Official Luthiers Forum!

I've just finished a new OOO 12 fret which I thought I'd post.

B&S Black Limba, from Bob.
Soundboard, Lutz (with some bearclaw) from Shane.
Neck, English cherry.
Fingerboard, bridge, binding Ziricote, from Bob
Purfling and rosette, Black Limba, ebony, pear, ebony.
Tuners, Rubner.
Finish, oil varnish

I really like the Black Limba, this is from the first offering of the wood that Bob had a few years ago, tonally I would put it as near mahogany, which as you know with me is nothing but good! This guitar also confirmed in my mind how good cherry is as a neck wood, this is the fourth one I've made using cherry, and not only is is a joy to work, it looks great in hand and every one had sustained into next week. It's also the first time I have used Lutz, and if the woodworms took all of my Euro, then this would be as near a replacement that I have found.

Anyway, here's a few pictures, I can't give you my usual sound file, for obvious reasons!

Colin

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

Nice and clean looking Colin. The limba is very sweet. I hear its easy to bend as well !!!

Littel critique - You might want to make your slot head ramps a little deeper next time .. are the strings touching the wood ???.. they will slowly leave grooves in the finish if they are. What I do when carving the ramps is put a 1/4 inch rod into the E tuner hole(s), then lay a straight edge to the FB end, no nut. once the straight edge no longer hits wood, once the nut is on you are golden.

great work.

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Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"

Beautiful work as usual, Colin. Glad to see you're liking the Lutz, it's a marvelous tonewood. To my ear it sounds more like old growth Adirondack than any other wood. You may have to change your tag-line after this one.

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Jimmy Caldwell
http://www.caldwellguitars.com

No Tony, they most definitely are not touching, I do like to have them as close as possible without touching, the two Es have a 1/2mm gap. which is what I aim for.

Colin

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

Very Sweet little guitar Colin! I am also glad to hear that your are liking Lutz.

Thanks

Shane

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Canada

Wow! I was envisioning my next build - there it is!

Awesome!

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Expectation is the source of all misery; comparison the thief of joy.
http://redrivercanoe.ca/

WOW !!!! What a beautiful guitar Colin. I love the ziricote with the black limba.
Beautiful Lutz soundboard. Awesome. Can I snag the pictures?

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Beautiful and unusual tone woods at a reasonable price.
http://www.rctonewoods.com/RCT_Store
The Zootman
1109 Military Rd.
Kenmore, NY 14217
(716) 874-1498

Kudos, masterfully done, Colin! A beauty. Second request to hear how the limba was to work and bend.

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

Wowzer, Colin, that is extremely sweet. So clean and elegant. Excellent work, my friend, and it is so wonderful to see your work again. Is the FB Macassar?

Ron

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OLD MAN formerly (and formally) known as:

Ron Wisdom

Somewhere in the middle of Arkansas......

Another beautiful job Colin!!!

Colin,

Beautiful guitar and I absolutely love the varnish finish!

Dan

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Dan

Colin,

Another masterful guitar with very tasteful wood combinations - it's great to have you back building. The cherry neck works well with the Black Limba, the sapwood in the ziricote fingerboard is the bees knees (or the d's b's) and the lustre on the oil finish is the cherry on the cake. Your son will be very happy.

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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

Bob, thanks for the kind comments, but especially thankyou for the beautiful wood! This was really a collaboration guitar between me and you, you supplied the exquisite material, I just tried to not ruin it!

Of course you can snag any pictures you want.

Colin

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

Hi Colin and congrats on completing yet another superb instrument. This guitar has a very classy look to it with everything working together harmoniously.

It's great to see you back at it again too my friend!

Really nice Colin, I always enjoy seeing your work, great craftsmanship, I especially like the headstock and the purflings.

Lovely guitar Colin... Is it as light as it looks?

long

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"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

Strings dont touch ...then you are golden Colin .. well done !!!!

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Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"

Thanks Ron. The fingerboard is a piece of ziricote.

Colin

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

Magnificent as usual Colin, an understated (let the wood and craftsmanship do the talking) sort of thing. What are the tuners your using?
I've done one in Black Limba and while it is similar to mahogany, I much prefer working with mahogany. The Black Limba just seems kinda stringy and uncooperative. Or it could have just been my lack of patience.
Anyway a beautiful guitar once again.

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Tickle your guitar daily, and it'll tickle you back.

Thanks John, you know your opinion matters to me as you are a very wise man (that goes back a bit!). Yes it is harder to work than mahogany, you have to be very careful of grain direction as it will chip out very easily, but it bends pretty easily and seems to be very stable. I think it could join mahogany and walnut as favourite tone woods (emphasis on the tone part).

They are Rubner tuners made by a family firm in Germany, they are solid brass, very well made and smooth in operation, I use their classical tuners, which are also first rate.

Colin

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

Good stuff Colin! Wonderful to see you posting again.
Terry

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It's not what you don't know that hurts you, it's what you do know that's wrong.

Really sweet, Colin. I'm bowing to the east.
I love the color palette. You use pear for some of the trim, don't you? Do you buy that in veneer sheets or saw your own?

Edit--ok, just checked back on the stats sheet, and saw pear listed. But the second question still stands!

Thanks for sharing,

Steve

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From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

Love it.

Colin,
That is so nice looking! Great job!

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"An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is an adventure wrongly considered." G. K. Chesterton.