S. Kinnaird Ziricote/POCedar SJ

[Steve Kinnaird]

Probably the most gratifying part of lutherie is a repeat customer.
The feeling that they liked your guitar so much, they'd buy the company if they could. Short of that, a second (or third!) order is the best vote of confidence one can receive. Well:
Enter Dave White, who acquired one of our instruments on Ebay. He liked it so well he contacted us about a bigger brother for his (new-to-him) OM. Through the visits and back 'n forth planning sessions, we began to hammer out details.
An SJ it would be, our largest body size. And when he came to visit our shop, he spied this set of Ziricote:





I think it was the near-perfect symmetry of the set that earned his nod.
After kicking around ideas for top wood, Port Orford Cedar was selected.
Which by the way has a more tantalizing aroma than any other wood.
So, it will look good and smell good. Here's the full line up:





Much more to come, and I hope you enjoy watching this come together.

Steve

[bubbaprime]

Wow! The symmetry and distinct figuring of that Ziri is outstanding! I can see why it was chosen. This is going to make an exceptionally nice looking and (I'm sure) wonderfully voiced instrument.

[Steve Kinnaird]

Thanks for the vote of confidence, Jeff. Much appreciated.

Steve

[Guitars44me]

Good Golly, that zircote is mind boggling! This will be fun here!!!

Drooling already.

I suggest spending more for comfort and invest in bevels! Haha

Cheers

Paul

[Guitars44me]

Hey all. Does anyone else around here get thrown off by the two meanings of SJ?

Slope Jumbo, ala Gibson. (slope shoulder dread.) 12 or 14 fret?

Or Small Jumbo, which is sure a misnomer! Haha

This looks like the awesome 12 fret, slope shoulder dread shape, which I am eagerly awaiting from the other half of the Kinnaird conglomerate...

Let's jam!!

Cheers

Paul

[lizzard]

Sweet! I think POC and Ziricote could be magic!

+1 on at least a right-arm bevel.

Chris

[TomB'sox]

That has the beginnings of a fantastic SJ. I will just add that you are in for a great treat Mr. White. Be prepared to play with a smile on your face as it is impossible not to be overjoyed with each note!

[invguy921]

Oh my goodness...and just when I thought I could really get away from the computer a bit ha! This looks like it will be ANOTHER awesome Kinnaird guitar!! That wood choice absolutely blows my mind. I'm yet to see a set of Ziricote that I don't like, but this set is beyond beautiful.

[nacluth]

Well this SJ does mean the oxymoronic "Small Jumbo." It is a 14 fretter. Somewhere on the drawing board in our back closet, we have a 12 fret slope-shouldered dread that we would like to do some day. However, our SJ is a workhorse- and it's hard to believe one would need more out of a guitar than what you get in this size.

Thanks for the love.

[Daveac]

When the wife unit and I decided to commission an heirloom guitar to hand down to the kids and grandkids there was no doubt in our mind who was going to build it. After selecting the most amazing wood combination I have seen we set the basic parameters. The one thing that was important is we were going to add special adornments to signify different people in our family. As always Steve and Ryan took our ideas and made them more than special. At Steve's suggestion we went all Ziricote, fingerboard, bridge, headstock overlay and back and tuner buttons! This one should be special.

[lizzard]

Originally Posted by nacluth

Well this SJ does mean the oxymoronic "Small Jumbo." It is a 14 fretter. Somewhere on the drawing board in our back closet, we have a 12 fret slope-shouldered dread that we would like to do some day. However, our SJ is a workhorse- and it's hard to believe one would need more out of a guitar than what you get in this size.

Thanks for the love.

I would like to commission the first: but not before '18. CAn you figure it out by then?

Chris

[Steve Kinnaird]

Originally Posted by Guitars44me

Good Golly, that zircote is mind boggling! This will be fun here!!!
Drooling already.
I suggest spending more for comfort and invest in bevels! Haha
Paul

Originally Posted by lizzard

Sweet! I think POC and Ziricote could be magic!
+1 on at least a right-arm bevel.
Chris

Thanks gents. Dave and I kicked around the idea of an arm bevel, but he said negatory good buddy. Which just tempts me to do it anyways. However, doing so would be on my dime, so....

Originally Posted by TomB'sox

That has the beginnings of a fantastic SJ. I will just add that you are in for a great treat Mr. White. Be prepared to play with a smile on your face as it is impossible not to be overjoyed with each note!

Thank you Tom! When you get down to Texas, we'll need to organize an SJ jam!

Originally Posted by invguy921

Oh my goodness...and just when I thought I could really get away from the computer a bit ha! This looks like it will be ANOTHER awesome Kinnaird guitar!! That wood choice absolutely blows my mind. I'm yet to see a set of Ziricote that I don't like, but this set is beyond beautiful.

Glad you like it Mike. When it came up for sale, it just grabbed me too. Right by the wallet.

Thanks again,

Steve

[Steve Kinnaird]

Originally Posted by lizzard

I would like to commission the first: but not before '18. CAn you figure it out by then?

Chris

Yup! That's just enough time.

Steve

[Steve Kinnaird]

Let's get going:
Here we pull out our (almost) retired gluing jig. Caught on digital film here are the two back halves becoming one beautiful book-matched panel:





Next up, though we missed a cutting-out-the-shape-pic, we're gluing on the center seam reinforcement. Chosen for this job were offcuts from the POC top. This strip will be shaped, sanded smooth, then polished.





And once the braces are let in to that reinforcing seam, glued and carved, the back looks like this:





You can see how nicely the color of that POC matches the sapwood center of the Ziricote. Thanks for watching,

Steve

[Daveac]

I am way past excited to get this guitar in my hands! I have never played a port orford cedar guitar so I'm not sure what to anticipate? The only thing I know is in Steve and Ryan's hands it will be magical I'm sure!!!!!