BILL COMINS - 16" "Zelig" Hybrid Carved Top: Carpathian Spruce/Honduran Mahogany

[iim7V7IM7]

I am visited Pennsylania luthier Bill Comins workshop last week (http://www.cominsguitars.com/comins-handcrafted/home) to discuss my new commission and see some early progress. I don't think that Bill is too well known here in the AGF Custom Shop, but he has been making archtop guitars (nylon string and flat tops as well) as a solo artisan for more than 20-years now. The sonic signature of Bill's archtops are a clear and round trebles, punchy mids, and a “broken in” or “old wood” sound. His professional roots in archtop lutherie began working in Bob Benedetto's workshop in 1992. Prior to that, he studied jazz guitar in college and was a professional musician/instructor and also did guitar and violin repair prior to becoming a full time luthier. He brings all of these insights from being a player and repairman to his craft.

Bill built me my traditional, f-hole archtop about 3-4 years ago:





This guitar is a bit of an experiment in that it attempts to marry elements of archtop, gypsy and flat top guitars into a hybrid design with the goal sonically to produce a bit more of the bass response and complexity typically found in a flat top with the balanced timbre, crispness and clarity found in an archtop guitar. To do this, the arched top plate curvature will be less pronounced, somewhat thinner with less recurve at the rims similar to some tops seen in some of Jimmy D'Aquisto's later work. The oval sound hole should also promote an increase in bass response and complexity. Archtop guitars typically have constant rim depths somewhere between 2-3/4" to 3-3/8". The addition of a deeper, tapered rims with ladder braced flat back will also help promote this.

Here are the preliminary specifications:

Measurements:

Scale Length: 25-1/4"
Nut Width: 1-3/4"
String Spacing: 2-1/8" (about 1/16" wider than a standard archtop)
Body Length: 20-1/2"
Upper Bout: 11-5/8"
Lower Bout: 16"
Body Depth @ Neck Heel: ~3"
Body Depth @ End Block: ~4-1/8"

Wood & Trim:

Back/Sides: Fiddleback, Honduran Mahogany
Top Wood: Carved, Carpathian Spruce
Fingerboard: Ebony
Fretwire: Jasco EVO .055" x .090"
Neck Wood: Fiddleback, Honduran Mahogany, 1-Piece
Bridge: Ebony - Carved, non-thumbwheel adjustable
Rosette: Bound, Oval Sound Hole
Binding: Cocobolo
Fingerboard Binding: Cocobolo
Headplate: Cocobolo/Honduran Mahogany
Headstock Bindings: Cocobolo
Headstock Inlays: MOP
Backstrip: None
End Graft: Cocobolo
Fret Markers: Oval, MOP Side Markers
Tuners: Rodgers, Single Gear Units, Ebony Buttons
Tuner Finish: Brass
Finish: Nitrocellulose Lacquer

Extras:

Cutaway: Venetian
Pickguard: Ebony
Tailpiece: Ebony/Brass
Case: Hoffee
Pickup: Barbera Soloist (maybe)

Bill is using a beautiful billet of quartersawn Carpathian Spruce (Picea abies) to carve the top. This wood was sourced from the Ukraine. I have Carpathian Spruce tops in two other guitars, but both were sourced from Romainia.



The back and sides are a striking set of quartersawn, fiddleback, Honduran Mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla) sourced from Belize and so is the fiddleback neck blank that he is using for a 1-piece neck.



Bill designed these custom engravings for the brass plates of Rodgers tuners. Rob Rodgers shop did a very nice job implementing the designs. These engraving designs will tie into some other decoration features in the guitar that are planned.

[jt1]

Gorgeous stuff, Bob!

Thanks for sharing your existing guitar and the promise of the new guitar with us. Please update the thread early and often.

[dcn]

Bob, your vivid and detailed descriptions add to the already ample enjoyment provided by the photos.

[iim7V7IM7]

Originally Posted by jt1

Gorgeous stuff, Bob!

Thanks for sharing your existing guitar and the promise of the new guitar with us. Please update the thread early and often.

You're welcome Counselor... Bill typically does not journal his builds, but he will send some photos as he moves through this one. I will of course share them as I get them.

Originally Posted by dcn

Bob, your vivid and detailed descriptions add to the already ample enjoyment provided by the photos.

This build is a bit of an experiment and I was just trying to explain the goals and method to the madness...

[Steve Kinnaird]

Bob, when you weary of your day job, perhaps a 2nd (3rd?) career as wood prospector awaits. Somehow you find some of the loveliest material!

Steve

[iim7V7IM7]

Originally Posted by Steve Kinnaird

Bob, when you weary of your day job, perhaps a 2nd (3rd?) career as wood prospector awaits. Somehow you find some of the loveliest material!

Steve

Hah!, thanks Steve, but I think I'll keep my day job for the foreseeable future... I wish that I could take credit, but almost always the beautiful woods are courtesy of the luthiers that I have been fortunate to work with on builds. In general, I am a traditionalist and usually seek out stable, seasoned, quartersawn woods. Sometimes they are figured (like this build), but other times they have a very sedated appearance. Here are some backs on some of my other builds:

Upper Row: Madagascar Rosewood, Honduran Mahogany, Honduran Rosewood, Brazilian Rosewood
Lower Row: Cocobolo, Black Cherry, Pernambuco, Bigleaf Maple



The Carpathian Spruce was found by Bill at EurotoneWood (http://eurotonewood.com/) about a year ago. He is fortunate to be about 30 minutes away from them so he can personally evaluate the wood sets/billets. My other Carpathian Spruce tops on my other guitars were sourced through John Preston at Old World Tonewood (http://www.oldworldtonewood.com/). Bill has had the wood in his drying cabinet for about a year now. when I visited him last week and he tested the spruce billet, it read 6% moisture!

The Honduran Mahogany in this case was found by me at Jerry Hibdon's (http://www.hibdonhardwood.com/) and was sent to Bill for evaluation. There was a set on his website that was listed as "sold" but when I called Jerry, he knew which log/flitch the set came from and had the next cut in sequence still in his warehouse that wasn't listed on his site. This is one of the rare times that I supplied a luthier with wood based upon their approval on receipt. We were also lucky to have a year to condition the material prior to use.

[iim7V7IM7]

Bill has rough carved the top and has begun the process of refining the top plate geometry. He is doing some very interesting things with the arch like having different thickness and curvature to the arch and recurve on the bass and treble sides of the lower bout. He is beginning to brace the the guitar this week. Because the top has been taken thinner for acoustic performance, his x-brace may end up being carbon fiber reinforced for additional stiffness (TBD).

Here is a shot of the simple but elegant rosette design. He created the oval (actually an ellipse) with black/white/black purfling. The intersected triangle was created using MOP with a cocobolo cast shadow for a subtle trompe l'oeil effect. The sound hole will also get some cocobolo binding to finish it. The Carpathian Spruce is showing some beautiful grain to boot...

[Archtop Guy]

Boy, oh boy, this is going to be fun to watch!

Thanks for sharing. Love every thing so far!

[jt1]

That rosette is gorgeous! Thanks for sharing it with us.

[iim7V7IM7]

Originally Posted by Archtop Guy

Boy, oh boy, this is going to be fun to watch!

Thanks for sharing. Love every thing so far!

I hope so... we see far too few archtops around these parts. Given the acoustic goals of this one, perhaps it will be of interest the AGF community?

Originally Posted by jt1

That rosette is gorgeous! Thanks for sharing it with us.

Thanks John...sometimes simple and elegant does the trick! The triangle accent theme is reflected again in the tuner engravings.

[jt1]

Bob,

Those Rodgers tuners are gorgeous and and a perfect aesthetic compliment to that rosette. So cool.

I've always thought Rodgers tuners to be the pinnacle of tuning machines, though Rodgers's penchant for finials and fancy, large buttons sometimes, to my eyes, detracts from the overall design. These, though, as stunning.

Please keep the photos coming!

Thanks.

[iim7V7IM7]

Originally Posted by jt1

Bob,

Those Rodgers tuners are gorgeous and and a perfect aesthetic compliment to that rosette. So cool.

I've always thought Rodgers tuners to be the pinnacle of tuning machines, though Rodgers's penchant for finials and fancy, large buttons sometimes, to my eyes, detracts from the overall design. These, though, as stunning.

Please keep the photos coming!

Thanks.

I have always felt exactly the same way as you regarding Rodgers tuners (e.g. Beautifully crafted, but were too ornate for a less formal or more modern aesthetic). So about a year ago I began talking with Rob Rodgers about design options in simplifying the aesthetics of his single gear units. The photo composite below shows the progression.

Upper Left: These are single gear units with "cloche" shaped buttons, with long-style "pips" and a "Rodgers" logos engraved on each plate.
Upper Right: This set has "oval" shaped buttons, short style "pips" and the logo engraving has been removed from the plates. The "shaft sleeve" profile has been slightly simplified in their profile
Lower Left: This set has "oval" shaped buttons, short style "pips" and the logo engraving has been removed from the plates but additionally the "shaft sleeve" profile has now been simplified (this is what I spec'd on my Blanchard Pinyon).
Lower Right: This set is similar with the addition of Bill's custom engraving design. BTW, Rob does not up-charge for custom engravings if you provide him with a design and file that is manufacturable.

[Marcus Wong]

Wow. Your taste is really exquisite Bob! And the rosette is tripping me out, can't get over the 3D effect haha that must be the nicest set of flamed mahogany I've ever seen; it's going to be a great build to follow

[jt1]

Originally Posted by iim7V7IM7

I have always felt exactly the same way as you regarding Rodgers tuners (e.g. Beautifully crafted, but were too ornate for a less formal or more modern aesthetic). So about a year ago I began talking with Rob Rodgers about design options in simplifying the aesthetics of his single gear units. The photo composite below shows the progression.

Upper Left: These are single gear units with "cloche" shaped buttons, with long-style "pips" and a "Rodgers" logos engraved on each plate.
Upper Right: This set has "oval" shaped buttons, short style "pips" and the logo engraving has been removed from the plates. The "shaft sleeve" profile has been slightly simplified in their profile
Lower Left: This set has "oval" shaped buttons, short style "pips" and the logo engraving has been removed from the plates but additionally the "shaft sleeve" profile has now been simplified (this is what I spec'd on my Blanchard Pinyon).
Lower Right: This set is similar with the addition of Bill's custom engraving design. BTW, Rob does not up-charge for custom engravings if you provide him with a design and file that is manufacturable.

Fabulous stuff, Bob! I'll hire you as design consultant the next time I commission a guitar.

Thanks, again, for sharing this build with us.

[iim7V7IM7]

Marcus, the credit goes 100% to Bill. The rosette was his idea and execution. I merely said "OK". Bill has a wonderful aesthetic sensibility in his body work... check out some of his custom guitars (http://www.cominsguitars.com/comins-...tom-archtop%20).

It is indeed a nice set of fiddleback mahogany. Bill normally constructs using a multi-piece neck; but because the mahogany neck blank (also curly) is so figured, he is going to make a 1-piece neck. We haven't yet made a finish decision yet, but we will likely choose something that will enhance the figure.

Originally Posted by Marcus Wong

Wow. Your taste is really exquisite Bob! And the rosette is tripping me out, can't get over the 3D effect haha that must be the nicest set of flamed mahogany I've ever seen; it's going to be a great build to follow