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  #16  
Old 05-24-2021, 04:34 AM
MThomson MThomson is offline
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Default Build - week 1

Week one was all about getting the boards joined and to thickness. I believe that Rory starts off by getting the back built up to allow it to adjust to the radius that he builds with before joining it to the rest of the guitar. He was particularly pleased with the grain match at the end graft for the sides.

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  #17  
Old 05-24-2021, 05:13 AM
Vaillant75 Vaillant75 is offline
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great to see the story unfold, and good choice of tonewoods. That EIR is insane. Keep the pics coming!
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  #18  
Old 05-24-2021, 02:11 PM
Scallywag Scallywag is offline
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Beautiful set!
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  #19  
Old 05-24-2021, 09:07 PM
joeld joeld is offline
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Wow, you got to play TWO of Martin Simpson's guitars, what a treat! I've heard he likes high action and a stiffer set-up due to his strong hands. What did you think?

I'm sure the instrument coming to you will be beyond incredible. Cheers!
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  #20  
Old 05-25-2021, 03:03 AM
steveh steveh is offline
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GREAT thread. Rory's guitars have always had fabulous trebles, which is a characteristic of that type of design. The bottom-end, as you've found out, can be a bit "taught" though (which suits hard playing in sessions). Ultimately, that was one of the issues that caused me to abandon Sobells. My eureka moment was playing one of Rory's type II Mhors a couple of years ago, where those amazing trebles were indeed coupled with a full bottom end; a Holy Grail guitar.

That guitar was Malaysian blackwood but I think IRW is a great choice for your instrument. IMHO it's ignored far too often by those of us who, having a custom-build, aim for something more unusual and "exotic" (I'm guilty as charged). The IRW that Rory and luthiers like him have access to is of superb quality.

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Originally Posted by joeld View Post
Wow, you got to play TWO of Martin Simpson's guitars, what a treat! I've heard he likes high action and a stiffer set-up due to his strong hands. What did you think?
I can't speak for Matin's current preferences but I did buy from him the Sobell that he used for a couple of years around "Kind Letters". At that time he was using 13-56 (D'Addario EJ17), sometimes with a 15 on top if he was playing slide. Action, if anything, was low. Very easy to play indeed.

The most noticeable feature was that the neck was wide (46mm at the nut, and wide all the way up) and with a very shallow depth - a "shredders" acoustic! It was extremely comfortable if you play with your thumb 'round the back. I don't know if that's still his current practice.

Cheers,
Steve
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  #21  
Old 05-25-2021, 07:22 AM
MThomson MThomson is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Vaillant75 View Post
great to see the story unfold, and good choice of tonewoods. That EIR is insane. Keep the pics coming!
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Originally Posted by Scallywag View Post
Beautiful set!
Thanks! Rory has a small obsession with wood and he was raving about the quality of this. I'm rather pleased with how it's looking.

Quote:
Originally Posted by joeld View Post
Wow, you got to play TWO of Martin Simpson's guitars, what a treat! I've heard he likes high action and a stiffer set-up due to his strong hands. What did you think?

I'm sure the instrument coming to you will be beyond incredible. Cheers!
Quote:
I can't speak for Matin's current preferences but I did buy from him the Sobell that he used for a couple of years around "Kind Letters". At that time he was using 13-56 (D'Addario EJ17), sometimes with a 15 on top if he was playing slide. Action, if anything, was low. Very easy to play indeed.

The most noticeable feature was that the neck was wide (46mm at the nut, and wide all the way up) and with a very shallow depth - a "shredders" acoustic! It was extremely comfortable if you play with your thumb 'round the back. I don't know if that's still his current practice.
My experience was similar to Steve's, although I'm not much of a judge of action height as historically I've always played whatever I had without thinking about it. The guitars were strung 12-56 when I played them and I found the action to be very playable. I could play things easily that I was unable to on my current instrument.

The neck is noticeably wide and really forced me to go back to my classical technique with thumb right behind the neck. I've gone for a slightly narrower nut (45mm) because I found it sometimes caught on one knuckle and I don't care to be forced to be that picky about technique.

Quote:
Originally Posted by steveh View Post
GREAT thread. Rory's guitars have always had fabulous trebles, which is a characteristic of that type of design. The bottom-end, as you've found out, can be a bit "taught" though (which suits hard playing in sessions). Ultimately, that was one of the issues that caused me to abandon Sobells. My eureka moment was playing one of Rory's type II Mhors a couple of years ago, where those amazing trebles were indeed coupled with a full bottom end; a Holy Grail guitar.

That guitar was Malaysian blackwood but I think IRW is a great choice for your instrument. IMHO it's ignored far too often by those of us who, having a custom-build, aim for something more unusual and "exotic" (I'm guilty as charged). The IRW that Rory and luthiers like him have access to is of superb quality.
Thanks for the kind words. I think the word taut is an excellent word for it. I really let Rory guide me on the wood choice at the end because I was convinced he knew what I was looking for and had a much better chance of getting it right than I did with my zero experience. He seems happy with the choice so I'm just excited to have it in progress.
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  #22  
Old 05-28-2021, 08:43 AM
MThomson MThomson is offline
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Default Week 2

Week 2 saw more progress with the back preparation and bracing completed. The fretboard also started to take shape - I loved how the grain showed up once it had been prepared. And the sides were bent as well.

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One thing that I've loved about the development of Rory's aesthetic in the last couple of years has been his use of colour. We've had all sorts of references from "Kingfisher Blue", "Violet backed Starling" (check out Scallywag's thread if you've not seen this one!), and seafoam green as a hint to the future. I tried to top the lot because I can define my favourite colour by wavelength (it's 488nm for anyone interested).

Most of my career has been spent playing with lasers, and I especially like the green and blue ones. Some of the veneers that Rory has used for decoration have a vibrancy that remind me of these laser colours. Coupling this with the fact that my dad and I have always bonded over rugby where our team plays in green and blue made it was easy to identify what I wanted in the colour palette.

Photos came in this week to show what had been chosen, and I think Rory nailed it. I'm really excited to see how this looks against the dark EIR.

488 and 532nm lasers.jpg

Blue for outside.jpeg
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  #23  
Old 05-28-2021, 11:05 AM
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This thread’s a treat even for those of us not getting a guitar at the end of it : )
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  #24  
Old 05-29-2021, 02:36 AM
MThomson MThomson is offline
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This thread’s a treat even for those of us not getting a guitar at the end of it : )
Thanks for following along. I love seeing the build threads here. There are so many incredible builders and so many ways to solve the puzzles. I always enjoy the ones with the back story most so felt like I should share mine.
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  #25  
Old 06-04-2021, 05:27 AM
MThomson MThomson is offline
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Default Week 3

Week 3 was all about the sides. The Tirga Mohr model uses a multi-layer sandwich for the sides with the outer wood matching the back (EIR in this case) a fully kerfed middle lining and I think two inner veneers. Rory then usually colours the inner veneer in keeping with the colour palette used in the external detailing. In this case we decided to use a deeper blue inside and I think sumptuous is a good word to describe it. In the pictures you can also see the layered neck block with the variety of grain directions involved and the support for the Laskin bevel.

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Last edited by MThomson; 06-04-2021 at 06:23 AM.
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  #26  
Old 06-15-2021, 10:10 AM
MThomson MThomson is offline
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Default Losing track of the weeks - side update and neck preparation

Following a short break, Rory got in touch to ask me if I'd be prepared for him to try an experiment on my guitar adding a similar lining for the back as he does for the top. His theory is that this gives a hard surface for the top, and now back, to vibrate against allowing them to be more active. As ever, I was happy to be guided by him. The result is that the sides now look finished in a way that they didn't before. While this is only aesthetic, I'm certainly happy with the way things are progressing.

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After this, it was onto preparation for the neck. I love the cleanliness of the join and how you start to see how the colour subtly adds to the detailing. And of course, the first look at the sand faded burr elm that completely blows my mind. Apologies for the sideways pictures - I can't figure out how to correct them.

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  #27  
Old 06-17-2021, 11:33 AM
Scallywag Scallywag is offline
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Looking great! I love the deeper color, it'll better have the desired effect when peering into the soundport IMO. What is the neck material? Mahogany, or something different?
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  #28  
Old 06-17-2021, 11:48 AM
MThomson MThomson is offline
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Originally Posted by Scallywag View Post
Looking great! I love the deeper color, it'll better have the desired effect when peering into the soundport IMO. What is the neck material? Mahogany, or something different?
Thanks for the reminder. I forgot the neck was TBD when I started this story! The neck is Santos mahogany - same as yours. Possibly even from the same length of wood. I got to see it at Taran Guitars and the grain is so tight and even. Rory decided that the slightly heavier wood would add a bit more power and definition, thereby getting the best of the EIR. I just nodded along.
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  #29  
Old 06-17-2021, 11:53 AM
Scallywag Scallywag is offline
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I just nodded along.
Ha I did a lot of that as well! I'm looking for what he thinks is a great example of a Taran with this one, not what I think is a great guitar based only on what I've played over the years. I'll admit, I'm envious that you were able to visit the shop, and that you'll be able to pick it up from Rory and co directly. Perhaps I'll make the trip when the time is right.

Anyways, this guitar is looking wonderful!
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  #30  
Old 06-17-2021, 12:03 PM
MThomson MThomson is offline
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Originally Posted by Scallywag View Post
Ha I did a lot of that as well! I'm looking for what he thinks is a great example of a Taran with this one, not what I think is a great guitar based only on what I've played over the years. I'll admit, I'm envious that you were able to visit the shop, and that you'll be able to pick it up from Rory and co directly. Perhaps I'll make the trip when the time is right.

Anyways, this guitar is looking wonderful!
Yeah, I've been very lucky with that. Hopefully the world lets you get over at some point. It's a beautiful part of the world and worth a visit even without considering guitars.
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