Build Thread: Tahoe Guitars Mahogany/Carpathian 000-12

[OddManOut]

Larry is adding a bit of purfling to the maple binding. I have a really nice set of unpurfled curly maple binding, Larry glued on some BWB purfle to spice it up a bit.

This is a reasonably tedious process due to the rather small gluing surfaces. I suppose this is why luthiery supply outfits offer pre-purfled binding, right?


The gluing jig.




Pieces of the maple binding (under the clamp) with the BWB purfle in place.







Now it is glued.




Voila!

[OddManOut]

Larry glues up the curly mahogany/walnut/curly maple neck, and cuts the mortise and tenon joint.

[OddManOut]

First up, Larry drills the neck and installs the hardware for the neck bolts. Next, a series of shots detailing the layout of final neck profile on the raw neck blank.

The neck block and heel are drilled together to ensure proper alignment.





Note the threaded insert to be cranked into the tenon, along with epoxy.






Here is the layout on the neck blank.

The first cut is the deepest...cutting the head angle.



The pencil is mightier than the saw.

[OddManOut]

This series show the cuts to the neck blank to bring it closer to its final shape.

[OddManOut]

Larry binds the ebony fretboard. The fretboard is placed in a simple jig and wedges are used to apply pressure to the glued binding.






In this sequence, Larry bends the body binding.

[OddManOut]

Larry routs the body for binding and the tail wedge, bends the herringbone top purfling, and glues it all up.

[OddManOut]

Larry installs the truss rod and aligns the fretboard.

[OddManOut]

Now the fretboard and headplate are glued to the neck.

[OddManOut]

With the ebony bits glued on, Larry shapes the neck.

[OddManOut]

Larry finishes shaping the neck, including a video.

[OddManOut]

Finally, a few pics of the body. Once the bridge location and neck set are done, it will be sanding and finish.








With a mock-up of the bridge.






Makin' sawdust...luthiery is a reductive process.

[TomB'sox]

Looking great. I am envious of your ability to go and watch your builds as they are getting done. You get the pictures and the experience. That is just great!

[OddManOut]

Originally Posted by TomB'sox

Looking great. I am envious of your ability to go and watch your builds as they are getting done. You get the pictures and the experience. That is just great!

Thanks much!

I feel very fortunate, believe me. I always like to acknowledge Larry for his openness and generosity. He is a good egg, to be sure.

[buckallred]

Beautiful . . awesome.

[OddManOut]

Originally Posted by buckallred

Beautiful . . awesome.

Many thanks! Glad you're enjoying this thread.

Larry is gone for a couple of weeks, but he's left me with some pore filler samples to decide what I want. One is more red, allowing the red mahogany hues to come out. The other is more brown, giving a little more emphasis on the pores and a slightly darker overall hue. The difference is fairly subtle, but less so in person than in these pictures. I am leaning to the lighter, red filler.

These samples have sealer and filler applied to offcuts of the actual B/S set of mahogany.


Red Filler



Brown Filler



Comparison