Hatcher's Studio 2022 #2

[Lonzo]

..reminds me of something ....


Looks great and familiar.. and is so fitting on a maple 🍁 guitar

[Mark Hatcher]

Originally Posted by Lonzo

..reminds me of something ....


Looks great and familiar.. and is so fitting on a maple 🍁 guitar

Thanks, I knew you'd be familiar with this one!

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[Mark Hatcher]

I am getting the neck all together on this ADI/Walnut Dryad dred. The headstock overlay is spalted hard Maple from my woods and is bound in black Ebony:



The fretboard is Black ebony and today I put in the fret markers. I cut these stone markers from 450 million year old Iberville Shale which I got from the shores of Lake Champlain.



Some of you may recall that I already have a ring of this stone in the rosette and I’ll use it on the truss rod cover to round out the look.

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[Treenewt]

Mark, that is outstanding! Is the outer wood on the neck walnut? Love the headstock and 450 million year-old inlay???? LOVE IT! Absolutely stunning!

[Mark Hatcher]

Originally Posted by Treenewt

Mark, that is outstanding! Is the outer wood on the neck walnut? Love the headstock and 450 million year-old inlay???? LOVE IT! Absolutely stunning!

Yes, the neck is the same 100 year old North Eastern Black Walnut as the back and sides are.
The shale is from an ancient seabed and the white is calcite from the creatures that lived there.

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[Mark Hatcher]

Here is the same ADI/Walnut dred with the neck roughed out and the tuners in:



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[KevWind]

Originally Posted by Mark Hatcher

Here is the same ADI/Walnut dred with the neck roughed out and the tuners in:

Looks excellent can't wait to see the finished Dred

[Mark Hatcher]

Originally Posted by KevWind

Looks excellent can't wait to see the finished Dred

Thanks KevWind. I have several dreds I am currently working on. This one is a more traditional long scale set-up with a ladder braced back. There is also a Red Spruce/torrefied Maple one that is more contemporary which has a short scale with a lattice braced back. Both of these two are built with mostly Northeastern woods including Red Spruce, Black Walnut, Black Cherry, White Pine, and Sugar Maple.

I have a spec that I’ve delayed finishing for a bit while I play catch-up after being sick and having work done at home. That guitar is part of my Green Mountain series with a torrefied Sitka top and Amazon Rosewood back and sides. That guitar is also a short scale and carries the features of my current Green Mountain guitars that include Scheller tuners, full titanium truss rod, Visesnut case, etc.

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[runamuck]

Absolutely beautiful work.

[Mark Hatcher]

Originally Posted by runamuck

Absolutely beautiful work.

Thanks runamuck!

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[Mark Hatcher]

I've often heard from insightful luthiers and I agree, that the tonewoods you use for the top and back come with a given potential for sound performance and your job is to try to get there when building your instrument. Unfortunately, as I've often heard Alan Carruth say, there are a lot more ways to do it wrong than right.

When it comes to sides, they don't get much credit for contributing to the sound of a guitar but, there are a lot of ways they can interfere with the quality of sound. Certainly, they need to properly support the top and backs so they can do their jobs. I think there is more though.

For instance: a flat bottom guitar or a large flat end block might set up the conditions for a comb filter. If you don't know what that is there are plenty of Youtubes that explain it but, basically a comb filter can make your guitar sound nasally. Maybe you play Bluegrass and like that sound and maybe you are particularly attracted to that big flat bottom dreadnought because of that.

For me, I mostly like to build fingerstyle guitars and want the fuller and more accurate sound, hence my guitars have more rounded bottoms and I make my end blocks like this:



I like to use the traditional style of kerfing because all of those cuts on the inside can help reduce standing bass waves (plenty of Youtubes) which steal sound. I also undercut arm and waist bevel supports for the same reason (and it reduces unnecessary weight):



Finally, sharp corners can create phase differentials that can muddy up the sound so I try to avoid them on heel blocks and other items like the cut away wedge:



None of these things are game changers and many people wouldn't hear a difference but I spend a lot of extra time doing them anyway.

It's all about the Luthier's Law of Diminishing Returns: You work harder and harder for incrementally smaller and smaller improvements that will be appreciated by fewer and fewer people.

Mark

[Jimmy Caldwell]

Quote “It's all about the Luthier's Law of Diminishing Returns: You work harder and harder for incrementally smaller and smaller improvements that will be appreciated by fewer and fewer people.”

Mark



Well said.

[Treenewt]

Mark

As someone just taking baby steps in building, I can’t thank you enough for the time you take to describe not only what you do, but why. These posts are so helpful and informative for me. I have a file in my Notes where I compile a running list of these nuggets, and I refer to them often. Thank you for sharing your wealth of knowledge with us all!

[Mark Hatcher]

Originally Posted by Jimmy Caldwell

Quote “It's all about the Luthier's Law of Diminishing Returns: You work harder and harder for incrementally smaller and smaller improvements that will be appreciated by fewer and fewer people.”

Mark



Well said.

Thanks Jimmy

Originally Posted by Treenewt

Mark

As someone just taking baby steps in building, I can’t thank you enough for the time you take to describe not only what you do, but why. These posts are so helpful and informative for me. I have a file in my Notes where I compile a running list of these nuggets, and I refer to them often. Thank you for sharing your wealth of knowledge with us all!

Glad you find my posts helpful!

Mark

[Mark Hatcher]

I want everyone to meet my new apprentice, Ignatz. He may be small and have a lot of attitude but, he gets the job done!



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