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I finally took the time to take some shots of my first build and was looking foward to posting them here. I built this guitar at one of Frank Finocchio's steel string classes this past September, and had the time of my life . It really helped to have someone like Frank guide a newbie like me along the road on the first one, and catch any mistakes early enough in the process that they could be addressed and be corrected before it was too late.

This guitar is one of Frank's designs, called the Prima, somewhere around an 000 size. Suits my style perfectly as I favor fingerstyle playing. We used Adirondack for the top and some local walnut from some wood which was from a neighbors tree that came down. We got to do our own inlay and headstock design which allowed us to participate in the creative process and build our own unique design.

I had Dale Bartholomew in Easton PA spray the laquer for me, and he did a wonderful job. I really love the way it came out and it sounds great, my favorite in my stash, of course I could be slightly biased .

Currently, I am working feverishly on setting up a shop so I can attempt one Solo, I'm hooked!

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Kurt Thomas

"There's a first time for everything even if you do it by mistake."

That's a very tasteful looking guitar! Nice work.
Congrats!

Now the bad news- you're hooked!

Cheers
John

Very nice. Is that walnut with an Adi top?

Oops, I guess I should read your thread first

Nice job, yup you're hooked, better get that 2nd mortgage

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Shucks, I give up.

The firsts keep getting better and better!!!

I love the striping in the soundboard, and the rouuunnndness of the guitar shape.

Well done!!

Looks good...

I love walnut, and I grew up in Pen Argyl - about 15 minutes from Easton...

Great!!!
Stephen

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www.ziegenfussguitars.com

That's a great looking guitar. Nice work!

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

Great start KT, very nice. Just curious - are your bridge pins seated?

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A higher purpose for wood.
Rich Smith
Issaquah, WA

Wow, fantastic first! You must be very proud. I don't think I could make a 10th guitar that nice. Look forward to seeing your next guitar!

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Tracy
http://www.luthiersuppliers.com

hey Kurt Nice job ! man that guitar looks familiar !! LOL Jody

Thanks guys for the kind words,

Re: 2nd mortgage: not necessary as my wife and I are selling our BIG house in the city, and buying a small place out in the country under the pretense it will give my wife more room to garden. Of course now there is a real nice spot to build a small shop on a little hill just up from the house .

Re: Seated bridge pins : one of the questions I had a while back for this formum was whether I should put solid or notched pins in, seems the consensus was solid pins with a notched bridge was the way to go. So I got the stings fitted pretty well into the bridge, but I need to ream just a tad more to get them fully seated.

Jody, finish came out pretty good huh? When are you going to get yours done .......don't want to leave it in the white for too long, termites and all ya know.

Kurt

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Kurt Thomas

"There's a first time for everything even if you do it by mistake."

Nice looking guitar!

I am another one that is here because of the good lessons that I learned at Frank Finoccio's school. I know there are several others that attended his school also. It wasnt until I went there that some of the light bulbs went off in my head and questions I didnt even know to ask were answered. Since leaving there my guitar building has blossomed and my creativity has flourished also. I still have the prima I built while there and I will keep this one forever as a part of my collection.

Now that you have that behind you, I'm interested in seeing what you will build next!

Congrats!

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Reguards,

Ken H

Great job Kurt! Congratulations on your first!
Turned out fantastic!

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Billy Dean Thomas
Covina, CA

"Multi famam, conscientiam, pauci verentur."
(Many fear their reputation, few their conscience)

Not too shabby for a first effort!

I'm curious though, did you make the neck from scratch in the class, or use a pre-made blank like in Frank's DVD?

Dave F.

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Cambrian Guitars

"There goes Mister Tic-Tac out the back with some bric-brac from the knick-knack rack"

Another Finocchio graduate here. What a great guy and Ken is right - the light bulbs really start going off. His class definitely takes years off of the learning process. Highly recommended if you can do it.

Great looking guitar - love the Adi

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John Ressler

Dave,

Yup, we used a neck blank just like he does in the video, the only thing though was he would not let anyone leave the class if the headstock looked anything "Martin". One of the other guys in the class worships the cleanliness of the Martin headstock design, and refused to make any modifications, Frank has had him locked in the boiler room closet since my class in September.

I went to Franks class all because of that DVD that he has on steel string construction, definately was a great way to get started I think. Since he made the DVD, he does do some things a bit differently, one of the most interesting changes, is the way he gets the initial neck angle. On the DVD, he puts a spacer under the tail end of the guitar and sands in the angle. Now, he uses a 32' radius sanding disc, we were the first to try this radius and the angle came out perfect. Frank had been experimenting with different radius dishes and was celbrating like a madman when the 32 came out perfectly.

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Kurt Thomas

"There's a first time for everything even if you do it by mistake."

Hey great first guitar! I am so impressed with the work of all you first timers. I wish you could have seen my first guitar, or perhaps I should say I am glad you can't see my first guitar.

Anyway, good clean work and creative designing.

John

Looks like a really fine guitar, good clean construction. Great start!

Really nice job, especially for the first one!!

Billy - love the glasses you put on JJ's cat..er...dog!

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Mitch

Great guitar Kurt - you should pat yourself on the back and be very, very proud my friend!

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Ann Arbor Guitars