August 26:
Here are some final photos of the past batch of guitars which are now complete. The one with the rounded heel cap has a spruce top, a 640mm scale length, and was the first guitar I made without an elevated fingerboard in over a year. The cedar instrument pictured here is now available through the dealer Grand Salon de Guitare (Grand Guitar Salon), in Montreal.Early September:
I made a day trip to a relatively nearby tonewood mill, Acoustic Woods, to buy some cedar soundboard material. They process a ton of local cedar and spruce logs into soundboard blanks, mostly for overseas factories.
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| Panormo-esque |
1) Cedar top, Indian rosewood back/sides, 645mm scale, sound port, elevated FB, Amazon rosewood bindings, head veneer and bridge. This customer has always admired the look of Louis Panormo head stocks, so asked if I could make the head stock of this guitar look like a Panormo. I was at first ambivalent since I've always thought Panormo head stocks look cool, but also a tad sinister and don't match the curves of the rest of the guitar too well. However, after a bit of thought I decided to give it a go, seeing if I could play with the lines to give it a calmer, more matter-of-fact, modern look that might suit the Gilbert tuners it's going to have, as well as jive with the rest of the instrument.
2) European spruce top, Indian rosewood back/sides 613.5mm scale, elevated FB. This client has commissioned several other guitars from me in the past, and for variety asked if I could give this instrument a new head stock shape. Of course I agreed, but had no idea at the time what that shape would be. After carving the Panormo style head pictured above, I really liked the long flat string ramps, the short distance between the tuner slots and the end of the head stock, and the overall bluntness of the design. So this new shape tries to keep those qualities, and also look a little gentler and more friendly.Both instruments are assembled, finishing will begin soon.
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| Spruce guitar: sides secured in the heel with wedges, time for tentellones |
Cedar guitar: soundboard bracing just glued on |
Bracing being shaped |
Late September to Early October :
On top of the guitars being built, I did some repairs for a couple of clients. Gluing cracks and refretting a Martin D-16:
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... and making an ebony armrest:
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| Cardboard template made and a piece of ebony selected and cut out |
Recess routed away on the bottom of the rest, will be cleaned up with hand tools |
Gluing it on |
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| Finish masked, ready to shape with a spoke shave and sanding block |
Shaping almost complete | Shaping complete and some wiping varnish applied |
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| Done | Another view |
Arm rests like this are a new custom option on my guitars. I was a little slow adopting the feature since I've tried a few on other instruments that were uncomfortable for my right shoulder. After carefully considering all of the possibilities and variables (including the bevel type rest), what you see here is the design I like best. It doesn't cause that shoulder tension that some shapes can. And by holding the player's arm away from the top it has the benefits of allowing that edge of the soundboard to vibrate better, of keeping the finish and the soundboard wood from getting worn, and of softening the pressure point on the right forearm.