Mark Hatcher's Studio 2017

[Mark Hatcher]

Originally Posted by The Bard Rocks

Cigarfan, if you want to see my face when I get it, you'd best start driving now. I leave this area around 11 tomorrow and can give you a ride for the last 3 hours of the way.

But I have a pretty good idea already of what it looks like. I think the playability and sound will be what surprises me if anything does. Mark does such a good job with the photos that we don't have to imagine much, other than how it sounds and how it plays - and, based upon others of his that I have played, I think both of these can only surprise me in one way - very pleasantly.

Thanks Roland,

I felt you were pretty clear on what you were looking for in the sound of this guitar so I'm hoping there aren't too many surprises!

Originally Posted by Zandit75

I love how quietly Mark comes in, drops a bunch of photos as though it's nothing, then quietly accepts the praise that is heaped on him!

Me? I'd come in with trumpets blaring "Check out This!!!!" then boom!! *Mic Drops* walks out with one hell of a strut!!!
https://media.giphy.com/media/3o7qDE...RQ2c/giphy.gif

I've run out of words to say Mark, yet another beautiful guitar!

Thanks Zandit75! It's a tough path to walk for me when talking about my own work. If I come off too enthusiastic it sounds like a cheap sales pitch but, the fact is I love building guitars and sometimes when things come out better than I thought or when a new idea has unexpected benefits I do feel like shouting from the mountain tops.
On the other hand if I'm too quiet about it I may come across as apathetic or worse yet smug. The fact is most often clients want their builder to share their excitment about their new build.
So I just try to be genuine. I don't say I'm excited about something I'm not excited about and I try not to overstate it.

Originally Posted by TomB'sox

Well this sounds cliche, but you have truly outdone yourself on this one Mark. This guitar is just a stunning piece of art and it will sing like angels I am sure of that. I am so glad for having played even a small part in helping to get this project underway as it turned into a masterpiece beyond words. Although you did not build this part, I will give you credit for finding it, but the bearclaw figure in the upper bouts that projects at 90 degree angles to the fret board in a linear fashion is just mesmerizing to look at. That is very unique. Maybe I have seen it before, but I think not.

Congrats to both of you, but really to you Mark on your artistry.

Thanks Tom! When Roland was coming out to the studio to meet I was going through my tops to select a few for him to choose from. We had already landed on the Padauk. When I pulled this top and set it next to the Padauk I thought it was the obvious choice. Problem was Sitka wasn't even on the list of Roland's choices and Sitka's general sound characteristics aren't what Roland was looking for. I could tell by the density, stiffness, and tap tone however that once again general species characteristics don't really have much to do with the individual piece you have in hand. I knew this top would deliver. So I had the tops pulled and was going through them with Roland. When we got to this top Roland, without hesitation went for it and I thought, "Great! We're on the same page".

Originally Posted by Nemoman

Looks fantastic, Mark.

That sitka is really amazing as well with the red coloring it has!

the padauk--WOW!!!

Thanks Nemoman!

[IBKuz]

Originally Posted by Mark Hatcher

I did the final set up on Roland's (The Bard Rocks) guitar this morning;



As you can see the Sitka top has some crazy bear claw figure and a lot of red in it which goes quite well with the coloring of the back;

Mark, hopefully this will just be a quick question for you. This top is quite different visually then most Sitka material in a couple different ways (very beautiful as others have noted). Does this make you change how you process/build the top? Is it harder (or easier) to work with? Great work as usual, always interesting to see what comes out of your shop.

[Diamondave]

The word stunning isn't even bold enough..!

[Mark Hatcher]

Originally Posted by IBKuz

Mark, hopefully this will just be a quick question for you. This top is quite different visually then most Sitka material in a couple different ways (very beautiful as others have noted). Does this make you change how you process/build the top? Is it harder (or easier) to work with? Great work as usual, always interesting to see what comes out of your shop.

Thanks Ian,


Yes, this top is different in several ways than your usual Sitka and it's also different from the usual bear claw. I have a set of steps I go through when voicing a top, the steps don't change but, how much I cut and how much I leave depends on the materials and goals. Any top has a given potential which could be a variety of things like the potential for a lot of overtones or a potential to be very strong in the fundamentals. Ideally, the potentials are aligned with the sound goals you are after. When voicing you are optimizing whatever you have to start with toward that final goal.

Hope that makes sense!
Mark

[jessupe]

Beautiful work!

[emmsone]

You've got another winner here Mark! I'm loving that top

David

[IBKuz]

Originally Posted by Mark Hatcher

Thanks Ian,


Yes, this top is different in several ways than your usual Sitka and it's also different from the usual bear claw. I have a set of steps I go through when voicing a top, the steps don't change but, how much I cut and how much I leave depends on the materials and goals. Any top has a given potential which could be a variety of things like the potential for a lot of overtones or a potential to be very strong in the fundamentals. Ideally, the potentials are aligned with the sound goals you are after. When voicing you are optimizing whatever you have to start with toward that final goal.

Hope that makes sense!
Mark

That does make sense. Seems like all tops take a lot of work ... lol

[The Bard Rocks]

Well, my Josie made it home but way too late to get in any significant play time tonight. Played just enough to impress my wife. Tomorrow, the real trial begins and that will take a while, a FUN while. Right now it seems I got exactly what I asked Mark for. It always amazes me how a skilled and talented person can actually do that with the remains of a tree.

[cigarfan]

Originally Posted by The Bard Rocks

Well, my Josie made it home but way too late to get in any significant play time tonight. Played just enough to impress my wife. Tomorrow, the real trial begins and that will take a while, a FUN while. Right now it seems I got exactly what I asked Mark for. It always amazes me how a skilled and talented person can actually do that with the remains of a tree.

Congrats! Can't wait to hear your impressions.

[Mark Hatcher]

Originally Posted by The Bard Rocks

Well, my Josie made it home but way too late to get in any significant play time tonight. Played just enough to impress my wife. Tomorrow, the real trial begins and that will take a while, a FUN while. Right now it seems I got exactly what I asked Mark for. It always amazes me how a skilled and talented person can actually do that with the remains of a tree.

Thanks Roland! It was great to have you out and to see you try on your new guitar for the first time!

Originally Posted by ukejon

Congrats Roland on this beauty....Mark works his magic again.

Thanks ukejon!

Originally Posted by Diamondave

The word stunning isn't even bold enough..!

Thanks Diamondave, and thank you for commenting.

Originally Posted by jessupe

Beautiful work!

Thank you jessupe. I had a lot of help from beautiful materials and a client who was fun to work with!

Originally Posted by emmsone

You've got another winner here Mark! I'm loving that top

David

Thanks David!

[Mark Hatcher]

Some of you may remember this Josie spec model I made to build up stock for guitar shows;



I bought this wonderfully quilted Western Big Leaf Maple billet which yielded enough to make 3 guitars. I have a client order for my Greta model with will have one of those awesome bear claw Sitka sets which I've also recently acquired. We've sorted out many of the details and work has begun. Here are a couple pictures of the wood sets;











We were looking for a nice darker brown trim wood and since this is going overseas we are avoiding rosewood. We decided to go with Macassar Ebony;



Lot's more details to come!
Mark

[cigarfan]

More eye candy! Gorgeous woods Mark. Congrats to the new owner!

[ukejon]

Zoinks indeed!!!

[Mark Hatcher]

Originally Posted by cigarfan

More eye candy! Gorgeous woods Mark. Congrats to the new owner!

Thanks!

Originally Posted by ukejon

Zoinks indeed!!!

Indeed!

Here is an exercise we just went through; Back stripe/no back stripe;

[quentinjazz]

Wow.. look at those woods!
I would go without the strip, the wood is too spectacular to be disturbed by a dark strip .
My 2 cents!