New Dryad Drednought Model Hatcher Guitars

[Guitars44me]

Just a minor quibble, but your outlines don’t look like Ds ???

The woods are spectacular though…

Cheers

Paul

[Mark Hatcher]

Originally Posted by mikealpine

Mark, it’s very exciting that you already have commissions for this model! Looking forward to seeing the finished guitars and getting a really good idea of what they look like. Hopefully you can get so,e sound clips, as well. I admit, this is a very tempting model!

Thanks Mike, I am planning on getting some sound clips particularly after I have this first spec ready.

Originally Posted by Guitars44me

Just a minor quibble, but your outlines don’t look like Ds ???

The woods are spectacular though…

Cheers

Paul

Thanks for pointing that out Paul. Those are not dreadnought outlines. I was just showing the wood looked like wet and should have mentioned those were Woodsman outlines.

m

[Erithon]

Originally Posted by Mark Hatcher

Making these two dreadnoughts at the same time will be a great experience for me to test my opinions. You can bet I’ll be doing a lot of critical listening to these two side by side.

Thanks for your thorough answer, Mark. I'm looking forward to hearing your further thoughts on this as the builds progress. And seeing the guitars take shape, of course

[Mark Hatcher]

Originally Posted by Erithon

Thanks for your thorough answer, Mark. I'm looking forward to hearing your further thoughts on this as the builds progress. And seeing the guitars take shape, of course

Thanks Erithon.
I’ve finished the Greta and the parlor is out for finish so it’s all Dreadnoughts for awhile.

m

[Mark Hatcher]

I started working the neck and got the side braces and back kerfing glued on the Dryad:



This picture is taken with my old iphone. That's as good as the pictures are going to get for a bit. My regular camera is suddenly just a shell of it's former self:



I learned a lesson in shop life today. Just when you think your getting all the tools you ever wanted for the shop the stuff you use the most starts to wear out!

I sent my camera off to Canon yesterday for repair. The picture is of the silicon body glove it always wears in my dusty shop. Even with precautions things wear out.

[Mark Hatcher]

This morning I got the back kerfing cleaned up and then installed the top kerfing:



I also have the neck blank and the fret slots are cut into the Ironwood fingerboard:



I'm moving along well and expect to have the body closed up this week.

m

[Mark Hatcher]

I did the basic brace carving for the back:



From there it goes into the tapping mold for voicing and then on it goes:



m

[Mark Hatcher]

Here is a picture with the back on and trimmed flush to the sides.
Many people are not familiar with Amazon Rosewood. This is partly because the trees this comes from do not commonly grow very large. It has always been rare to find ones large enough for a guitar and even more rare to see a quarter-sawn straight grained set.
If I were to ask people to identify the wood from this picture I think the guesses would mostly be Indian Rosewood.
If I were to ask folks to identify it in person the answer would be Brazilian Rosewood.
If I were to ask experienced luthiers to identify it in person I think some of them would pick out the subtle differences and some would identify it correctly followed by, "That's a big set of quartered Amazon Rosewood!"

With the back on it's time to close up the body:



m

[Mark Hatcher]

With the body closed I got my first change to tap the top and preview what this guitar is going to sound like.
My first thought was "Oh boy, nobody is going to mess with the new girl in town!"



m

[Mark Hatcher]

I got notice today from Canon that my camera is fixed. I hope to have it back this week so I can get back to regular pictures but guitar building moves forward and here are a couple new shots:



I have the end graft in and have bound the point of the cutaway. That gets me set to bind the rest of the body.

I got in a couple Visesnut cases in that are large enough to handle the dreadnought and my Josie small jumbo. Fortunately, I've just closed the body on my first Dryad so I can test the fit:



I like these Visesnut cases. The cases are well contoured to fit a guitar without a lot of extended corners that bang into everything. Even with this large guitar the case is comfortably compact. It is also half the weight of my previous standard cases.

The cases are adjustable to customize a fit to different size guitars. I can fit all six of my guitars perfectly into three different size cases. This means that you can easily adjust these flight cases to fit other guitars you may already have.

Another option available for the cases are padded covers:



These make the case even more comfortable to carry and offers additional protection.

m

[Mark Hatcher]

I have the tops and backs joined for the two Dryad customs. This gives a better look at the body shape and wood combinations:



Sorry about the photo quality. I'm still shooting with my old iphone. I should have my real camera back tomorrow.

[Guitars44me]

Mark, your iPhone pics are pretty dang nice. The guitars are beautiful!

Have FUN

Paul

[Al Mojo]

Looking forward to your builds of these 2 Hatcher Dryads - both made with plenty of local materials, Mark! Thanks for posting.

[Mark Hatcher]

Originally Posted by Guitars44me

Mark, your iPhone pics are pretty dang nice. The guitars are beautiful!

Have FUN

Paul

Thanks Paul!

Originally Posted by Al Mojo

Looking forward to your builds of these 2 Hatcher Dryads - both made with plenty of local materials, Mark! Thanks for posting.

Thanks Al Mojo, That’s right these two are pretty much all Northeastern woods and maybe stone if I can figure out how to make a granite rosette

m

[Treenewt]

Mark, loving the way the Dryad has come together! Can't WAIT to hear how it sounds, too!