Tom Doerr - Legacy Select Build Thread

[EverettWilliams]

Greetings AGF -- I'm a long time reader, but first time poster. One of the things I've most enjoyed watching on here have been numerous build threads. Commissioning a guitar is a fascinating experience and watching it happen from the initial discussions to seeing the end product is remarkable. In that vein, I've commissioned Tom Doerr to build a guitar for me and I thought some of you might want to come along for the ride.

Memphis was my first guitar show. Lamentably, I could only spend a day there, but it was a tremendous experience both seeing and playing the wonderful guitars being built today and getting to spend some time with the terrific people who build them.

One of the most interesting elements of the show for me was getting a better understanding of what I like versus what I thought I would/should like. There were some builders of whom I'd never heard whose work floored me. There were some builders who I expected to love but left me flat. And there were some builders whose work I expected to be great which was absolutely great. It was also interesting to explore the extent to which an individual luthier displays consistency across several guitars. It stands to reason that if I play several guitars by a builder and think they're all great, that I'd be pretty safe commissioning a build.

Before the show, I had commissioned one guitar and it was one of the better experiences in my life. I got to know a tremendous person, learn a lot about how guitars (pretty much my favorite thing in the world) are built, and at the end of the road, I had a stunning instrument that I enjoyed for many years. It was a pleasure to see that builder at the show and play three of his instruments. They displayed a remarkable consistency of tone and were a real pleasure to play.

In the two days after the show, I connected with two of the builders whose work most impressed me at the show -- Julius Borges and Tom Doerr -- and sent my deposits. It's going to be a hot minute before my time comes with Julius, but I'm looking forward to it when it does. Surprisingly, Tom had an earlier availability and I jumped at the chance.

Tom brought five guitars to the show and, while I fell in love with a particular guitar of his -- a stunning Swiss/Brazilian Legacy (his small jumbo) with delightfully austere appointments (no bling!) -- the other guitars that he brought were all exceptional. He brought three different models and several wood combinations. Things that I don't normally like (like cedar tops) just worked for me in his hands. It's worth noting that four of the five guitars are now sold and the fifth one should be gone quickly.

I did consider just buying the guitar that impressed me, but I thought I'd be cheating myself out of the experience and decided to go the commission route. See, Tom's guitars weren't just great, Tom himself is an awesome guy and I wanted to enjoy the process. As it turns out, I live within reasonable driving distance of Tom, so the opportunity to actually visit the shop, pick woods, and see the build in progress seemed too good to pass up.

In late June, my wife and I got in the car to go visit Tom to pick out woods. He had a number of guitars from the show in his shop, so he had a chance to sit down, hear me play, and get some feedback on various guitars. After that, we went back to his wood locker where we proceeded to tap on what felt like hundreds of sets of wood. I went in with a basic idea of what I wanted: small jumbo with some kind of spruce and some kind of rosewood; but I was open to alternatives. While Brazilian is stunning, I'm not sold that the marginal value justifies the cost and, while there's a lot of really good East Indian guitars, it's a little bit visually tame for what will be a pretty expensive guitar. So, our objective was to find the best tap tone among woods with a less astronomical upcharge.

At the bottom of a stack of backs, we found a beautiful set of Panama rosewood with what Tom called one of the best tap tones he'd ever heard (same for me, but my entire sample size was woods that we tapped in his wood locker that day). This was better than the Brazilian we had tried (although it had admittedly been cut down to a non rectangular shape which may have impeded its resonance). The only other wood that came out of the room with us was a beautiful set of Cocobolo which had a nice glassy sustain. However, there was something to the Panama that Tom, my wife, and I loved. Beyond this, I was watching Tom's reaction as we went through the wood and when we heard this Panama, he was palpably impressed. Once we put naphtha on it, it was over -- the decision was made.

With respect to the top, I was good with anything that was spruce -- I played for him, discussed the range of styles that I wanted to play on the guitar, but otherwise, this was his call. We looked through his tops and he showed me a bit about flex and how to evaluate tops. His inclination was to go for Swiss spruce and, after going through the stacks, we found one Swiss top and one bear claw German that he thought would be good for me. We brought them out of the room. He decided to make some density calculations, so he weighed and measured the top and brought out the old slide rule to calculate. With this determinations, he decided that the German was too dense and that the Swiss was hitting his mark for the guitar I wanted.

Here are some pictures from wood selection day. Tom has sent some great construction pictures (he started it last week!) and I will post those next. I've asked him to keep sending them so that I can share his work with you.

[EverettWilliams]

[EverettWilliams]

[printer2]

Looks like it will be a pretty guitar.

[EverettWilliams]

[gtr1x]

Great choice for a builder. All Tom's guitars in Memphis were great. My favorite was his Brazilian small jumbo as well.

Mark

[EverettWilliams]

Inner sides are wenge.



And, of course, I had to go for the Signature model so I got this beautiful lattice bracing on the back!

[JamesO]

That Panama Rosewood is stunning!

[yoni]

that wet rosewood sure is purdy.

[ukejon]

Tom's lattice braced guitars are absolutely outstanding....light as a feather and incredibly responsive. Congrats.

[EverettWilliams]

We picked out the trim over the weekend --bridge and fretboard will be from the same piece and the head plate is a nice match.



Though we drew it out like this, I think Tom is going to make the line where the color changes in both pieces line up. We think it will look great!



A look at that bracing now that it's been carved. Unlike most builders, Tom attaches the back first.



One last look at that head plate...



Mark and Fred -- thanks for the kind words! I'm really excited.

PS -- does anyone know how to rotate pictures 90 degrees on here?

[OddManOut]

Really nice looking wood sets. It's gonna be a beauty.

Enjoy the process!

[GaultierRedon14]

The Panama Rosewood looks very cool. I'm sure you will be delighted with it! Tom is great to work with and will build you a great instrument. Please keep the pictures coming!

[j. Kinnaird]

Beautiful work!
I'm interested in your thinking about using Kerfed lining on the back and laminated solid lining on the top

[islandguitar]

Great to see Tom's work in progress again...nice pics......you'll love the results!
Tom is SO client centered and great to work with.....tremendous integrity and personal attention.
Looking forward to following this one!