KENT CHASSON "Prairie Style" Concert No. 100 (Engelmann/BRW)

[Kent Chasson]

I've been working a lot of weekends lately so I decided to get out do some guitar related field work today

Spruce.



Cedar.



And the abundant water that makes them grow so big.





OK, I can't really think of any guitar related captions for these but it was a beautiful day and the iPhone pictures don't do it justice.

[dekutree64]

Where exactly are those trees? I thought the Lake 22 area was a virgin forest preserve, safe from chopping One of my favorite places up there in Washington. Here's a version of your last shot from my first trip there


And the lake in the summer

[Kent Chasson]

The trees are safe, as far as I know. I was kidding about working. It was all play.

We were south of Lake 22 but it sure does look similar.

[iim7V7IM7]

I see an unacceptable amount of runout in this shot!

[KevinLPederson]

awesome pics out in nature. Wish I could visit there.

The .010" cutter will be very fragile, cutting in spruce (soft) it will probably do better. The .020" I only use to do corner work for getting inlays tighter. For that, they last longer than you'd think, but if i was plowing a channel across ebony it probably wouldn't last long. Unless the cut was really shallow.

Unless you've already found what you're looking for, this might be somewhere you can look for smaller bits, the come .010", .012" etc... http://www.precisebits.com/

Hope this helps.

Kevin.

[iim7V7IM7]

Kent has been developing some rosette ideas for No. 100 based upon design elements from Frank Lloyd Wright glass screen patterns shown in earlier postings.

After we have tossed some sketched ideas back and forth, Kent has been creating some "test" pieces to see how the designs translate into wood to make wood selections and work out construction techniques.

Here is one test piece (of many) of a rosette idea executed in a piece of scrap Sitka Spruce. This design will utilize a fine Ebony inlay pattern of lines (this is what he made the tool for) with the wheat spike portrayed in Spanish Cedar between two Santos Mahogany rings edged in Ebony.

[David Wren]

I'm loving the look of this one ... will be following with interest!

[iim7V7IM7]

Wait until you see the fingerboard and headplate...

[iim7V7IM7]

I see Kent shared this in the "Rosette" thread already, but since it is associated with this build, I thought that I would post it here as well.

Wheat is used as a pattern in many Frank Lloyd Wright glass screen designs. This is simplified homage to that, where instead of the outside light and environment "shining through", Kent has allowed the Engelmann Spruce to surround and intersperse the pattern on Santos Mahogany, Spanish Cedar and Ebony.



The design challenges here related to creating "dynamic visual movement" (not static symmetry) in a pattern that would visually interact with the intersecting, cantilevered fingerboard. Remember, with a cantilevered fingerboard, the pattern is never fully hidden to the player holding the guitar. The challenge here was one of finding the proper amount of simplification of the original "homage" patterns but still maintaining the feeling and choosing the proportion and location of the wheat. I suspect many hours were spent over the board on this one. The choices of woods will become a bit more obvious as the rest of the design is executed.



If you look carefully, you can see the luthier's thoughts...

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Tt2JVOrAZGU

[Nemoman]

OK--that rosette design is just awesome. Love it!

[Kent Chasson]

Thanks, Neoman. Thanks needs to go to Bob too as this was another collaborative design effort.

Originally Posted by iim7V7IM7

If you look carefully, you can see the luthier's thoughts...

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Tt2JVOrAZGU

All I was thinking was "don't slip".

[iim7V7IM7]

The bracing has been cut, patterned differently than No. 99 and glued and are undergoing acupressure on Kent's Go-Bar deck (the humidifier, water conditioner and the threat of extra weight watch on unmercifully).



The BRW (recently, a seemingly 4-letter word around these parts) sides have been bent, lined and end and tail blocks installed. Kent has his own unique "Tone-rite" process that can be in progress (a bit of Ray Brown and Ron Carter in alternating sequences does the trick).

[Joel Stehr]

That rosette is incredible!!

[iim7V7IM7]

Ah, you Washington State guys always stick together...

Originally Posted by Joel Stehr

That rosette is incredible!!

[iim7V7IM7]

Kent has been experimenting with some backstrip designs. We exchange sketches and the work moves into physical mockups like these. These are NOT complete but are used try wood combinations and construction techniques.

The idea here reiterates some of FLW wheat stained glass screen motifs seen in the rosette. 2 screens are "floated" over 3 background fields. The 3 wheat screens are Spanish Cedar, Santos Mahogany, Maple with Ebony detail (not shown) and the background screens are Ebony surrounded by Mahogany.



The wheat panels while not complete, have some Ebony and Bloodwood details seen here. Most of the design detail is incomplete, but we can still make decisions empirically with these mockups.



Decisions here will carry on into the backstrip, binding, fingerboard and headplate as they are revealed. I am showing these to illustrate how 3-D mockups/sketches are used to refine a design.