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  #16  
Old 06-18-2022, 06:46 AM
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Steve, great stuff!!! Thank you for sharing your incredible workmanship. I really like how you’ve changed your bridge design. I think it compliments your guitars beautifully. Wish I was going to be there to see them. I’m sure you’ll do very well with these.
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  #17  
Old 06-18-2022, 11:05 AM
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Originally Posted by cigarfan View Post
Indeed Steve, these two guitars look incredible in every aspect. I am looking forward to seeing you at B.I.G. and giving these a whirl. Can't wait.
Really looking forward to seeing you at the B.I.G., Dennis. We're gonna have a blast!

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Originally Posted by Treenewt View Post
Absolutely stunning work!!!
Thank you! Are you coming to the show?

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Originally Posted by Carpinteria View Post
I love the complexity of your builds. The soundports on the Pernambuco guitar are really lovely. Eager to play these and to catch up in September! Dave
Thank you, Dave! It was really great to befriend you and share some quality time with you last year. And glad to resume that friendship, this year, and catch up a bit.
Yes, I do tend to spend a lot of time on peripheral embellishments on my guitars. When I was just starting out in the show circuit in the early 2000's, I decided to make guitars that are a little off the beaten track, so they'd be more visible in the crowds. It worked! Since then, I've sort of gotten pinned to those Edwinson style points- not because they improve the function of my guitars in any way, but because they're unusual. More and more, I am drawn towards making more simply appointed guitars, but out of force of habit-- and the expectations of my clientele-- I still wind up going down those stylistic rabbit holes...

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Originally Posted by doodahdoug View Post
Wow! Steve you really pulled out all the stops on these 2 guitars. Both of them are beautiful even before the finish is applied. I look forward to following along with these and the other 2 to come. Will you and Joel will be driving a Brinks armored truck to Tom and Kathy's B.I.G. show? I bet you'll both be returning home with a lot fewer than you arrive with!
Thank you, Doug! I tried to steal a Brinks armored truck to transport guitars last year, but it didn't work out so well. The guys guarding the truck were way bigger and badder than me, so I thought better of it. So Joel and I will be traveling in my Hyundai Santa Fe, and hoping we don't encounter any highway bandits.

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Originally Posted by invguy921 View Post
Steve, great stuff!!! Thank you for sharing your incredible workmanship. I really like how you’ve changed your bridge design. I think it compliments your guitars beautifully. Wish I was going to be there to see them. I’m sure you’ll do very well with these.
Thanks! At last count, I have six different signature bridges, and multiple iterations of each version. My current favorite is the "Appollo" style, named for our mutual friend Mike Appollo, who asked me to design a less "dangerous" looking bridge for the guitar I made for him three years ago. Interestingly, Mike found a photo online of the bridge that my shop partner Joel designed, and asked if I could riff on that design. I did, and the result was very satisfying. I've used the Appollo bridge design on probably 80% of the guitars I've made since then. There's even a multiscale version (stay tuned!) Joel's bridge design was inspired by the early Taylor bridge- same shape, but Joel gave it a more interesting carve. Small world, huh?
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  #18  
Old 06-18-2022, 11:20 AM
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Originally Posted by Sticky_fingers View Post
I like the headstock design in the first photos. I always believed that a slotted headstock made sense since the break angle on the nut is sharper due to the tuners being dug down, meaning more pressure on the nut which should render better tone. Specially on shorter scale instruments and instruments used in dropped tunings, but why not on full scale as well.
You are quite right- slotted headstocks do have a great efficiency for the strings bearing down on the nut for great tonal clarity.
My Omega headstock is designed for that very purpose- plus the straight string pull from the nut to the tuner posts, which I think improves tuning stability and accuracy more than headstocks that taper wider toward the crest. If the strings don't have to splay off at an angle from the nut, I think they'll tune more accurately, and maybe prolong string life a tad bit, because there's no kink in the string where it departs from the nut.
My solid headstocks have a 13-degree string angle from the neck, which is actually the same angle as with my Pogoda slot-head and the Omega open headstock. This is accomplished by making the break angle of the slot-head and Open designs at eight degrees. So all my headstocks have a thirteen degree string angle at the headstock, regardless of which design is used.

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Steven while the nut width is a tad wide for me, that guitar is simply stellar, with everything that calls to me. Looking forward to seeing you!
Hi, Mike,
Can't wait to see you again at the third B.I.G. Is Samantha coming with you this year?
Even with the 1/16" added width of the nut on my guitars, I set the string spacing at the nut the same as with a 1 3/4" nut. The high and low E strings are set in from the fingerboard edges a little more. So these guitars should feel pretty "normal" to you. I'm really looking forward to hearing your impressions when you play them. And you are also in for a major treat when you check out Joel's guitars. He's doing masterful work!
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  #19  
Old 06-18-2022, 12:18 PM
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Beautiful guitars Steve. I'm looking forward to seeing them in person
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  #20  
Old 06-18-2022, 01:26 PM
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Okay, time to post some pics of the third guitar in the queue. It's a bit of an "odd duck", a departure from my usual abnormal. It's built on my EC Consort Triple-0 platform, which is a great size for an acoustic guitar. I'm not sure what compelled me to make this one, except that I dug out a sketch I'd made a few years ago while casting about for ideas for an exotic guitar I was to build for my great friend and patron, Ken Hobbs. The sketch had some intriguing lines, and it looked like it would be more than normally challenging to pull off successfully. I decided to risk one of my Mastergrade Tunnel 14 top sets on it, to give myself some extra impetus to not fail. It also has pretty wildly figured Padouk back and sides, and it's absolutely dripping with highly figured Ziricote appointments.

There's a lot of red in this guitar-- T-14 Redwood top, T-14 braces on the back and top, red Padouk, a Cherry neck... So I'm calling this one the "Stealth Consort Rojo". "Rojo" is the Spanish word for "red". The "stealth" in the name is there because a couple of people who saw it hanging on the wall in the shop said that the Ziricote elements look like some kind of camouflage pattern.
Although, I doubt that this Rojo Consort will be very good at concealing itself, because of its it's, um, unusual appearance. (I was going to say "funny looking", but that sounds kind of pejorative, and I don't not want to insult my guitar progeny. Like children, they turn out according to their own Karma and Destiny, so why would I want to impugn my guitar offspring for being a little odd-looking?)

The Rojo has an Omega open headstock, an upper bout sound port, hybrid-style mini arm and rib bevels, a jelly bean shaped sound hole, and a Cove cutaway- more often called a "scoop" cutaway. I've made a lot of guitars with the Cove, because it's so ergonomic, and it only reduces the air volume in the soundbox about half as much as a Venetian or Florentine cutaway. So it may have some indiscernible but very important effect on the tone, ha ha. The Rojo will be in the paint room tomorrow, and wait till you see what happens to that Padouk under finish!

I'll be curious to hear from you, what your visual impressions are on this guitar. I know it's not going to be everyone's cup of tea (or bourbon), but I'm pretty certain it's going to sound amazing. So, do you think it should be a one-off-and-done, or should I continue to burrow down this rabbit hole on future builds?




Check out the insane silking in that Tunnel 14 Redwood, top row center! The tap tone of this wood is mind-blowing. And to think it was recycled from a train tunnel beam, from a tree that was harvested in the 1880s. I think it's safe to say this Redwood is pretty well dried and seasoned by now. That's why I've been binging on it lately. It gives me an unfair advantage in the tone department. And believe me, I need every unfair advantage I can get!
I decided to brace the top differently than I ever have too. It has an X-Lattice pattern. The tap tone on the box shows all the signs and portents of being exceedingly tone-errific when it's finally strung up and optimized. I actually remembered to take pictures of the bracing pattern, so if it works pretty well, I can do it again:



Here's what I had for dinner the day I braced the Rojo top: Cauliflower and brussels spouts, with minced garlic, seared in bacon fat, with mesquite seasoning and paprika. YUM.



I know what you guys are thinking- maybe I should have had Coo-coo for Coco-puffs for dinner instead. It takes a weird guy to make a weird guitar.



Full disclosure: The first concept I had for this guitar was to make it with an offset sound hole. But despite many sleepless nights of trying to conjure up a design that didn't make me break out in a cold sweat, I just couldn't go there. So I opted for the jelly bean sound hole instead. By that point, I had already made a Union suit trap-door on the butt of the guitar so I would have a way to access the neck block to install the neck bolts. Next to impossible to do with an offset sound hole! And I really didn't want to go back to using a dovetail neck joint, because for me at least, the bolt-on mortise and tenon joint has many clear advantages.
But the trap door worked out quite well, because I simply cannot fit my hand into that obloid sound hole with a hex wrench! I have to go in through the back door to install the bolts. Even made a special tool for that.
And, an extra bonus- that union suit trap door will be mighty handy for those late-night visits to the outhouse! Yay.



I can't get enough of how silky that top is!
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  #21  
Old 06-18-2022, 01:30 PM
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Beautiful guitars Steve. I'm looking forward to seeing them in person
Right back at ya, Bro. I've been following your threads, and as usual, you and Kinnaird West are setting the bar even higher than before. I LOVE your style- so unique and modern and artistic. You have a sense of adventure in your aesthetic, and your instincts are always spot-on. I see you as a kindred spirit. I was very impressed by the guitars you brought to BIG last year.
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Old 06-18-2022, 02:21 PM
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For as long as I've been on the AGF, I've always felt that your guitars are the prettiest.

I've owned a lot, and I like pretty much anything--old school, blinged out, rustic, mustache bridges, Martin starry nights . . . but man, your guitars always stun me.

I don't think I'll ever get the chance to own one, so I'll just another to my list of life's regrets.
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  #23  
Old 06-18-2022, 02:37 PM
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Originally Posted by sakar12 View Post
For as long as I've been on the AGF, I've always felt that your guitars are the prettiest.

I've owned a lot, and I like pretty much anything--old school, blinged out, rustic, mustache bridges, Martin starry nights . . . but man, your guitars always stun me.

I don't think I'll ever get the chance to own one, so I'll just another to my list of life's regrets.
WOW, that is some mighty high praise. Thank you!
And please, never say never. You can have what you want if you make a space in your soul for it, and nurture the belief that it is coming to you. What is yours will always come to you, if you allow it to be so. You can move a mountain if you have sufficient faith. It's just astounding, how circumstances and events can can manifest in ways that make things like that happen, as a completely natural occurrence. My life is is filled with years and years of that subtle magic. That's how I became a luthier! It seems highly improbable that someone like me can make a living at building guitars, but I am.
Someday, by some inscrutable path, you will have a guitar in your hands that I made for you. Maybe it will be one that I've already built, and it is now searching for you. I only hope that when it finds you, it lives up to your best expectations!
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  #24  
Old 06-18-2022, 07:01 PM
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The fourth guitar I'll be taking to New Braunfels in September is another EPC-F Performance Florentine model. I call this one "the Gecko". It has three cute little lizards crawling around on it. It's a Brazilian Rosewood/ Adirondack Spruce Multiscale (25"- 25.75 string spread), with flamed Pyinma appointments, arm and rib bevels, dual inlaid sound ports, a pretty cool new rosette design, and a Black Walnut neck that dates back to about 1910. The Walnut was sold to me by the fifth generation owner of a farm near here. He said his great grandfather had a grove of big, old walnut trees on the property, which he cleared to make grazing pasture for his cows. When I went to visit, he had huge, jumbled, cob-webby stacks of rough-sawn lumber in the barn that had been sitting there for over a century. The barn itself was built from solid walnut, if you can believe that! Walnut trees are scarce, if not extinct in Alabama now, they've been mercilessly harvested. I bought a large plank of the antique lumber, and some of it is suitable for necks.

Here are some photos of "the Gecko" guitar:




I should tell you upfront that, after I took these photos and edited them, the bridge didn't look quite right to me. It's a new iteration of the Appollo bridge, made for a Mutiscale. So I took it back over to the shop and modified it slightly. The bass side wing is now a little shorter, and I put a subtle new carve on the bottom edge as well. I'm really glad I did that; now it looks just right to my eye. Sorry, the photos are already taken, so you'll have to wait to see the new bridge shape after the guitar is done and strung up. I'll take another round of studio photos of all these guitars then.



Why the Geckos, you may ask? It's because, down here in coastal Alabama, we have colonies of little house geckos. They are noctural, so you almost never see them in the daylight hours. They congregate on my kitchen window at night while I'm making dinner. Lots of bugs are attracted to the window light, and the geckos (and also beautiful Emerald Tree Frogs) hang out there on the window and have a feast on the bugs. I've grown quite fond of these little guys. They're very delicate, and only grow about four inches long. Their bellies are translucent and you can see the eggs in the bellies of pregnant females. I have always had a strong affinity for critters like them. So, why not make a guitar with some geckos on it? They'll keep the bugs away while you're playing!

These Geckos on the guitar are not anatomically correct. They're stylized versions that I made up.



Here's a shot of the bridge before the modification. It's African Ebony, as are the fingerboard and front headstock plate. I love the color and textured figure of it- sort of like dark grey granite. Very cool stuff. Wait till you see the bridge and fingerboard after a rubdown with some of Tim McKnight's Revival balm!



This guitar is likely to be quite a powerful and colorful sounding instrument when it's done. The top is a true Mastergrade Adirondack Spruce- or, more likely, judging from the very close grain spacing and the medullary rays, it's probably an Appalachian or Smokey Mountain Red Spruce. Whatever, it's a gorgeous top, and has tap tone to die for. I braced it with Tunnel 14 Redwood, so that should be interesting! And when you pair primo wood like that with some excellent Brazilian Rosewood back and sides, it's almost like cheating, you know? I would have to try really hard to make a merely average sounding guitar with that tonewood combo. And, sorry, but I just didn't want to try that hard. I hope you come to the B.I.G. show and play it.
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Old 06-18-2022, 07:20 PM
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A couple more photos I wanted to drop in. I wanted to mention, I've made most of my guitars in the last couple of years with dual side sound ports. I've done a lot of experimentation with ports, inspired by Tim McKnight, who was one of the first really high-level luthiers to embrace the concept and test it out. I have found that, after multiple iterations of side ports, that the port on the upper bout tends to bump up the bass response a bit, in addition to being a personal monitor for the player. The port on the lower bout hip tends to boost the midrange and treble somewhat. That seems a little counter-intuitive; you'd think it would be the other way around. If you get a chance to play any of my double-ported guitars, I would greatly appreciate your feedback.



The grilles I inlaid into the ports look delicate, but it's a three-ply construction and is quite tough. It might even survive if you use the guitar as a weapon in a bar fight!
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Old 06-18-2022, 07:58 PM
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Wow Steve, you have pulled out all the stops on these show guitars, amazing work and so excited to see them and play them in person!
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Old 06-18-2022, 08:00 PM
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Hi, Mike,
Can't wait to see you again at the third B.I.G. Is Samantha coming with you this year?
Even with the 1/16" added width of the nut on my guitars, I set the string spacing at the nut the same as with a 1 3/4" nut. The high and low E strings are set in from the fingerboard edges a little more. So these guitars should feel pretty "normal" to you. I'm really looking forward to hearing your impressions when you play them. And you are also in for a major treat when you check out Joel's guitars. He's doing masterful work!

Hey Steve, yes I expect Sam to be there, and my wife will be joining us, as well! I’ll be thrilled to road test all your offerings, and have to say your designs are unique and really exciting, visually and functionally innovative. Also looking forward to seeing Joel, his guitars, but mostly just getting to spend some time with you both.
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Old 06-18-2022, 08:16 PM
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That’s really some nice work Steve. I love the rosette and the gecko and you did a great job on that maple arm rest. Well executed
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Old 06-18-2022, 09:00 PM
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That’s really some nice work Steve. I love the rosette and the gecko and you did a great job on that maple arm rest. Well executed
Thank you, John. I'm only trying to keep up with you, Bro. Your guitars have been a source of inspiration to me for years. I saw a guitar of yours the first time in 2003, I think. It was a guitar you built for Don Alder, and it had Kokopeli dancers inlaid on the fingerboard. It was dazzling!

The bindings and bevels on the Gecko guitar are actually SE Asian Pyinma, sourced from Cook Woods in Klamath Falls OR. This wood is outrageously pretty if you can find the highly figured stuff. It has a tan to antique silver color, and it finishes out with a really rich and deep chatoyance, like a 3-D shimmer, almost MOP-like. It's very expensive, and my stash is precious, and if you see some for sale, of this quality, my advice is, you should grab it quick!
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Old 06-18-2022, 09:00 PM
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I love this thread, beautiful and functional designs!
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