Chasson Jumbo and Concert for TAMCO

[Kent Chasson]

I'm working on 2 more for The Acoustic Music Company.

The first is a full 17" wide Sitka/Maple jumbo. I don't get to build too many of these so I was happy that Trevor wanted one. I sent him photos of 2 of the sets of Maple I have and he chose my favorite of the two. It is not the traditional straight even flame but a bit more organic. There is amazing depth to the figure which of course will show up even more under finish.

He's also getting the first of my re-designed Concert Models. I offered a Concert many years ago but after several design tweaks, it grew to Auditorium size. The new one is back to 15" at the lower bout and pretty excited to get one strung up. I love that size.

I was finishing a Parlor at the same time I was gluing linings on the Jumbo. Gives you an idea of the size range!



We decided on a high contrast theme with all ebony trim and Black/White purfling lines.



The back was probably just barely wide enough but I decided to go ahead and add the wedged back stripe. I've always liked that look and the extra width gave me some leeway.



I then decided to reverse the typical direction of the end graft taper to mirror the back stripe.





I'll get some photos of the Concert up soon. Thanks for looking.

[KolayaGuitars]

This is very nice! Love the back strip continuation through the end graft. Very clean work!

[Simon Fay]

Very nice job on the tail inlay - a subtle difference but one that I think makes a big overall impact. Beautiful work!!!

[Larry Pattis]

Excellent...

[Joel Stehr]

Sweet! Nice details and stunning maple!

Joel

[ChuckS]

That looks extremely nice Kent.

[Steve Kinnaird]

Yeah Kent, sweet tail wedge detail. Very clever.

Steve

[Trevor M]

Thanks Kent, Love the parlour/jumbo shot it would be great to see a similar shot of finished guitars sometime.

The end graft and back stripe is inspirational, one of those simple ideas that makes you think 'why has no one thought of that before.'

Its a while since I've had a 17" in stock, years ago the big jumbo was my favourite size, mow its OO, not sure what that says.. bit I am really looking forward to this one, you never know I might change back, or have two favourite sizes..

[racman]

Beautiful looking guitar already Kent!

[jeastman]

Beautiful work. That's going to look amazing under finish.

[Mark Hatcher]

Kent,

That center and end graft combo is striking! Really great design.

Mark

[Kent Chasson]

Thanks for the kind words everybody.

[Tom Doerr]

Great work Kent! I actually saw your wenge guitar today as I was dropping off my guitars to Tony's. There even better in person

[Kent Chasson]

An update with lots of photos.

The Jumbo is on the way to finish. I'll get more photos of that when it's shiny.

For now, the new Concert Model. It has an Engelmann Spruce top, Wenge Back/Sides with Leopardwood trim.

This shot is a bit distorted but it gives you an idea of the new shape.





I've really changed my methods of work over the years. I've increased the amount of hand work I do while refining the machine work and I'm really happy with the balance. I used to use the jointer to prep my plates for gluing but I've gone back to a hand plane. It's just as fast and it's quiet and enjoyable.




And I've gone from vacuum clamping back to the old fashioned go-bar deck. Mostly it's just quieter but vacuum doesn't work very well with the hot hide glue I use for top bracing.



On the other end of the spectrum is my pin router (the one on the left). I think this is the coolest tool in the shop but I may be alone in that. It's used for pattern cutting. There is a pin in the table centered on the bit. A pattern rides on the pin and the bit cuts to the shape of the pattern. But the cool thing about it is that the pin size is variable so I can fine tune the cut without messing with the pattern.





Here it is with my rosette pattern. The two patterns are for two different sizes. The pin rides in the channel and the router bit above cuts the recess for the rosette.

[Kent Chasson]

This is the male pattern to cut the inlay. Here's where the adjustable pin comes in. I don't want the inlay to be the same size as the slot. I want it smaller by the width of the purfling plus a little extra slop because everything expands when you add glue. So with the same pattern, I can use different thicknesses of purfling by changing the size of the pin. I have a set of pins graduated in .001" increments so In can really fine tune it.





Here are segments of the rosette before and after purfling.





The router leaves rounded corners so before inlaying, I have to go back and square the corners with a small chisel. That and the mitered purfling is why I finally broke down and bought these loupes! They drive you batty after awhile (no wonder dentists are sadistic!) but they momentarily restore my slowly fading eyesight.



Got the top on tonight and will do final voicing tomorrow (more hand work).

Thanks for indulging me.