Sexauer/'16

[louis lasky]

Man, that bridge is just beautiful. I want that guitar. Powerball, he says in unison with 10 million others...

[The Bard Rocks]

Jeesum... If I know where Dahlonega is (I do), it seems only fair that everyone else would know at least something about one of the US's larger rivers, the Mohawk. Ever heard of the Erie Canal - that's the Mohawk (now).

[murrmac123]

Originally Posted by Bruce Sexauer

So my big news this year is that after just ten years of effort, I have sold one of my violins. The build was documented to some extent here in AGF and may be recalled as my attempt to make a "fiddle" as opposed to my several others, which are "violins".

Bruce, I have done an AGF search to try to find the thread documenting your fiddle build, but with no success ... could you maybe disinter it and supply a link?

I am intrigued by your fiddle/violin dichotomy ... I have always considered that there is no difference ... a fiddle is a violin is a fiddle. Traditional/ bluegrass/old-timey fiddlers may well prefer the instrument set-up differently than classical or orchestral players would want, maybe a flatter bridge, maybe a lower action, conceivably a flatter radius on the fingerboard, but these are all set-up issues, not signifying any radical innate difference in the instrument itself.

If you could take a moment to explain what you perceive as the differences between a fiddle and a violin I would be most grateful ....

[iim7V7IM7]

Look here...

http://www.acousticguitarforum.com/f...387936&page=10

Originally Posted by murrmac123

Bruce, I have done an AGF search to try to find the thread documenting your fiddle build, but with no success ... could you maybe disinter it and supply a link?

I am intrigued by your fiddle/violin dichotomy ... I have always considered that there is no difference ... a fiddle is a violin is a fiddle. Traditional/ bluegrass/old-timey fiddlers may well prefer the instrument set-up differently than classical or orchestral players would want, maybe a flatter bridge, maybe a lower action, conceivably a flatter radius on the fingerboard, but these are all set-up issues, not signifying any radical innate difference in the instrument itself.

If you could take a moment to explain what you perceive as the differences between a fiddle and a violin I would be most grateful ....

[murrmac123]

Originally Posted by iim7V7IM7

Look here...

http://www.acousticguitarforum.com/f...387936&page=10

Thanks, Bob ...interesting thread throughout !

[Bruce Sexauer]

I believe I have documented my work here n the AGF pretty steadily for several years now, and I can remember posting pictures of "the Louise", my now gone fiddle, but I have lost track of the exact thread. I do know it was 2014, but I am too short interest to do the digging.

All violins are fiddles, but not all fiddles are violins. For one thing, a violin is a highly proscribed object, whereas any violin like folk box can be called a fiddle.

It is mostly a matter of ergonomics and tonal target, as murrmac suggests, but that is actually a bigger deal than the words suggest. I spent the year I was playing the Louise tweaking it toward fiddle sensibilities, and while it could indeed be retweaked toward violin-ness, that would be a shame as it is doing fiddle so well IMO. It's more than the action and the strings and the sound post and the bridge, it is the entire character of the instrument. Probably too subtle to be communicated to guitar players in a forum setting, but very real to fiddlers and violinists. It might be equated to the difference between Atticus and Melvin Belli. Don't make me explain that.

[cday]

Originally Posted by Bruce Sexauer

It might be equated to the difference between Atticus and Melvin Belli. Don't make me explain that.

Now, that IS a substantial difference. Still chuckling over that one, Bruce.

[Bruce Sexauer]

I wasn't sure Belli was well enough known for the example but apparently he is!

I have got the finish onto both guitars, 7 coats of varnish on the Classical, and 5 on the Blanca. It'll be at least a couple of weeks before I will flatten and buff them and a couple more days after that till I string 'em up, so I put their parts an the scale today as I was anxious to know where the weight really falls. I see 2.7 lb for the Blanca, and 3.5 lb for the Negra. It's mostly the tuners, IMO.

[Minexploration]

Bruce,

I saw the pegs installed on the Blanca. Do they work like you want them to? (I know not strung up, but do they turn like you expect?) I have only played one peg head nylon and was amazed how easy it was to tune. Expected them to be a pain, but I guess hundreds of years of practical use can't be wrong.

Jrw.

[Bruce Sexauer]

W/o the saddles, 17.9 and 19 grams. Unshaped saddle is 5.1g. The classical is almost 3/8" tall whereas the Blanca is a hair over 1/4" tall. Both have a finish, but only one has stain.

[Bruce Sexauer]

The Classicals are on the shelf for a few weeks while the finish cures, so I am finishing up the FT-L00-WRX Kerala, or whatever I called it. I mean the latest Pernambuco L00 I built last month, as documented in chapter 2 of Sexauer/'15.

I flattened the finish and buffed it, glued the neck to the body and fretted the fingerboard, all over the weekend, and today I made a bridge and glued it on:

[Bruce Sexauer]

I though you folks might enjoy a picture of the Bard Rockin' with Beppe Gambetta. And of course one of them is playing a guitar I made, the other I have not met, so there is hope.

[stuartb]

Originally Posted by Bruce Sexauer

Because of the realities of the market place, I do have a back up plan for putting in conventional tuners, but I seriously hope to find someone who appreciates it for what it is; a complete piece . . . or, the complete piece I hope it will be.

I spent the day making these:



And indeed, I had to re-carve the first one to match.

that is so cool. Great work laddie. and the guitars have so much character.

Stuart

[Bruce Sexauer]

I strung up the new Pernambuco L00 yesterday and got around to the Pick guard and truss rod cover today. People have noticed I like all my guitars, so I don't want to get too into crowing about this one, but I could.

Bear in mind that this is my stripped down guitar, as clear of "Bells and Whistles" as possible . . . but made with Pernambuco; a LOT of bang for the buck.

I put a page up on my site here, and I offer you a couple of pictures here in the thread as well:



I am particularly tickled by the truss rod cover:

[iim7V7IM7]

I really like the the somewhat more Kalamazooesque (I invented a word ) variant of your L00 for this one (e.g. 13-frets, short-scale, style of bridge and bracing). A pernambuco L00 is a rare bird indeed and this one is a beauty as well... Someone should snap that up pronto!