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  #31  
Old 05-12-2014, 11:54 AM
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Originally Posted by RotemarGuitars View Post
I especially like the "bolt-on"-way of laminating the sides. I´ve never seen that technique before, but its brilliant. I know everybody who´s laminating sides are doing it for extra stability, but do you have any other reasons for doing that?
Thanks Niklas! The "bolt-on" system was basically born from laziness. I really didn't want to make a separate mold to use when laminating my sides so I had to come up with a method that used my existing mold. I was also tired of wrangling a bunch of clamps and this seemed like a nice solution!

Stability is definitely one of the main reasons I laminate, but there are a few others as well. For one, it allows me to really easily put in a soundport. The most important factor, however, is the rigidity. I want to provide an incredibly stiff frame for the top to sit on. I focus on the top as the main tone producer in my guitars and any vibrations in the sides is detracting from that goal!

Mike
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  #32  
Old 05-19-2014, 10:47 AM
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The french polishing is just about done...



Up next will be carving the bridge and waiting for the finish to dry!

Mike
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  #33  
Old 06-04-2014, 07:35 AM
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About time for an update on this guitar -- the french polishing is pretty much done! One of the things I like to do when the french polishing is almost there is to have the guitar sit for a while (a week or two), let it settle, resand it flat, polish some more, then wait another week or two before moving on with the final steps. So, lot's of waiting at this stage!

Time to attach the neck...



I have to say it's beyond satisfying to run my hands over the neck/body joint and not feel anything! Lots of work to get to this stage and quite gratifying to see it completed.

Here's a shot of how I rout my saddle slots...



If you look closely you'll see there is a small mahogany nub glued on the left end of the bridge. This pushes the treble side away from the fence and leads to a properly angled saddle slot necessary for good intonation.

You can also see I have a mahogany strip running along the base of the fence angling the front of the bridge up and off of the table. This means the saddle is not perpendicular to the top, but is actually tilted back. The saddle is tilted back so that it splits the break angle of the strings. In theory, this means the force of the strings is directed straight down through the saddle instead of torquing the saddle.

The bridge should go on today and I'll hopefully be able to fret as well!

Mike
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  #34  
Old 06-04-2014, 09:53 AM
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This is looking SO great Mike ... can't wait to see it finished!
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  #35  
Old 06-12-2014, 10:38 AM
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Closing in on the end of this build. Finished up the fretting last week -- here's a shot of this frets after getting trimmed to length...



(For the keen eyed you might notice a silly mistake I had made at this point -- bonus points if anyone can tell me what it is!)

And strung up!



I'm beyond happy with this one right out of the gate. In particular, I'm pleased with how strong the trebles are in the cutaway section. Not much point in having a cutaway if that area doesn't hold up!

As a side note, one of the great benefits of being in this line of work is getting to know so many great musicians! We host in-shop concerts about once a month and had a great one with the Lonesome Ace Stringband this past weekend. Most of the pictures posted of builders' workshops are full of tools and dust, so I thought it would be fun to include a shot from the 1am post-show jam last Saturday night...



Mike
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  #36  
Old 06-12-2014, 11:29 AM
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Really nice clean work!

Mark
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“Let me make the songs of a nation, and I care not who makes its laws.”. Andrew Fletcher
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  #37  
Old 06-12-2014, 03:06 PM
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That's inspiring work as always Mike ... LOVE IT!!!
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  #38  
Old 06-13-2014, 07:21 AM
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Great work, Mike! I love it.
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  #39  
Old 06-15-2014, 12:36 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by IndianHillMike View Post
Closing in on the end of this build. Finished up the fretting last week -- here's a shot of this frets after getting trimmed to length...



(For the keen eyed you might notice a silly mistake I had made at this point -- bonus points if anyone can tell me what it is!)

And strung up!



I'm beyond happy with this one right out of the gate. In particular, I'm pleased with how strong the trebles are in the cutaway section. Not much point in having a cutaway if that area doesn't hold up!

As a side note, one of the great benefits of being in this line of work is getting to know so many great musicians! We host in-shop concerts about once a month and had a great one with the Lonesome Ace Stringband this past weekend. Most of the pictures posted of builders' workshops are full of tools and dust, so I thought it would be fun to include a shot from the 1am post-show jam last Saturday night...



Mike
Silly mistake...did you forget to drill the tuner holes before attaching the neck?

Great looking guitar, dude!

Brad
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  #40  
Old 06-16-2014, 10:56 AM
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Originally Posted by Oxwood_Handmade View Post
Silly mistake...did you forget to drill the tuner holes before attaching the neck?

Great looking guitar, dude!

Brad
Yup, you guessed it! It's easier to french polish with no tuning machine holes so I usually wait until I'm finished polishing before I drill them. Having the neck attached to the guitar definitely makes it a bit more cumbersome on the drill press!

Mike
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  #41  
Old 07-08-2014, 06:03 PM
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This one will be heading over to the UK in a couple of days! Took a few pictures today...











A couple of my bandmates will be coming over tomorrow morning to record a couple of tunes. Hopefully I'll have a video posted by the afternoon!

Mike
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  #42  
Old 07-09-2014, 09:52 PM
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Two of my bandmate, Léandre Joly-Pelletier (guitar) and Andrew Engerer (banjo) came by the morning to record a couple of tunes before this one got shipped off to Trevor in the UK. Here they're doing a short and sweet version of Salt Creek...



Mike
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Last edited by IndianHillMike; 07-23-2014 at 12:10 PM.
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  #43  
Old 07-15-2014, 10:03 AM
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Its here and its a truly wonderful guitar.

Here's a few more photos.













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  #44  
Old 07-16-2014, 07:53 PM
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Congrats Mike ... that thing is just one of the most striking looking instruments I've seen in some time! In my opinion, maple is THE most under rated tonewood in the world ... I love it! From the sounds of the audio clip, you've really optimized it too!
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  #45  
Old 07-23-2014, 01:47 PM
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Originally Posted by David Wren View Post
Congrats Mike ... that thing is just one of the most striking looking instruments I've seen in some time! In my opinion, maple is THE most under rated tonewood in the world ... I love it! From the sounds of the audio clip, you've really optimized it too!
Thanks Dave! I agree that it's highly under rated, maybe because is so common? I've built a couple of maple guitars over the past year and have been incredibly happy with the results!

I just got back from spending a few weeks out west and thought I'd post one more video of this guitar...



Also, after talking with a friend of mine who knows WAY more about recording than I do, I realized I had some phase issues in the first video I posted due to using two mics. I've fixed the issue and re-uploaded the video with a much truer sound than the first...



Mike
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