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  #16  
Old 04-10-2021, 07:42 AM
Archaic Guitars Archaic Guitars is offline
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Cedar top is braced. I’m deviating from my original plans a bit as an experiment.

X-brace has been moved 2 cm closer to the tail to get the joint closer to the saddle and I changed the angle of the finger braces to be more parallel to the grain of the soundboard. I only scalloped the xbrace on the treble side, focusing on keeping the bass side stiff enough for a focused low end, which I think is important on a small guitar. This resulted in nice, bell like tap tones, but it’s hard to say how it will manifest in the finished project until the strings are on.
IMG_0968.jpg
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  #17  
Old 04-24-2021, 07:12 AM
Archaic Guitars Archaic Guitars is offline
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Okay, so here’s the big reveal of my first AG L-0 model.

Englemann Spruce on top of Black Walnut with a pomelle Cherry neck.
This little guy has a lot of power, resonance, and sustain in a small package.
IMG_1049.jpg

IMG_1053.jpg

IMG_1036.jpg

Thanks for following along!
This guitar is still available, shoot me a message or email if interested.
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  #18  
Old 04-26-2021, 11:21 AM
Archaic Guitars Archaic Guitars is offline
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I recorded myself playing this guitar quite early one morning over the weekend. It’s just through an iPhone microphone, but some of the tone and resonance is still detectable. I’m not the greatest player and can be shy about sharing my playing, but here it goes:

https://youtu.be/l01EZk3TUfI


Edit: The link above the video works, but I can’t seem to get video posted straight to the forum. Does anyone have any tips to make this work?

Last edited by Archaic Guitars; 04-28-2021 at 05:49 AM.
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  #19  
Old 04-26-2021, 08:56 PM
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dcn dcn is offline
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Here you go, good sir, thanks for sharing the clip!

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  #20  
Old 04-28-2021, 05:50 AM
Archaic Guitars Archaic Guitars is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dcn View Post
Here you go, good sir, thanks for sharing the clip!

]
Thanks a ton!
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  #21  
Old 04-30-2021, 07:24 AM
Archaic Guitars Archaic Guitars is offline
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Here are some detail pictures of the AG L-0.

Race stripe rosette in curly walnut, quartersawn Sycamore, and cherry.
IMG_1018.jpg

Upper bout sound port.
IMG_1031.jpg

Quartersawn sycamore binding lookin like some funky leopard print.
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  #22  
Old 04-30-2021, 08:43 AM
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Tim McKnight Tim McKnight is offline
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Sounds great Tim. It has a really nice high end.
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  #23  
Old 05-13-2021, 08:34 AM
Archaic Guitars Archaic Guitars is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tim McKnight View Post
Sounds great Tim. It has a really nice high end.


Thanks Tim!
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  #24  
Old 05-13-2021, 09:02 AM
Archaic Guitars Archaic Guitars is offline
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So I have something of a show and tell today. After building my first guitar, I told my grandpa about it and he snuck into a closet and pulled out this little gem.

IMG_1177.jpg

I asked if I could take it home to do some research on it, stabilize the cracks, see if it still played...

The guitar still had some old tarnished steel strings on it, luckily they looked like the had not been tuned up to full tension in decades, but the damage had already been done, as you can see in the lower bout.

IMG_1178.jpg

Not sure if it made more sense to completely refurbish, or leave things as original as possible, I started by stabilizing the cracks with cleats and filling in with CA glue. After some clean up, and some WD 40 in the tuning gears, I put on some silk and steels, and I’ll be ****ed, the guitar played pretty well. After a few days with the silk and steels at full tension, I could see the lower bout belly below the bridge. Got rid of those and switched to nylon. And that’s about where the guitar is now. Here’s the full specs:

Bay State- Style Z. 1890’s
Top- Spruce
Back and sides- Rosewood (Brazilian?)
Bridge and fingerboard - Rosewood
Scale- 626.5 mm (24.6”)
Lower bout- 11”
Nut- Ebony
Saddle - Steel (fretwire?)
Neck- mahogany, deep V profile
Finish appears to be shellac
Original tuning machines with bone buttons
No binding

So the weirdest thing about this guitar is the saddle. It appears to be fretwire. This means that the bridge had to be the perfect height for the desired action. Whoa! Tonally, it kind of works... very responsive high end with nylon strings.
IMG_1179.jpg

This guitar seems to be in the “missing link” phase of the classical guitar making its way into the modern acoustic guitar. Radiused fretboard, ladder bracing, a very strange neck joint where the entire profile of the neck sits into the recessed sides. (I doubt this has any more structural integrity than a butt joint.) The neck joint, at some point in its life, been reinforced with a screw.

Overall it’s a weird guitar, but a fun little guitar to play.

Now, why this is posted in the custom shop thread: I would like to incorporate into the Archaic Guitars lineup either A). A replica of this guitar B.) a modernized tribute to this guitar.
The modernized tribute would keep the shape and most dimensions, but incorporate X bracing so it can be strung with steel strings and up the scale to 25” (635 mm). I would also use my headstock shape and add binding.

So I thought I’d ask what you all would be more interested in seeing?

Thanks for following along, and keep an eye out for a video in the very near future.

IMG_1182.jpg

IMG_1184.jpg
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  #25  
Old 05-14-2021, 06:55 AM
Archaic Guitars Archaic Guitars is offline
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Here’s a video of me rambling and playing and playing the 1890’s Bay State.
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  #26  
Old 05-21-2021, 10:10 AM
Archaic Guitars Archaic Guitars is offline
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I’m working on a mold for a new modern Dreadnaught model for a client. I don’t know if I have seen anyone share the process of making molds on AGF, so I thought I’d share my method. It’s not the most exciting or artistic side of guitar building, but it’s important none the less!

I didn’t take a picture of the full sheet of plywood, but I’m sure you all can imagine what that looks like.
Step 1. Trace the half shape of the guitar with the centerline aligning with the edge.
IMG_1238.jpg

Step 2. Cut it out of the band saw.
IMG_1235.jpg

Step 3. Clean it up with a file or sand paper. (The pug coffee mug is not required, but recommended.). Now you have the OG pattern that will become the template for the other 7 sheets that need to be exactly like this.
IMG_1236.jpg

Step 4. Set up outside, ‘cause it’s about to get dusty!
IMG_1240.jpg

Step 5. Align the OG pattern with a blank and screw the pattern onto the top. Use a jigsaw or bandsaw fo cut close, but not up to the edge of the pattern.
IMG_1241.jpg

Step 6. Jigsaws are terribly inaccurate, they are only there to remove a lot of waste. Set up the router table with a flush cut bit with a bearing. The bearing runs along the pattern, leaving you with a perfect replica.
(This picture was taken before I wised up to cut out the waste with the jigsaw. In the past I have used a sharper bit and MDF and just routed it out without removing waste, this was not working with a cheaper bit and plywood.)
IMG_1239.jpg

Step 7. Repeat seven times, then apologize to your neighbors for all the noise and dust.

Step 8. Screw or glue stacks of 4 aligned replicas. You will end up with two halves that make a full guitar shape. It’s probably a good idea to do a final sanding/filing of the inside profile at this point. You shouldn’t have to do much, but there’s always something that didn’t align just perfectly.
IMG_1245.jpg

Step 9. Glue together some of those scraps that you cut from the blanks. Set them under the mold and make outlines like this. These will be used on the inside of the mold to press the sides up against the mold.
IMG_1254.jpg

Step 10. Cut them out on the band saw. Then cut a small mortise to fit the head of a turnbuckle. The turnbuckle can be expanded to apply pressure on the sides from the inside. Once the top has been glued on, the guitar will maintain the shape on its own, so they can be removed before the back is glued on, unless of course you think your guitar will sound better with the turnbuckles stuck inside it forever.
IMG_1257.jpg

And that’s it! Now you’re ready to bend the sides!

Thanks for following along.
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