Hatcher Bacchus model baritone

[Mark Hatcher]

Originally Posted by nootis

Very inspiring Mr. Hatcher!

I agree with everyone else. This is going to be way too cool, and it will be great to follow along and see it all come to fruition together.

I'm a sucker for Sinker, a sucker for a baritone, and your work always seem to suck me in, so thank you for including us along in your journey.

Thanks nootis, my pleasure

Originally Posted by ukejon

Fretboard inlay?



By the way Mark, it is risky to go to market with this gorgeous baritone without adequate field testing. So for free I will accept your first model and play test it for the next year or two. Will provide a thorough report after that. You have my address.....

That's a great image of Bacchus! It just oozes baritone.
And thanks for the field testing offer

Originally Posted by Marcus Wong

Wow. You are using some pretty stunning woods for this build, looking forward to seeing it unravel

Thanks Marcus,

I'm betting from past experiences with these woods that they are a great combo for a baritone.

Thanks Again,
Mark

[Mark Hatcher]

Here's a shot of the back being joined. My guitars may seem to always start so slow but, the real work in the beginning is the planning and gathering. Sometimes, like with this one I need to build some things used to make the guitar. I suppose they would start off faster if I were just making something I've done before but, I try quite hard not to do that!

[Mark Hatcher]

Not much to show with the work I'm doing on Bacchus today. I've been developing the mold I'm using for shaping the back. Typically, a guitar back is domed, a 15 foot radius is pretty common. It gives the back a little more rigidity. Also, wood expands and contracts with changes in humidity and a dome tends to rise and sink as opposed to crush and crack if it is flat and has nowhere to go.
Due to the guitar's 17 inch lower bout width I am going with a much tighter radius across the width of the guitar which will raise the center without increasing the thickness of the sides, making for an easier reach for the player. That's not so hard but, I'm not going with that same tight radius going top to bottom. That just doesn't work for me and I don't like the look. So lengthwise, I'm keeping it fairly normal. I did some research to find just what to call that type of multi radius doom shape and knew I was on the right path when I realized my Bacchus model is going to have the type of doom that is on the side of a wine cask



Thanks for following along!
Mark

[mikealpine]

I'm a sucker for Sinker!! This is going to be amazing!

[Mark Hatcher]

Originally Posted by mikealpine

I'm a sucker for Sinker!! This is going to be amazing!

Thanks Mike!

I got the mold for building the back done today. As I'd mentioned earlier, I'm running a pretty tight curve across the back to make it comfortable and to draw up more air volume into the center of the guitar. The curve from heel bock to neck block is a normal 15 foot radius. The cross radius is a much tighter 4 foot. Here is a picture of the mold I'll build the back on;



Thanks for viewing!
Mark

[Mark Hatcher]

With the mold done to make my cask back I can actually work on the guitar some. The back is now joined, roughly cut out, and the back graft is going on here;



I can also create the template for cutting out the sides. The tight cross section radius causes the sides to thin down more than usual as they reach the widest points at the upper and lower bouts. So when you look at a side before it's bent the bottom will look quite wavy.

Thanks for following along!
Mark

[Mark Hatcher]

Here are a couple pictures of the back getting set up. I am shaping the center graft and gluing on the braces and logo chip;

[Mark Hatcher]

I mentioned earlier that with the tight radius on the back it creates quite a bit of curvature on the cut of the side to line up correctly. Since I have two different radii on what I am calling my cask back I can't just spin the sides in a radius dish to fit, the sides need to be cut up front and they need to be pretty accurate. Here they are;



We'll find out how I did tomorrow;



Thanks for viewing!
Mark

[SJ VanSandt]

I love your new photos, Mark - very much like a good illustrator or printmaker would come up with. That back looks like quite a departure from the norm: I hope it all comes together as planned.

[Tim Porter]

Beautiful woods; great start! What scale length will you be using?

[Mark Hatcher]

Originally Posted by SJ VanSandt

I love your new photos, Mark - very much like a good illustrator or printmaker would come up with. That back looks like quite a departure from the norm: I hope it all comes together as planned.

Thanks SJ VanSandt, Glad you like the look of these photos. I like the idea of holding onto a theme when I build a guitar as well as when running a build thread. Just trying to keep it fresh. I have high hopes for this back working out the way I plan. It works well from every angle (on paper anyway!)

Originally Posted by Tim Porter

Beautiful woods; great start! What scale length will you be using?

Thanks Tim!, This guitar will be 28.5" on the base side to 27" on the treble

Mark

[Mark Hatcher]

I am working through the rosette for Bacchus. A grapevine seems quite fitting.
Here is what I've worked up so far. If the guitar was on a stand this would go up the left side inside a 3/4" thick ring;



It will be all woods. The rosette ring will be curly Cherry. The grapevine leaves will be Lignum Vitae which turns a nice green pretty quickly in sunlight (I had some sunbathing today). Lignum Vitae means "Tree of Life" in Latin. The grapes will be Bloodwood. The actual vine will be Bloodwood, Cocobolo, maybe Black Walnut (still playing with that one). I'll mock one up before making the final decision.

[ross748]

Very nice and creative vision with the wood choice Mark. Can't wait to see this.

[cigarfan]

Love the idea for the rosette. Will be exciting to see how you work the "all wood" design. Awesome.

[Mark Hatcher]

Originally Posted by ross748

Very nice and creative vision with the wood choice Mark. Can't wait to see this.

Originally Posted by cigarfan

Love the idea for the rosette. Will be exciting to see how you work the "all wood" design. Awesome.

Thanks ross748 and cigarfan,

The Lignum Vitae got it's sun tan yesterday and the green started to come up. Here is a picture of the woods for the rosette;



Thanks!
Mark