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#1
04-07-2021, 08:19 AM
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Tamarindo Cutaway for Dream Guitars (Indian Hill)
Hello everyone! I thought I'd catch you all up on one of the guitars I currently have on the go that will eventually make it's way down to Dream Guitars this fall. For this build I'm using a wood you almost definitely have never seen on a guitar -- tamarindo! As far as we (and the internet) can tell, there have only been three guitars made with tamarindo -- two classicals by my shopmate Jeremy (52 Instrument Co.) and an electric by another shopmate, Oliver (Quinn Guitars). Both Jeremy and Oliver got boards at a local exotic wood dealer and once Jeremy re-sawed and analyzed a slice he found out that it has phenomenal properties as a tonewood that are on par with brazilian rosewood and African blackwood. Plus, it looks like this...
 (Jeremy Clark, 52 Instrument Co.) So, I definitely had to give it a try! One of the challenges in working with tamarindo is that the color changes drastically when freshly sanded so it takes some manipulation to get it back to a darker and more appealing color. In the picture below you can see that the back is fully oxidized (the outside of the board) while the freshly sanded sides sitting behind the lutz spruce top are much lighter...  This is the first time I'll be doing a venetian cutaway on my Grand Concert shape so there was a bit of design work involved. You can see the two paths the cutaway will follow -- the top coming flush with the fingerboard and the back twisting farther in to follow the taper of the heel...  I'm using a fantastic lutz spruce top for this build that hits all the marks I'm looking for in terms of material properties (density, stiffness, speed of sound, etc.)...  It's quite a process to get the sides laminated and joined while making sure everything lines up exactly where I need it to. The fingerboard eventually needs to line up exactly flush with the sides for this style of cutaway to work but that only happens after the rims have been arched, the top glued on, and then bound. So, with all that material being taken away and then added, it takes some careful planning to make sure that after all those steps things will end up where I want them. It's very very exciting to get to this point...  You can see the twist in the cutaway below...  More and more as of late I've been laminating my backs and did so in this case as well with a thin layer of yellow cedar. The tamarindo is by far the dominant part in this equation and I was absolutely blown away by how resonant the back was before gluing it on...  And a couple of steps from making the rosette...    After "finishing" the rosette I was back at home and it popped into my head what I really wanted to do. So, I ended up changing it to this...  And that more or less catches us up! Like I mentioned I'm building this one for Dream Guitars to be delivered in the fall. It is for pre-sale and my last build for them was snatched up before even making it down there so keep that in mind and thanks for looking! 
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#2
04-07-2021, 11:08 AM
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Looking good Mike. I love the almost rusty color.
I once saw an amazing spalted Tamirindo (at least that's what they called it) made by Ryan Guitars at last year's NAMM. I took a picture of it, but I need to go back and find it. I'm looking forward to seeing this come together.
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#3
04-07-2021, 01:25 PM
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Mike: It's looking great - I especially love the cutaway and the rosette! Really excited to hear how this one turns out!
This will be one to one to covet, folks, Mike builds phenomenal guitars and he's a complete pleasure to work with. I've been wondering about how your grand concert would do with a 27" scale with mediums tuned to D... Hope you're doing well!
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#4
04-07-2021, 02:52 PM
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Does anyone know what Tamarindo actually is botanically? Is it the Tamarind tree from whence come the pods used in flavoring and cooking? Or is it something else and is called Tamarindo because of its color (or for some other reason?) Did you say where it is from (originally)? I don't recall it but could have missed something.
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#5
04-07-2021, 06:50 PM
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How is this different from Tamarind? (which has had a number of guitars made from it.) They don't look the same at all.
__________________
The Bard Rocks Fay OM Sinker Redwood/Tiger Myrtle Sexauer L00 Adk/Magnolia For Sale Hatcher Jumbo Bearclaw/"Bacon" Padauk Goodall Jumbo POC/flamed Mahogany Appollonio 12 POC/Myrtle MJ Franks Resonator, all Australian Blackwood Goodman J45 Lutz/fiddleback Mahogany Blackbird "Lucky 13" - carbon fiber '31 National Duolian + many other stringed instruments.
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#6
04-07-2021, 07:56 PM
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The more common Tamarind (Tamarindus indica) is what some of you have probably seen on guitars or eaten the fruit in different sauces. Tamarindo (Dialium guianense) has a similar common name but is surprisingly an unrelated tree! For the detail curious, more info here...
https://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/T...zmOOF-xQmgWatg Quote:
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#7
04-08-2021, 01:35 AM
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That is a beautiful rosette Mike. Very original and quite pretty.
__________________
Kinnaird Guitars
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#8
04-08-2021, 06:46 PM
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#9
04-12-2021, 08:00 AM
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With the rosette finished up it's on to bracing this incredible lutz top. You can see a slot around the sound hole that will eventually hold the tornavoz...
 Below the top is fully braced and getting prepped to be glued it on. This step is a good example of how I try to manage my builds by always thinking about the process and at what point accuracy counts. When making my neck block and preparing to join the rim, I could spend a ton of time trying to get the foot (mahogany extension under the fingerboard) to be the exact length I'm looking for and perfectly perpendicular. Or, just leave it long and not worry about it! Once I get to this point, I'll lay my top on the rim, press the upper cross brace to the end of the block and get a rough idea of how long and off square the foot is. If it's about 10 mm long, I'll cut off around 9 mm with a handsaw, clamp down a straight edge, and rout off the end of the foot. I'll then put the top back on, see how far off my center line is in the lower bout, slightly tweak the straight edge and rout again. Usually it takes two or so of these mini-adjustments and I'm bang on center along the length of the guitar with my upper brace perfectly butted up against the foot -- all without measuring!  And one more of the rosette, now with the sound hole cut out...  I had a nice chat a week or two ago with Zach Lefebvre (TreeHouse Guitars) and Eric Lawrence (Red13 Guitars) as part of their Friday Shoptalk series. I go into a bit of my story of how I got into lutherie, what it's like to work in a coop, how I approach building, and all sorts of other topics for the lutherie curious! Thanks for looking!
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#10
05-12-2021, 08:19 AM
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Time for an update! Things are going great with this build and the woodwork is just about done on the body. Continuing on from where I left off, first up is prepping the end-graft inlay...
 Getting the miters cut...  End-graft installed and the body bound...  Looking good fully bound!  Below you can really see how the side twists to meet the taper of the heel. It's very satisfying to finally get to this point and have everything line up where it needs to...  Mostly cleaned up...  It's quite the dusty job routing out a tenon!  Roughing out the soundhole bevel...  And about halfway through the many many steps to carve my bridge...  And here we are! As I mentioned before, this one is being built from Dream Guitars to be delivered this fall. Someone bought my last build for them before it was shipped so keep that in mind and please get in touch with any questions, thanks!
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#11
05-12-2021, 08:38 AM
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Looking lovely Mike. I'm very intrigued by the tamarindo, which also appears to be called Jutahy according to Dr Google..
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#12
05-12-2021, 10:15 AM
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Nootis—Here is a shot of a Ryan in spalted tamarind, not sure if it is the NAMM guitar or even the same species but pretty eye-catching: https://www.facebook.com/ryanguitars...3787951104821/
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#13
05-12-2021, 10:53 AM
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#14
05-12-2021, 07:55 PM
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Mike, I love your guitars (aesthetically, as I have not yet had the privilege to play one), and I am very interested to see how this one turns out. New back and side wood!
Of course the Tamarindo turns out to be a legume. King of plant families! (at least for guitars) Jamie
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#15
05-13-2021, 07:39 AM
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Quote:
Thanks Jamie! I'm quite excited to see how this turns out as well -- especially since Tamarindo oxidizes quite quickly and there's going to be a pretty big color change over the next month.
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