are a few more photos of the Rojo Consort. (It's pronounced "RO-ho".) All the trim woods are highly figured Ziricote. That includes the hybrid bevels, the cowl surrounding the sound hole, and the Cove (or "scoop") cutaway. I think Ziri plays well with both the Redwood and the Padouk. Heck, Ziricote is a beautiful wood, in a class by itself. I love using it, both for its looks and it's tonal character- sort of halfway between a really fine Ebony and an equally fine Rosewood.
If you've never played a guitar with a Cove cutaway, you're in for a treat with this one. It gives you just as much upper fingerboard reach as a conventional cutaway, it's super comfortable, and it preserves more air volume inside the sound box that a full cutaway, which may have some positive effect on the sonic power of a guitar. I like the way the Cove looks too. They are very nerve-wracking to make, though. NOT for the faint of heart!       Since my first concept for the Rojo was an offset sound hole design, I needed to make an access hatch on the butt so I could reach in with a specially designed tool to install the neck with neck bolts. Then, the concept changed, and the oval soundhole design stuck. I'm very glad I made that access hatch, though, because I simply cannot get my hand into the soundhole with a hex wrench. So that worked out well.   The tuning machines are Swiss-made Schertlers, which I love, for their clean, elegant, open-gear design and high precision machining. They work very well with the Omega open headstock.  
__________________
Edwinson
|
|
#90
08-22-2022, 05:39 PM
|
||||
|
||||
|
Now, the Pernambuco/Adirondack Eclipse OM guitar... This is the first Pernambuco guitar I've made, though I have enough of this extraordinary wood for five or six more guitars. I've never seen another set this nice, though. The bee's-wing figuring is spectacular. It is actually quarter sawn, verging to rift sawn at the outside edges, so it's top-shelf premium Pernambuco. There's no enhancement to the photos either; this is the natural color of this amazing wood.
I named this guitar the "Ginger Eclipse", or "Ginger" for short. I do have another back set, sequentially sawn with this one, but no sides to match. I'll keep scouring my sources until a side billet turns up. But for now, this guitar will do nicely...       The Adirondack Red Spruce top on this guitar is a really fine specimen. It had killer tap tone, nice even, pale ivory color, fairly consistent grain spacing, exceptional latitudinal and longitudinal stiffness... The final thickness of this top is 5/64", with a bit of extra sanding around the rims, and I braced it with -- guess what-- Tunnel 14 Redwood. I used my good old standard bracing pattern, the X brace with four fan braces. My working theory was that Redwood bracing on an Adi top would give the guitar some very complex tone color. And it did. The trebles are magically pure, and the mids and low end have great balance and focus, with plenty of overtone content already developing. This is a very expressive guitar. And with Adirondack spruce's long tonal maturation curve, the best is yet to come. I wish I could keep this guitar for five years, to hear it develop into its best aspect.    Almost forgot to mention- I installed a K&K Pure Mini passive three transducer pickup in Ginger. This guitar is stage-ready, and with the wood combo of Pernambuco and Adi Spruce, it has headroom to spare, no matter what style of music is played on it. The scale length is 25.5"; the nut width is 1 3/4"; and the string spread at the saddle is 2 1/4". I put a medium-low setup on it, and it performs like a hot Italian sports car. So it's likely to appeal to a large majority of players.  
__________________
Edwinson
|
