Tag: guitar

Dreadnoughts

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For your approval, some photos of the M-45 Dreadnought, in Hemlock & Claro Walnut, just after polishing and yet to receive a pickguard.  This guitar is patterned after an excellent 1935 Gibson Original Jumbo, with knife edge bracing, no popsicle brace, two scalloped tone bars, and a small maple bridge plate.  Working with an awesome customer with great taste, we went with a 1940’s sunburst and a Brazilian Rosewood belly bridge.  Rounding the guitar out is buttery smooth Waverly ivoroid-button tuners and amber binding.  The neck is Spanish Cedar with a c-carve and 1.75″ nut width.  The M-45 will get a Dazzo Pickup for beautiful amplification.  The Hemlock has many of the qualities of Adirondack Spruce, and was sawn from a very old and fine grained beam from a building in Wisconsin.  The Walnut does a wonderful job of mellowing the guitar, and providing focus for the tone of the top.  After just a few hours being strung up, the whole guitar comes alive when strummed, having the rotund authority of a vintage Gibson, and offers a very strong bass response while being reasonably balanced across the range.  A singer or flatpickers dream!

The wonderful Adam Kiesling and AJ Srubas just posted some videos including the Miller Roy Smeck Dreadnought. The guitar is constructed of Adirondack Spruce and Big Leaf Maple with a 1934 sunburst and unusual blonde back and sides. This is a 24.75″ scale, 12 frets-to-body dreadnought with extra depth. Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

Fall 2016

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Another wonderful Fall is upon us, and I’ve been doing repairs, building an M-45 sunburst and getting married! This guitar is a sort of mashup of late 1930’s to mid 1940’s appointments, with a claro walnut back & sides, old-growth Hemlock top (rings like a bell!), and spanish cedar neck. I am very excited to hear this guitar’s voice! This one is going to a wonderful customer in New York, NY, and I think he will be pleased.

 

 

Buckaroo Recap

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The Lil’ Buckaroo was completed on Day 10, with the combined efforts of myself and Aaron Tacke, and by all accounts it was a success!  Here is the details:

Aaron called me from Minneapolis, suggesting we collaborate and build a quick guitar for a friend.  We would build a 1937-spec L-OO out of all local walnut and whatever spruce was on hand, build it in about a week, and have it ready to play for the Portland Old Time Music Gathering on January 17th, 2015.  We talked briefly about having it be top-bound, black painted, and put a few supplies on order.  I don’t think I seriously believed that we could do it (and have any finish on it), but when I returned from a days work at the bike shop to find the top and back joined and sides thicknessed, and brace stock milled, I was thrilled to dive into the build.  The only pieces I had prepared ahead of time was a rough walnut neck blank slotted for a two-way truss rod, and a Brazilian Rosewood bridge I had from a previous build.  The rest would be made from raw stock.

Here is the specs:

1937 Gibson L-OO 14 frets to body, 24 3/4″ scale length, 1 3/4″ ebony nut

Sitka Spruce top and bracewood with a very well-aged maple bridgeplate

Claro Walnut back, sides, neck

Palisander Rosewood fingerboard and Brazilian Rosewood bridge with a bone through-saddle

ivoroid celluloid binding and rosette

Finish is enamel and oil varnish.

And it’s for sale!

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New Build, Old Build Update

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Adirondack Spruce Soundboard, before thicknessing and jointing.

Adirondack Spruce Soundboard, before thicknessing and jointing.


I’ve begun on the first Portland-made Miller guitar! It’ll be Adirondack Spruce top and bracing, with Claro Walnut neck, back and sides. The fingerboard and bridge will be a very Brazilian-esque Palisander Rosewood, and the headstock will be very 1930s: black lacquered rather than veneered, tapered, and possibly with a stenciled logo. It’ll be very close to 1937 specs, with fresh hot hide glue, a through-saddle, and celluloid galore. Stay tuned!

This past weekend, Joanna and I performed and taught at the Olympia Old Time Festival. Plenty of fun, music, and guitar-geeking was achieved. You can check us out at http://www.facebook.com/coupe.duet

Here is the Coupe Duet playing at a local breakfast joint. I am playing the Miller F5, and Joanna is playing an awesome x-braced Harmony conversion.

Here is the Coupe Duet playing at a local breakfast joint. I am playing the Miller F5, and Joanna is playing an awesome x-braced Harmony conversion.

Because the spruce has beautifully ambered, I figured that I would post some updated photos of the Roy Smeck Dreadnought. I’ve received a commission to build another one this spring; this will be a (late 20s) hand-rubbed sunburst with maple back and sides. Exciting!P1100965P1100975P1100977

Philly Trip Recap

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This month I had the pleasure of taking a guitar-centric, weeklong vacation to Philadelphia.  I have a good friend who heads the violin restoration department at Vintage Instruments, a longstanding shop that deal in fine violins, guitars, mandolins, and banjos.  The owner, Fred Oster, has a vast knowledge of historic instruments, and has done an excellent job gathering an impressive array of classic examples.  If you’re interested in a Gibson or Martin guitar made between 1916 and 1960, you could not find a better place to find one.  If you’d like to play a Banner-Head Gibson, there are a half-dozen to chose from.  If you like a Gibson L-OO, there are a baker’s dozen.  If you aren’t in the market, you will soon be after visiting.  It felt as though I were stepping back through time, to a place where amazing, golden-era guitars are readily accessible, where you might be able to strum a big E Major on a ’37 D-18, then set it down and try a ’35 D-18, a ’35 Gibson Jumbo, and a ’39 Herringbone.  I can tell you, my heart was beating rapidly throughout my visit.  The goal of my trip was to soak up as much first-hand experience with pre-WWII American guitars as possible.  It was a complete success!

I was able to take lots of notes of early Gibson construction, feel, and finish, and will certainly be creating new instruments that reflect the great old guitars I witnessed at Vintage Instruments.

 

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Build Complete, Bluegrass, and SNOW.

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ivoroid cut by hand

ivoroid cut by hand

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P1090275So, after 7 weeks of building, the dreadnought is together, fretted, inlayed, carved, and jsut about ready to be sprayed with lacquer. Unfortunately, we must first complete a finishing class before we will all cut loose in the spray booth. That means 7 weeks of practice sanding, color-matching, sunbursting, grain-filling, spraying, more sanding, etc. We’ll also have a Repairs Class, where we practice routing for pickups and necks in electric guitar bodies, make oodles of guitar nuts, and squeeze in some self-directed repair work. This will all of course be scrutinized by our stringent taskmaster, so I will be sanding my fingers to the bone! I’m pumped!

This past weekend the Minnesota Bluegrass and Old Time Music Association had it’s winter wingding at a big hotel just west of Minneapolis. A bunch of us old time musicians made our way out there, danced our hineys off, and played tunes to boot. I had a great time, hung out and played tunes with some great folks like Chirps Smith, Bill Peterson, and Clancy from Port Wing Donut Fame, not to mention the awesome Twin Cities crowd. I even got in some bluegrass and honky tonk while I was at it!

Next week is SPRING BREAK, and I’ll be living it up Midwest Style, going to a square dancing festival, skiing, hot tubbing, visiting luthiers (and saunas) from Northwest Minnesota clear down to Madison Wisconsin. Whee!

Pictures of Stuff!

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With one week of Construction Class to go, I’ve carved the heel, set the neck (a careful adjustment of the dovetail joint considering neck extension height, centerline, and twist), profiled the headstock (complete with a vintage taper), drilled for tuners, and glued the neck in with hot hide glue.

Next up is to glue on the fingerboard, finish carving the neck, fretting, and oodles of sanding. I’ve got a pretty neat headstock inlay in the works, but I’m working out the kinks before I commit to it. I’ll give you a hint: it involves ivoroid sheetstock and is in the classic Gibson style.

This weekend I have the pleasure of attending the 7th Annual Port Wing Donut Fry in upper Wisconsin; it was a blast. Picture, if you can, a town hall built in the 1940’s crammed with children playing, a lengthy talent show, epic potluck, and thousands of delicious donuts being fried in freshly-rendered lard. A very tender Midwestern experience for me.

I also had the pleasure of staying at Sarah and Clancy’s homestead; a beautiful timber-framed solar-powered house. They even had a log cabin sauna. Wow.

And now for the evidence:
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And more pizza! These are bacon-goat cheese-beet-arugula-mozarella. Best ever.

And more pizza! These are bacon-goat cheese-beet-arugula-mozarella. Best ever.

Tailgraft, binding, and plug cutters!

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The tailgraft is in, the box is bound, and I made some nifty ivoroid position markers. So, you’ll notice that I have a thing for ivoroid, the grained celluloid so favored by the fretted instrument makers of the (first) golden age of American Lutherie. I’ve loved the look of ivoroid fret markers, but haven’t been able to purchase them. So, I made some.

For the 1/4″ markers on the face of the fretboard, I was able to use a commercial plug cutter to cut some out of ivoroid sheet stock. For the petite side markers, I took the example of Frank Ford at FRETS.com and fabricated a plug cutter out of brass tube stock. It made some nice 3/32″ plugs when chucked into the drill press. Sweet!

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Voicing the Guitar

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My wonderful Lie-Nielsen low-angle apron plane. Not a required tool in the program, but such a help

My wonderful Lie-Nielsen low-angle apron plane. Not a required tool in the program, but such a help

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An exciting event has come and gone; I have voiced my first guitar top.  Following the concepts of Dana Bourgeois and the guidance of my instructor, I flexed and tapped the braced top, listening for tone, sound quality, and response.  Bits of spruce bracing were shaved off, the height of the finger braces were lowered.  I’m using an exceptionally stiff piece of Adirondack Spruce (Picea rubens), so I was able to elegantly taper my braces into smooth arcs.  When finished, I could tap the top nearly anywhere and be met with clear, musical tones.  It felt like tuning a marimba key, shaving away bit by bit, until it seemed as good as it could be.  This should make the guitar truly speak.Image

Next, I quickly braced the back, which is a lovely peice of Claro Walnut from Oregon.Image 

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So: the top and back are joined and braced, the rosette installed, the soundhole cut, the top and back are joined and braced; the sides are bent, blocks are glued in and shaped, half of the kerfing is glued, templates are made for neck and headstock shape. 

By the end of next week, I should likely have the box closed up, binding channel routed, fingerboard shaped and slotted, neck cut out and begun getting shaped, truss rod channel routed…

Meanwhile, back at home I’m graduating F5 mandolin plates, fabricating spool clamps, managed to get the 1-18 Martin copy (home build, starting last spring) going with the top and back joined, thicknessed and cut out.  I’m going full tilt, trying to stay productive and still get a nights sleep.  We had a great visit from a friend and prospective student from New Orleans; I’m sure he enjoyed our below-zero windchill (although it wasn’t too cold at 9 degrees F).  Till next time, friends.