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#1
09-04-2020, 08:43 AM
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New Venture in luthiery. Churchland Guitars/Chapter 1
I've been a member on this forum for a long time. From my infancy as a guitar player at the ripe old age of 16 this forum helped expose me to alot of fantastic builders and it's really nice to see alot of them still building after over a decade of reading on here.
For the past 5 years I had not really been happy with where I was as a person or as a musician, I had become a rather snarky angry individual and I really needed to change something. I have been practicing the repair trade for a while now, it pays the bills but still I wasn't quite where I wanted to be. I figured that rather than simply continue doing the same thing and spinning my tires that I should try something new and take a risk. And so building has become a new thing for me. When trying to come up with a name to build under my wife suggested that I use a variation on my last name of Kirkland. So Churchland (like Churchill but just with "land" instead of "hill") became the name and it stuck. Since we like to talk about these things my building method is below basic. I have no power tools save for a fleishman binding machine. Everything else is completely (and I absolutely mean *completely*) done by hand, thicknessing, bending, carving etc... My apartment is so small with myself the wife and our little 1 year old that I have no choice but to do it this way. I don't do it out of any romance because trust me, it is ALOT of work compared to using a machine. Thicknessing especially takes a while with a little no. 3 plane but it does allow some control over the final product in a way you can't get with a machine. Bending is challenging because I simply don't have room for a mold. And so I've learned to build completely without a mold. To date I've completed 2 instruments. One was a prototype of my jumbo design and the second is this one that I'm quite proud of. Lots of different design elements went into this thing but nothing too insane. Here's some mediocre pics. I snuck it into my shop and used our photo booth to snap some quick ones of it.     Some simple specs. Old growth Adirondack spruce top Fiddleback maple B/S Adirondack bracing Very forward shifted and heavily scalloped x bracing Finish: Shellac Fingerboard and bridge both came from a single reclaimed piece of BRW that I procured. It had *exactly* enough width for the fingerboard which is why it's a little narrow on the extension. The upper bout is intentionally asymmetrical. Instead of a cutaway I call it a "fadeaway" since the taper creates a slightly lower portion to give just a little better access to the upper frets without the need for a large cutaway. I'll put up some soundclips soon. Usually after 2 or 3 weeks they really change alot. At this point she's about 2 weeks old. The inspiration for the design came from a combination of my love for old Gibsons, the overly large Larson Bros. designs of the late 30s, Jimmy D'aquisto's minimalist ideals, Tony Klassen's designs, and a few other points but those are the biggest ones for me. I may continue to post in this thread as an online journal if anyone is interested in following my future build endeavors. It's exciting to take a first step into a new area! Here is a little clip of some tunes to keep you from having to scroll through the comments. Last edited by D. Churchland; 09-13-2020 at 07:48 PM. Reason: added soundclip 
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#2
09-04-2020, 01:18 PM
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Congrats on a great looking build and a wonderful story. I can't believe you were able to do this in your apartment. So beyond congrats for a great guitar, let me congratulate you on a great wife as well!!!!
__________________
PS. I love guitars!
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#5
09-04-2020, 03:58 PM
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What Tom said!
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Looks CLEAN and sleek. Congratulations Paul
__________________
3 John Kinnaird SS 12c CUSTOMS: Big Maple/Cedar Dread Jumbo Spanish Cedar/WRC Jumbo OLD Brazilian RW/WRC R.T 2 12c sinker RW/Claro 96 422ce bought new! 96 LKSM 12 552ce 12x12 J. Stepick Bari Weissy WRC/Walnut More
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#6
09-05-2020, 07:02 AM
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#7
09-05-2020, 07:04 AM
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#8
09-05-2020, 07:05 AM
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#9
09-05-2020, 07:09 AM
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#10
09-12-2020, 04:17 AM
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Good luck, looks like you have a good foundation to start from.
__________________
Doerr Trinity 12 Fret 00 (Lutz/Maple) Edwinson Zephyr 13 Fret 00 (Adi/Coco) Froggy Bottom H-12 (Adi/EIR) Kostal 12 Fret OMC (German Spruce/Koa) Rainsong APSE 12 Fret (Carbon Fiber) Taylor 812ce-N 12 fret (Sitka/EIR Nylon)
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#11
09-13-2020, 07:46 PM
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Finally had some free time today to sit down and record a little soundclip, some fingerstyle with some chord strumming and some old timey style stuff for variety plus a small bit of a christmas tune. Also there's some baby laughs in the background at the end though, the joys of family life.
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#13
09-14-2020, 11:31 AM
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#15
09-16-2020, 06:50 AM
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