Sexauer/'16 (Chapter 2)

[justonwo]

I can say that guitar was one of the sweetest I had ever played, "exauer" or no. That is an insane price for that guitar.

[Bruce Sexauer]

Moving forward on the Schoenberg 000. Those of you who get to SBAIC will have a chance to check out the differences between my evolved traditional Sexauer guitars and my slightly less evolved and slightly more traditional Schoenberg guitars. While each my "Schoenbergs" is 100% Sexauer, they represent a relatively narrow slice of my full spectrum.

Some of the differences are visible here:




And, some of the differences that do exist in what is pictured cannot be seen.

[justonwo]

I've played a lot of those Sexauer Schoenbergs and they are consistently awesome. That one is looking super sweet.

[tekaitora]

Perhaps comparison of the two builder signatures hints at some of the differences Bruce has alluded to? Written by the same hand, but quite different in presentation. Or maybe the difference in X-brace angle has more to say? Regardless, it is instructive to note Juston's approval of both types as highly successful musical instruments.

[justonwo]

Originally Posted by tekaitora

Perhaps comparison of the two builder signatures hints at some of the differences Bruce has alluded to? Written by the same hand, but quite different in presentation. Or maybe the difference in X-brace angle has more to say? Regardless, it is instructive to note Juston's approval of both types as highly successful musical instruments.

Bruce knows his stuff. He is able to build light guitars that are very sensitive and responsive. I find commonality between his Schoenberg guitars and the guitars or his own creation. They both feel alive and oozing with expressiveness. That pernambuco FT 15.5 just blew my socks off. Glorious bass response, explosive volume and head room when needed, and a lovely lyrical high end. That guitar stands out as a real touch stone in my journey to find my definition of great tone. Bruce knows the recipe. I have yet to play a Sexauer yet that I wouldn't define as world class - and I've played a lot of them. Even the magnolia catalpa guitar at that same show was knock your socks off incredible. When I first visited Bruce's shop, I was just floored by the musicality and consistency of his instruments.

[Bruce Sexauer]

I meant that the Schoenberg guitars are exactly the same thing as SEXAUER guitars, but not the whole story, just a slice of it. They are what Eric Schoenberg wants in a guitar, to the best of my ability. When I build for myself, or for another specific person, I work to different parameters and goals. For instance, I doubt Eric will ever ask for a MultiScale, an asymmetrical body, or a shape that is not Martin/Gibson/etc. Also, he wants traditional bracing patterns, scale lengths, and materials, though I did make him a pernambuco guitar once.

I still have the MagCat that Juston mentioned in his last post. Part of the reason I made it was to see if my tonal balance and native guitar character would survive with the unusual wood choices. As Juston mentions, the guitar is pretty much indistinguishable from the general body of my work except visually. And that it weighs amazingly little, around 3.5 lb. Someone really ought to take it off my hands.

[iim7V7IM7]

Look at some prior builds by Bruce and you will clearly see common traditions to the DNA in all of his guitars. But look closely, while you see the influence of the Nazareth traditions, you will also see an evolution of concepts. Bruce refers to his own work with the phrase "cutting edge tradition". As an owner of two of his guitars, I think that is a perfect description. Many of his concepts are seen in both lines of guitars are the same (plate thicknessing and arching, use of spruce peone to line the top, premium woods and voiced by a master etc). As he said, he builds guitars to a specific clients preference and Eric Schoenberg has his.

In all of the guitars that bear his own name on the headstock for the last 5-6 years, I have noticed that the second lower bout tone bar organized in a different pattern (not parallel to the first) and his finger braces are a bit more splayed in their organization. His headstock designs organize the tuners in a way to have cleaner pull through the nut slots. Bruce's use of shorter length multiple scales (1/4" and 1/2" offsets) when asked for by clients are all about optimizing the tonality of the guitar, his double elliptical neck profile is about playing comfort. Bruce is both a builder and an excellent guitar player, so design and construction decisions are driven by his take on optimizations of the tradition in tone, function and sometimes structure.

My $.02

[Bruce Sexauer]

I find it a lot easier to get a perfect miter where the sides meet at the cutaway by doing it this way:


I glued the sides to the blocks at one go, but trimmed the bass side at the centerline, only adding that last bit after the dust had cleared.

[emmsone]

Thats genius! i might have to borrow that idea in my build unless you have the patent!

Originally Posted by Bruce Sexauer

I find it a lot easier to get a perfect miter where the sides meet at the cutaway by doing it this way:


I glued the sides to the blocks at one go, but trimmed the bass side at the centerline, only adding that last bit is after the dust had cleared.

[Bruce Sexauer]

Put the 000 together today:

[LouieAtienza]

That's shaping up beautifully, Bruce... can't wait to see the binding/purfling work!

[j. Kinnaird]

Very nice. And such an excellent way to join those sides

[Bruce Sexauer]

Originally Posted by LouieAtienza

That's shaping up beautifully, Bruce... can't wait to see the binding/purfling work!

Why wait?

Bindings with side pulfings being laminated on (the one place I use type II):


Purflings roughly bent to make sure I could do it at all:

[printer2]

Hi Bruce, why type II rather than type I?

[Bruce Sexauer]

Purfling/binding glue-ups done with type II stay together well when being heat bent compared to those with type I, in my experience.