New Wilborn Guitars Warhorse

[Guitars44me]

I am CERTAIN the owner will be loving this CAKE!!!

Man it is a beauty

Go, Ben, Go!

Paul

[WilbornGuitars]

Originally Posted by Guitars44me

I am CERTAIN the owner will be loving this CAKE!!!

Man it is a beauty

Go, Ben, Go!

Paul

Ooh, yeah! Just wait for the frosting!

Thank you.

[TomB'sox]

Beautiful all around...now, surgeon you say???

[WilbornGuitars]

Originally Posted by TomB'sox

Beautiful all around...now, surgeon you say???

Yeah. How hard can it be?

(I would use the winking emoji here, but it's too hard to figure out....)

[iim7V7IM7]

Originally Posted by WilbornGuitars

Yeah. How hard can it be?

(I would use the winking emoji here, but it's too hard to figure out....)

, ,

[WilbornGuitars]

Body, this is neck. Neck, meet body.

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[TomB'sox]

Hello fret board meet Ben Wilborn...hmmm I think that is a Ben fretboard, but a pretty funky inlay pattern if I know my Wilborns????

[SJ VanSandt]

Originally Posted by TomB'sox

Hello fret board meet Ben Wilborn...hmmm I think that is a Ben fretboard, but a pretty funky inlay pattern if I know my Wilborns????

Isn't it Morse code? A subtle way to spell out a name? I think somewhere back a few pages it is explained.

[WilbornGuitars]

Originally Posted by TomB'sox

Hello fret board meet Ben Wilborn...hmmm I think that is a Ben fretboard, but a pretty funky inlay pattern if I know my Wilborns????

Originally Posted by SJ VanSandt

Isn't it Morse code? A subtle way to spell out a name? I think somewhere back a few pages it is explained.

Yes, it's morse code for "Dale". I have an aversion to putting names and monograms on my guitars, and Dale was kind enough to indulge me in my top-secret monogram-averting technique. It's more subtle than semaphore, anyway.

[AZ Cardinal]

Well shoot Ben, I was gonna commission an amazing guitar from you, but I was thinking I wanted you to put on the Fretboard:
"This here guitar belongs to Brad so keep your hands off it!"

Just put in morse code, cuz it does look totally cool..

[WilbornGuitars]

Originally Posted by AZ Cardinal

Well shoot Ben, I was gonna commission an amazing guitar from you, but I was thinking I wanted you to put on the Fretboard:
"This here guitar belongs to Brad so keep your hands off it!"

Just put in morse code, cuz it does look totally cool..

That's a pretty long sentence. We might have to put in on the sides.
Or maybe an acronym: THGBTBSKYHOI. That would look....great...

[WilbornGuitars]

Well, this has been a very challenging and rewarding build. I tried out some new things and expanded my repertoire. Dale had a lot of input and ideas, and I did my best to put them into practice. The results are really extraordinary, and from the aesthetics to the sound I could not be happier with this guitar.

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The Brazilian of this headstock really glows in a way that I can't capture with my iPhone. It's curly, wavy, dark and sumptuous.

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This radially constructed cocobolo rosette is a departure from my usual minimalism, but man, is it juicy looking!

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The guitar is equipped with my favorite pick up, a K and K pure mini. I had one of these custom output jacks made in snakewood by Tapastring. It is so much more appropriate on a fine guitar than the great big clunky chrome 1/4" output jacks. Well worth the extra $$!

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Frankly, my biggest concern was the multi scale set up. It changes a lot about the guitar, from a twist in the headstock angle, to an altered bracing pattern, to the manner in which the saddle is located in the asymmetrical bridge. When I strung it up, I will admit my heart rate was up a little bit. But it worked! The intonation is spot-on, and as Bruce Sexauer told me, "its exactly the same as a regular guitar, only different."

Dale was very insistent on using laminated sides, and I think I agree with him now that the stiffness and mass of the sides help the projection of the guitar.
This guitar PROJECTS! I think of it as a way of avoiding the loss of energy put forward in recoil. Like a gun, or a cannon, perhaps. The heavier and more inert the cannon, the farther the ball will travel. I don't know what the practical limits are, and certainly there are many aspects of a super-light guitar that are too wonderful to abandon in search of just projection, but this is an eye-opener for me. Laminated sides are also very strong, and very flat, so the finished guitar has an amazing mirror like reflecting surface. I like that.

The radially braced back's effect is less obvious to me. I have been making my backs more and more flexible in recent years. I think that that is where good bass response comes from (to put it simplistically). The back needs to work in concert with the top, and a radially braced back, with it's tendency to work in a simple monopole, diaphragm like way makes sense to me intuitively. I know that you can really feel this guitar's back pumping and breathing as you play. It's a great bit of bio-feedback. You can FEEL what you are playing. But I don't know how this would compare to a traditionally ladder-braced back, especially when you consider that it is built with beautiful quarter sawn old growth BRW. I mean, you have to go pretty wrong to go wrong with that.

I have been, and remain, an advocate for alternative woods in guitars. I think it is possible to build a wonderful completely satisfying guitar out of almost any hardwood, provided the top is made from an excellent piece of coniferous something. But when I build with BRW, and I see the luminous grain, and hear the glassy, musical tone of the wood in my hands, I must admit, there is nothing quite like it. Is this all psychological, because I know how rare and diminishing this wood is? I really can't say, but I do get a thrill out of building with it.

I'll be posting a demo video here pretty soon. I hope I will be able to capture the extaordinary qualities of this guitar. It's giant sounding, with big, long reverb and a fat, sweet top end that I don't usually associate with a guitar possessed of such tremendous bass. I am very proud of this one. Thank you Dale, for the challenge, and believing I could pull it off!

[TomB'sox]

Congrats Ben, that is a beauty!!! I am so use to seeing the shapes of your smaller guitar models that the Warhorse looks completely different to me. Does it still retain some of the waist forward shape you are known for?

It is stunning and knowing you just a little bit now, I can tell by your write up that you are proud of this one which usually means an amazing sounding guitar! Congrats on making your first crooked guitar as well! Just like a regular guitar, but different haha! I look forward to hearing the demo as always.

I am sure the new owner will be very pleased with this guitar.

Hmmm, wonder if some of that T-14 you have would work on a Warhorse???

Tom

[WilbornGuitars]

Originally Posted by TomB'sox

Congrats Ben, that is a beauty!!! I am so use to seeing the shapes of your smaller guitar models that the Warhorse looks completely different to me. Does it still retain some of the waist forward shape you are known for?

It is stunning and knowing you just a little bit now, I can tell by your write up that you are proud of this one which usually means an amazing sounding guitar! Congrats on making your first crooked guitar as well! Just like a regular guitar, but different haha! I look forward to hearing the demo as always.

I am sure the new owner will be very pleased with this guitar.

Hmmm, wonder if some of that T-14 you have would work on a Warhorse???

Tom

Thanks Tom! Yeah, it's a departure for me, but I'm pretty excited about the results. The body is just my WarHorse shape, but the deep cutaway gives it a very contemporary look.




And tunnel 14 for a WarHorse? Oh, absolutely. In fact, tunnel fourteen curves slightly to the left, so that means the wood is perfect for a multi scale guitar. Ummmmm, the ambient vibrations of the trains caused the, um, lower frequencies to gather in the left sides of the beams, causing a fremultatude of lambent sound fractals to develop in the xylem.
Perfect, unless you accidentally reverse the wood, and then it's a disaster.

[jaymarsch]

The Custom Guitar section has been off the charts here recently with some spectacular guitars. I am running out of superlatives and I’m a writer!! : - ) Congrats on this one.

Best,
Jayne