Official Luthiers Forum!

After many months and lots of learning about steel string construction... (I've primarily done classicals and flamencos) my Mahogany and Lacewood OM is finally complete... It was completed about a month ago but finally have got around to taking a few photos.

I had to sand this one back to bare wood back in Sept. after a bad experience with some Rockhard varnish. Not the fault of the product but definitely a learning experience on my part. The finish is now French Polish and came out quite well.

Here are a few photos:

This one was fun and I now have 3 more on the bench... OM, classical & flamenco.

_________________
Peter

Peter my friend this is one sharp looking guitar! I really like how you used the Mahogany and Lacewood which look great together. The inlaid neck block is just over-the-top cool too!

Also I wanted to ask you about your photographs which are excellent BTW. Even though the guitar has a great shine to it you have succeeded in killing the glare in the photos. Perhaps give us some tips on your set-up please?

Superb guitar Peter!

Really lovely work. I love the secret inlay. Amazing wood - I love the choices.

_________________
"Building guitars looks hard, but it's actually much harder than it looks." Tom Buck

Beautiful guitar, Peter. I like the limited color palette and the contrasting figures of the woods.

Looks like an A braced top? Did you install it first?

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

Beautiful guitar! Well done!

_________________
http://www.casperguitar.com

Nice work peter, great looking guitar and good job on the pics too.

Thanks for your kind comments all.......

Hesh, my photography setup is pretty basic. I take them in my basement against a black backdrop with all of the normal lights turned off. For lighting I use a strategically placed pole lamp with three lamps and most importantly, a halogen torchiere lamp which reflects off of the dropped ceiling. The halogen has a very high output and provides plenty of ambient reflected light for photography. I then use the pole lamp units and aim them where I need them. It's not as simple as it sounds and yes, I agree Hesh, it's very difficult to try and not get the reflections from the surroundings.

I found that it was better not to use a flash but only the ambient light as the flash almost always yielded some form of reflection. I picked up the halogen light at a neighborhood garage sale for a steal and the black felt background drop at the yardgoods store for a low price.

I did do some tweaking in photoshop on a few of them and was happy with the results. All in all it's a very "low budget" setup.

Ken, yes the top is A-braced. I did not glue it up first but carefully fit both the back and top while the rims were still in the mold. The A-braces were a challenge and required some finesse with the channels in the neck-block. I think it makes for a more robust top to react neck & string pull. I'm not sure that all will agree with me on this one.

Thanks,

_________________
Peter

Hey Peter, Congrats on the awesome guitar! She is indeed a beaut! Just for clarification, (and to avoid confusion) The top is Lutz Spruce, a Sitka/White Spruce hybrid, I don't process or sell Sitka as there are many others that do a great job with that wood. I bet she sounds wonderful!

Shane

_________________
Canada

Nice looking guitar. Am i missing something or is one of the sides backwards? IE, not bookmatched.

Peter, what a great looking instrument. I'm sure you must be very happy with it.

_________________
Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars