Official Luthiers Forum!

Hey all,

Here is my most recent finished (Mostly) build... There are several odds and ends on the list, but I am going to play it for a couple weeks to let it open up and see how she does.

I still have a little finish up work, but the strings have been on for 2-days now... The initial setup is done... etc.

I brought the Body down to the OLF South Carolina Get Together back in late summer... Several other forum members got to fondle the body in the white...

Specs:
Ditson GC pattern Parlor size guitar (13 1/2" across the lower bout)
24.9" scale
Body: Home Depot lumber Quartersawn Red Oak, Mahogany bindings, Cherry and Walnut purflings and rosette.
Neck: Home Depot lumber Quartersawn Red Oak
Top: Lutz from an old logging road timber, 65' radius.
Bracing: 2x4 spruce, Dumpster salvaged....
Bridge: Honduras RW

So far, so good on Sound...
It is very balanced and seems to have a sort of "Enveloping" sound. It isn't super loud "Projecting" but sounds quite loud when you are sitting close by... and especially when sitting on the couch laid back playing.

It is quite a bit more "Chimey" sounding than its Flat topped Cherry body older brother, but not as chimey sounding as a full on Rosewood guitar..


Front


Sides


Back.

Thanks

John

Well, I like it!

I like it too

I'm curious if the red oak neck feels heavy or about the same as a regular mahogany neck?

_________________
Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Congrats John!

Looking great! Can you stop grinning?

You've got to tell us more.......how does it balance (neck heavy etc.) And I would like to hear you describe your impression of the red oak. Of course, I've never heard a Ditson, so you may have to describe how a Ditson parlor sounds first....then describe the influence of the red oak. Was it tough to carve the red oak neck?

Thanks for showing the pics.

_________________
Formerly known as Adaboy.......

The neck by itself is quite a bit heavier than a Mahogany neck -- maybe 2x as heavy.
Carving it wasn't bad -- it went well with a Veritas Spoke shave, a #49 Nicholson rasp and plenty of sandpaper.... It is much harder than Mahogany, but straight grain, unfigured oak is fairly well behaved (Not splitty, not cracky, etc.) You can work it pretty hard without any tearout or trouble... The challenge was that the porous rings are *Very* soft... so you have to be careful about leaving a weird corrugated surface on the neck... Sandpaper took care of it without any trouble, though.

And.. It had a really neat smoky/vanilla sort of smell to it while carving and sanding... Very nice.

It doesn't feel unbalanced or neck heavy on the guitar, though -- I think the body was a little on heavy side because of a solid oak Head block and some fairly thick sides... I wanted to try out "Stiff Sides" so I bent them at 1/8"+ thick.. which is actually quite easy with Oak once you get it hot and wet. Of course, this made sanding down the rims a little harder...

My goal on the little ones is to get the sound balanced and to make sure it has enough Bass and Mids to balance out the Trebles... It will never have the "Whomp" of a well built Dread, but I really feel like they do need to have a well balanced, full sound... and that is my goal.

It does sound quite a bit different than the Cherry/Lutz Ditson, but I have a hard time pinning down the difference in sound specifically to the Oak... This one had a 65' radius vs a true Flat top, a Hon RW "Flat" bridge vs Ebony "Pyramid" bridge, an X-angle that was a little wider, The back was a little thicker than the Cherry back (~0.085" Oak vs 0.070" cherry..)... and several other little things here and there.... So which one of those things is the difference in the Sound?

I gotta see if I can get a recording of the two side by side....

Thanks

John