One to keep! White spruce/Brazilian Concert

[Tom Doerr]

Congrats Kent! I also have plans like you and others to build myself a guitar this year. But if your anything like me you will build it for yourself and then sell it when someone wants to fork out the bucks anyway nice Brazilian set and I really like the ziricote. Keep up the great work!

[Kent Chasson]

Taylorplayer, I have so far successfully turned down 2 interested parties and I think I will continue to be able to resist!

I made a cryptic reference to Voyage Air guitars. Check this out for details. http://www.acousticguitarforum.com/f...86#post3414886

[D.Kwasnycia]

Congratulations Kent! Looking forward to seeing your new baby. I still have number one as well, but 11 years ago I built a Brazilian/Engelmann SJ for myself and to have one on hand in the shop. It's good to have something as well, in the shop to show what you can do. I think If I had a customer like myself, I would be beside myself....., I just could not make up my mind for the life of me. I wanted to make something that wasn't too over done and I ended up doing the opposite. Now it's a full length vine, script and other shell inlay and trim. It's a great guitar, but now, I need.....ok would like to build something more modern, you know, with a arm bevel, rib rest and a more natural looking guitar, since Im now getting older.
By the way, great looking wood, verrryyyy nice!!

That said, Have fun!

[Kent Chasson]

Closing the box today. Necks are about the only thing I do in batches anymore and I need to make a new batch. I'll post some photos of that process toward the end of the week.

I'm still thinking about Robert's question about whether I'm doing anything specific to make this one mine. I'm finding it interesting that I'm not really doing anything different or special. If anything, I'm not worrying about some things I might worry about were I building for a client. For instance, the sides each have a nice little 1/8" insect hole all the way through, something not uncommon in Brazilian. I will fill them and not give them a second thought. And in choosing the top, I didn't consider appearance. The Engelmann top I was considering would have been graded higher on appearance but for my own use, appearance of the top is way down the list.

[Kent Chasson]

Back on this again...

There's something really pleasing about purfling shavings!


After way too much deliberation, I ended up with Snakewood binding. The top got the last of this purfling that I have. May have to get more made up.




I used maple/mahogany/maple lines for the back/sides. I like the way the maple provides contrast but the mahogany accents the colors in the snakewood.




I have a bunch of pictures of neck building that I'll process when I get the chance. Thanks again for looking.

[JBam]

Love the Snakewood binding. Nice!

[Kent Chasson]

Thanks Jeff.

Got some neck-building pictures together.

I'm always on the lookout for good neck wood and it's harder and harder to find. I like to get my heel blocks from the same board as the neck shaft so the match is good. This means starting with thick stock. This is some of what I've got at the moment. Some Honduras, some Khaya, some Spanish Cedar and some Meranti.



I milled up this board of Honduras for this batch.


After cutting to rough length, I lay it out for neck blocks and shafts and rip it such that all pieces are well quarter-sawn (grain lines perpendicular to the surface).



I got 16 necks out of this piece. Another advantage of milling my own lumber is that I can see if there is any tension in the wood. If there is, it will bow as it comes off the saw. If anything shows tension, it will get cut into smaller pieces and used for laminated end blocks. This was 100% usable.


Then I cut the scarf joint for the peg head.


After prepping the surfaces of the joint, I glue it up.



Then clean up the surface on the disc sander.




Every once in awhile, I do some precision testing of the strength of these scarf joints


More later....

[SJ VanSandt]

Here's an old thread with no resolution: how about a picture of the finished guitar, Kent? Or did you end up selling it after all? And how does it sound?

Inquiring minds want to know!

[Silly Moustache]

Originally Posted by Ken Franklin

Picea glauca

Wow - Canadian spruce, ahh - but as it was introduced into the Uk and German it might actually be German, or British spruce.
Can't wait to hear its tonality I mean if ijts Canadian - Eh, plink plonk Eh?
German - you VILL enchoy dis plinkink und plonkink or else.

British, Oh I say, now look here, Now do please cast a shell like on this rather interesting quality of plinkiness and plonkiness - I'm sure you will agree! what? Tea?

[Kent Chasson]

Yep, I've been remiss on this thread. I will do my best to get some finished photos in the next few days.

As for sound, I thought it was a bit too "hot" when I first strung it up. Every piece of wood down to the Spanish Cedar neck and Brazilian fingerboard and bridge is super lively. It was a little too much when I first strung it up. At times I would be delighted by it, at others, overwhelmed. But I knew it would mellow and I've been waiting it out and happily so. It's been my main player and it's still getting better. I just played it Tuesday for a client who was pondering woods for her 3rd guitar of mine. She was on the road to Cocobolo but hearing the Brazilian made her decision more difficult.

At risk of re-opening a controversial topic, I learned another thing from this guitar. I had been using stainless frets for awhile and liking them but I heard something on this guitar that gave me pause. There can be a hint of a "zing" with the initial attack. Whether or not there is a tonal difference between stainless and standard (nickle/silver) fret wire can be a hotly debated topic amongst builders and players. This is the first time I've heard a difference. It sounds like the string is bouncing off the fret. My current theory is that the low density/low damping nature of the neck in combo with the stainless is the cause. This may be why there is debate. I've never heard it on denser necks with ebony fretboards. Anyway, there is always more to learn!

Thanks for the reminder...

[SJ VanSandt]

Thanks for the honest assessment of this guitar, Kent. I believe I've run into a few Brazilian guitars with a similar over-liveliness: kind of like trying to drive a formula 1 race car on suburban streets. I'm glad it's starting to mellow out for you. Is the problem with the stainless frets bad enough to consider replacing them, or do you think that will also settle down as the guitar matures?

[Kent Chasson]

The problem gets better as the strings age, maybe as the guitar ages too but that is harder to judge. It's not bugging me enough to change frets but it does force me to be more careful with my fretting technique. It's worse with poor technique. Interestingly, I can't use my aluminum Schubb capo. No matter how tight, it makes the zing. The heavier steel Schubb works fine.

[iim7V7IM7]

Very interesting to see how a luthier experiments on their own, non-commissioned instrument. These guitars are wonderful "learning laboratories". I think your transparent sharing of your learning is refreshing. We sometimes forget that even after a luthier makes many guitars you are always learning! Kudos, for sharing your journey.

What I can say, is my BRW Chasson Concert exhibits none of the sonic characteristics that you describe. My guitar which is similar in many ways has a warm, balanced fundamental timbre across the strings, possesses a euphonic low-end rumble and high-end ringing bloom and sustain. Perhaps the differences between the two guitars in:

- Fingerboard material (ebony vs. BRW)
- Neck material (HOG vs. Spanish Cedar)
- Fretwire (EVO vs. Stainless steel)
- Bridge material (ebony vs. BRW)

Contribute to the differences that you describe? Differences in material damping and mass can sound like they contributed to perceivable differences. So for anyone considering a BRW Chasson guitar, fear not. They are profoundly wonderful guitars (recommended!).

[stringjunky]

Originally Posted by Kent Chasson

The problem gets better as the strings age, maybe as the guitar ages too but that is harder to judge. It's not bugging me enough to change frets but it does force me to be more careful with my fretting technique. It's worse with poor technique. Interestingly, I can't use my aluminum Schubb capo. No matter how tight, it makes the zing. The heavier steel Schubb works fine.

Looking in a couple of electric guitar threads, with technicians replacing frets with SS: one says it edgier and another said it's brighter ...one of them did two Strats side-by-side with normal and SS. Less variables in electric guitars to confound a comparison isn't there? I would imagine, with SS being much harder, it reflects vibrations back more into the vibrating string than normal wire, emphasising the upper register and giving you that extra zing. That's my inexpert observation!

Lovely guitar BTW and the rosette is super-duper.

[Kent Chasson]

I got a few photos of the finished guitar.