Official Luthiers Forum!

She sings

Well after 2 years, she's finally finished (well almost). Life tends to take precedent over our hobbies that's for sure.

I really wanted to hear this one sing. The box was finished construction in Jan 2007 and I'm just finishing it off now . Thanks ok, I've had a great year of pain and suffering but it was all worth it.

After some suggestion from my wife I've named the guitar Grace. The #5 represents grace and the definition of Grace is this: Grace is an enabling power for progression. It is an indispensable gift for development, improvement & character expansion, irrespective of actions, earned worth or proven goodness.

Ok specs on this guitar

It's an OM size but deeper body
15" lower bout
19-1/2" length
4-5/8" at the tail
4" at the heel of the neck
Scale is 25.4"

Curly maple back and sides
WRC top with spaulted maple rosette
All these woods came form Jason Voth (where are you buddy?) just down the highway from me

The neck is a 5 piece lamination of Mahogany/Maple/EIR/Maple/Mahogany with an allied 2-way truss rod (thanks Mark Blanchard for these killer rods )

All appointments are gaboon ebony (thanks to JJ for coming through with the fretboard, bridge and HSV 2 years ago)

Finish on the body is French Polished shellac. It was very fun to do. It's not perfect (is any finish ever perfect?) and I still have the glazing sessions to do but I couldn't wait any longer, I wanted to hear her sing

The neck finish is watco danish oil rubbed out with oooo steelwool and paste wax. I want to re-finish the neck at some point as I didn't let it cure out long enough but I know it will be nice when I get some patience

Tuners are the Gotoh 510's that we got from the group buy last year (Thanks Peter M ) and I have to say that these are killer tuners. They are so smooth and with the 18:1 ratio you can really dial the string in well. I love them.

Bone nut and saddle, still need to set the intonation although I have very very little to do right now as it's about 95% there with a totally flat saddle (measure 100 time before attaching the bridge will do that for ya ). Also I need to lower the action in a couple weeks after she's set in a bit more. It's to high right now for me (0.120" at the Low E and 0.085" at the high E) and it won't be a problem to lower it about 1/64-1/32".

Thank you to Mario, Rick and JJ for steering me in their direction of neck construction. I have to say that installing the frets on the board before being on the neck, making sure all is dead level than attaching to the neck is the cat's meow. I don't even need to touch the frets they are dead level all the way up the neck. Thanks guys, you've made a believer out of me and have help increase the quality of my building

And for those who are interested, she weighs in at 3.8 Lbs and is the lightest guitar I've built to date

She has a very lovely voice. At first I felt a little bit disappointed in her but I soon started to hear her true beauty after 24 hours and she's still opening up of course and will over the next several months. I'll try and describe the sound although I know I'm not very good at that.

The sound is very clear, almost bright but I can't say it's bright because of the warmth and mellow woody sound (from the cedar I'm sure). The sound remains clear all the way up the neck to the higher registers which I'm really liking. She has lots of power and because I've only been playing her at night after the kids are in bed, I haven't even opened up on her yet, but so far she really can belt it out and every note is distinct in the chords. In a couple of weeks I'll get a sound clip together to post (I'll have to get a good player to play it though) so you can all hear what she sounds like.

Onto the pictures, not the best but they give you an idea. Still need to make a truss rod cover, put some finish on the bridge and fine tune the nut and saddle.

Enjoy

_________________
My Facebook Guitar Page

"There's really no wrong way, as long as the results are what's desired." Charles Fox

"We have to constantly remind ourselves what we're doing....No Luthier is putting a man on the moon!" Harry Fleishman

"Generosity is always different in the eye of the person who didn't receive anything, but who wanted some." Waddy Thomson

WOW Rod my friend Grace is one beautiful lady/guitar!!!!

I am going to pay you the very highest compliment that I can think of and say that this guitar looks very British......

VERY well done!!!!! And I hope to hear her later this year too in Toronto.

_________________
Ann Arbor Guitars

GLO - Gorgeous Little Om!!!!!

Very nice, Rod... I love the look of Cedar/Maple.

long

_________________
"No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man.” -Heraclitus of Ephesus

That is a fine looking instrument! Love the maple, it just ripples - and the rosette is a perfect match for it. Kudos.

Rod,

She really is a head-turner. I agree; she does look British; to be more precise, it reminds me of the style of an old member on here called Russel Rose, whose guitars I admired- clean, precise and letting the woods speak for themselves, aesthetically.

That rosette is beautiful.

Congratulations!!

Rod,

Well done - she looks lovely. Cedar/maple is a marriage made in heaven imho so you have named her well. From here I predict the trebles will get richer and deeper and the bass will really develop and the string to string clarity will be a joy. Fingerpick or flatpick and it will sound great.

Lovely design and execution - I'm looking forward to the soundclips.

_________________
Dave White
De Faoite Stringed Instruments
". . . the one thing a machine just can't do is give you character and personalities and sometimes that comes with flaws, but it always comes with humanity" Monty Don talking about hand weaving, "Mastercrafts", Weaving, BBC March 2010

Beautiful Guitar Rod! Well done and nicely appointed too.

_________________
Reguards,

Ken H

Really, you recommend it? Wow....you got me thinking now...

Very, very classy, Bro! Grace...how fitting!

I've been waiting to see the birth of this baby even before Kennedy was a gleam in her father's eye! I love the look of the instrument and am looking forward to playing her in May in Toronto!

Where do I start...I love the look, the rosette, the mitred purfs, headstock, etc., etc. and all the little details that add up into one gorgeous instrument. Congratulations, dude!

Oh, and BTW...when you produce that soundclip...please...instrumental only. You can record your "voice" for another forum! We've heard enough!

_________________
JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

Wow, Rod, that's a knockout. Beautiful work and wood. Life got in my way for 25 years. I know what you mean. Nice!

_________________
Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

Love the colour combination, the execution looks great. Let us have a clip if you can, it's a combination of woods that I really like.

Colin

_________________
I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

The ebony contrasts well with the maple. Beautiful design throughout! I have a redwood/ maple guitar that I like a lot too.

_________________
Ken Franklin
clumsy yet persistent
https://www.kenfranklinukulele.com

Gorgeous instrument, love the rosette against the cedar, FP finish looks nice, real nice.

PS Whats up in Toronto in May? I live in Buffalo and if there is a show up that way I would love to head up.

Kurt

_________________
_____________________________

Kurt Thomas

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

She's a real beauty, Rod!

_________________
now known around here as Pat Foster
_________________
http://www.patfosterguitars.com

Well done Rod. Well worth the wait.

_________________
Aoibeann

Rod, Congrats on finishing her up! She really looks beautiful.
I can't wait to hear the sound clip !

_________________
Anderson Guitars
Clearwater,Fl. 33755

Way to Go Rod! Looks great and it will sound beautiful. I really like the sound of cedar. Nice to use some wood that grows in your backyard.
Cheers,
Danny

Rod, that's a beauty!

_________________
Mike

"The Dude abides. I don't know about you but I take comfort in that. It's good knowin' he's out there. The Dude. Takin' 'er easy for all us sinners. Shoosh." The Stranger

Rodney! That's Outstanding!

Maple and Cedar? Huhm! I've never personally seen that but it makes great sense!

The maple guitars I have played have accentuated the highs a lot, can't say I really liked or disliked it, but adding a cedar top would really bring that down!

I'd really like to hear some mp3's of this gtar too
(Sans, your impassioned singing voice, of course! )

_________________
Billy Dean Thomas
Covina, CA

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

Excellent work there Rod! I like it, a lot, especially the rosette!

Looking forward to hearing her too.

Pardon my ignorance (I'm a newbie to lutherie - hey, that rhymes!), but is there some kind of correlation between the weight of an acoustic guitar and it's sound/performance? Any references? Or is this just a spec that people throw in for good measure?

Cheers,
Dave F.

_________________
Cambrian Guitars

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

Rod, she's outstanding bro!

I've had the pleasure of playing one of Rod's earlier guitars and I can attest to the fact that these beauties are players too! This one should be a killer axe, no doubt!

I love the mitters and the rosette and the wood combo as well.

Kurt, May 3rd, Tommy Emmanuel is coming to Toronto and a few of us will be attending the concert.

Dave, there is a popular belief that lighter guitars (standard guitars without double sides) will usually sound better that a heavier one. The old golden age Martin's are all very light. It also makes sense to think that you'd want your guitars as light as can be, but solid enough to withstand the test of time... That's the fine line...

_________________
I'd like to be able to prove, just for once, that money wouldn't make me happy...

Rod that is very pretty!
good clean work and excellent choice of woods. I too would like to hear a sound clip. Only improvement I can mention would be a truss rod cover, or are you going for the industrial look.
John

Rod, Nice work, great looking guitar. I really like the dark bindings with the maple, very nice. I'm sure it sounds great too.

Beautiful!

_________________
Mitch

Yeah!!! it's seem to be lacking something! I really like that combo of woods though! The whole ensemble is outstanding!!!! Very tasty !!!!

_________________
Billy Dean Thomas
Covina, CA

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