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  #1  
Old 09-28-2019, 08:16 PM
Kenneth Casper Kenneth Casper is offline
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Default Pair of 12F Modified Dreads for Jack - Videos Added

It has been an active summer, which means I have not been around here much. With the weather cooling now, I am getting antsy to spend time in the shop. I have several builds this winter, but these two should be interesting. Jack has been waiting a while for his turn, and we are now getting under way.

Jack reached out to me about building a pair of 12 fret modified dreadnoughts, identical but for the soundboards. One will have red spruce and the other Engelmann. Jack's other request was that both guitars be given a hand rubbed burst ala Nick Kukich. Jack and I traded emails the other night, and he mentioned doing a build thread. These builds might be interesting to follow along, so I will be posting updates to these builds in this thread. Hopefully Jack will chime in periodically.

The 'Gone Fishin' sign is now down, and the 'Open for Business' back up! This week I joined the tops and sister sets of Madagascar RW for the backs, and I inlaid the rosettes.






Ken
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Last edited by Kenneth Casper; 04-16-2020 at 04:23 PM. Reason: spelling
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  #2  
Old 09-28-2019, 11:22 PM
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Guitars44me Guitars44me is offline
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Smile Beautiful Abalone

Wow those rosettes are some mighty fine Abalone. The Rosewood is spectacular too!

One can only do so much fishing and goofing off before getting bored and wanting to do something productive! Sometimes it takes a while, though. Haha

These will be very fun to watch

Thanks for letting us share the fun

Paul
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  #3  
Old 09-29-2019, 07:10 AM
GeoffStGermaine GeoffStGermaine is offline
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Off to a rocking start with those rosettes! I'm looking forward to seeing more and finding out what the sound differences are at the end of this all.
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Old 09-29-2019, 07:19 AM
mountainguitar mountainguitar is offline
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You have such beautiful wood and your work is always so gorgeous, Ken! Thanks to Jack and to you for letting us follow along on this one.

And I don't believe I've seen a Modified Dread model Casper before. Is this a new model or recent model for you? I think the Casper tone and build should work beautifully for a slightly bigger guitar than my Huron model.

Looking forward to watching these guitars take shape!

beth

Last edited by mountainguitar; 09-29-2019 at 07:29 AM. Reason: clarity
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Old 09-29-2019, 07:23 AM
Kerbie Kerbie is offline
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Wow... some of the prettiest rosettes I've ever seen!
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Old 09-29-2019, 11:11 AM
Kenneth Casper Kenneth Casper is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Guitars44me View Post
Wow those rosettes are some mighty fine Abalone. The Rosewood is spectacular too!

One can only do so much fishing and goofing off before getting bored and wanting to do something productive! Sometimes it takes a while, though. Haha
Thanks Paul. Good to see you are still here! Yes, definitely time to get productive again!

Quote:
Originally Posted by GeoffStGermaine
Off to a rocking start with those rosettes! I'm looking forward to seeing more and finding out what the sound differences are at the end of this all.
Me too, Geoff! I have always wanted to build a pair of guitars, identical in every way but for the soundboard. Each winter's builds provides some variation, but when Jack reached out to me some time ago about this pair of builds...well, yeah...I was really excited. My wait list can be a bit long, so I was a bit nervous that by the time I got around to Jack, he would have left for another builder. Fortunately, Jack is a patient man

Quote:
Originally Posted by bmh1
...And I don't believe I've seen a Modified Dread model Casper before. Is this a new model or recent model for you?
Beth, thanks as always for dropping in and being so nice Yes, this is a new model. You were the first with a Huron, and Jack will be the first with what I am calling the Georgian (as in Georgian Bay). Jack and I worked on the design over the past couple of months. I can build one off guitars, but I liked this design and decided to add it to my offerings, making the needed templates and molds for bending and building. The surface area of the soundboard is slightly larger than your Huron, and we will be building it slightly deeper than the Huron, which will give it a bit bigger sound. With the 12F, we will have the bridge and saddle pushed pretty deeply into the lower bout. We will all be looking forward to hearing how these two sound.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kerbie
Wow... some of the prettiest rosettes I've ever seen!
Thanks Kerbie. Much appreciate the feedback. I'm sure you have seen a lot of rosettes. Glad you liked these

Ken
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Old 10-04-2019, 07:26 PM
Kenneth Casper Kenneth Casper is offline
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Not much overly exciting with this update, but progress is being made. For one of the two builds, I bent the rims, made and installed the neck and tail blocks, installed the linings, radiused the back linings, and sanded the inside of the rims:





Thanks for checking in.

Ken
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Old 10-31-2019, 06:49 PM
Kenneth Casper Kenneth Casper is offline
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Hi All,

Been a while since I posted. The combination of some travel, high humidity in my shop, and working on other builds kept me from getting to bracing until the past couple of days.

We are building these guitars with a 40' radius on the top. I pre cut my bracing to accommodate the radius but leave a lot of wood on the top side to allow for voicing later. I glued the X braces together then dry clamped them in place to provide a location point for the maple bridge backing plate, which I glue in first. Once the backing plate is in, I glued down the X braces, finger braces, tone bars. Here are some pics of the Engelmann top being braced:




Prior to gluing on the upper transverse brace, I position the brace on the rims and notch the rims so the brace butts tight against my neck block. With the UTB in position on the rims, I locate the top, then reach in through the sound hole and grab the brace and top. I then mark the UTB location and glue it and the remaining top bracing in place. Note there is a lot of wood between the top of the upper bout and that UTB. I had to move the X bracing more into the lower bout as these guitars are 12 fret. I also moved the sound hole lower to provide room for 20 frets.





With the remaining bracing on, the top is ready for voicing, which is one of my favorite parts of building I'll get to that tomorrow.



Thanks for stopping by!

Ken
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Last edited by Kenneth Casper; 04-16-2020 at 04:24 PM.
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Old 11-01-2019, 04:30 PM
Kenneth Casper Kenneth Casper is offline
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I grabbed my handmade Japanese chisel today and went to work voicing the Engelmann top. I always enjoy whittling away at bracing and voicing a top. This one is dialed in and ready for the rims.





Have a nice weekend all!

Ken
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Last edited by Kenneth Casper; 04-16-2020 at 04:24 PM.
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  #10  
Old 11-08-2019, 08:30 PM
Kenneth Casper Kenneth Casper is offline
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I recently closed the box on the Engelmann build. Over the past couple of days, I braced the back, carved the braces, and glued the back to the rims. I then followed up with gluing the top to the rims. One box closed, one to go:











I also glued up the blanks for the necks. I resawed some wenge, which we are also using for the bindings, and dimensioned it for the center laminations. We are using mahogany for the three main laminations. The center lamination is sized so the wenge lams will fan out over the heel. I'll get back to the necks later date.





Appreciate you dropping by. Enjoy the weekend!

Ken
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Last edited by Kenneth Casper; 04-16-2020 at 04:25 PM.
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  #11  
Old 11-09-2019, 07:33 AM
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Nice! Thanks for sharing.
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  #12  
Old 11-09-2019, 07:25 PM
Kenneth Casper Kenneth Casper is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by matthewpartrick View Post
Nice! Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for commenting Matthew. I see you are a fellow audiophile! I pulled up your Clueless Audiophile site. I admit, you might be in a little deeper than me I do love 2 channel audio and am really enjoying the resurgence of vinyl.

Ken
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Old 11-10-2019, 08:28 AM
Treenewt Treenewt is online now
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Kenneth,

I’m really enjoying following this build. Beautiful work!
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  #14  
Old 11-10-2019, 06:22 PM
Kenneth Casper Kenneth Casper is offline
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Originally Posted by Treenewt View Post
Kenneth,

I’m really enjoying following this build. Beautiful work!
Thanks TreeNewt! I appreciate you commenting. These two guitars won't be overly ornate, but they can still be beautiful in their own simple way.

Ken
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Old 11-10-2019, 09:45 PM
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Steve Kinnaird Steve Kinnaird is offline
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Hey Ken, they're looking great so far. Very clean and precise work.
The gluing caul (we call ours "donuts") with the built-in cutaway caul is a brilliant idea. Thanks for that!

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