Official Luthiers Forum!

I just received these pics from Joe White and I am all geeked out.....

When I get this one back I'll do the final assembly and set-up but I could not wait to show it - besides this is my 15,000th post on the OLF....

Joe is a fantastic guitar finisher!!!!!

I'll post the details when the guitar is finished but for now here is a taste. I also think that this dread would sound great with Danny's black mando!!!!







Thanks for looking!

Very Nice!! I thought you hated d***naughts though??

Vince

Hey Vince!!! Well dreadn*ughts are not my favorite guitar body style that's for sure but I certainly do respect them.... This one kind of reminds me of the monolith in the film 2001.... We just need some monkeys with bones in their hands dancing around it in the pics....

Another black beauty there Hesh! She's looking mighty fine! Light just seems to fall into the blackness of the soundhole....
I'm looking forward to seeing it all done.
Can you get black fret wire? That'd be awsome IMO

Cheers,
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"

Hesh, that looks terrific. How does Joe to the black on the top? I can't wait to send mine off to Joe later this week.

Chris.

Looking very nice there, Hesh! Do you put clear pickquards on the top?

Ken

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http://www.casperguitar.com

Hesh - Beautiful!!

Why paint the top wood? ? (latest secret tonewood - MDF?)

Stunning finish

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

She's looking really nice Hesh! I'm sure she'll sound good too. Those dreads have a sound that's hard to beat.

I know my Mom always said if you don't have anything nice to say....

Can't say that I'm liking the Dred shape and the black top. Maybe when it's finished I'll change my tune, that's how it was with the black tiger! Mind you I really don't care for the dred shape. Not curvey enough.

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"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

If you keep painting them black, Shanes going to cut you off.

I think it's cool. I like that you've found a modern look.

Big Brother! Awesome man. That looks very cool. What's the back and sides? It's a pretty stunning package. And congratulations on the 15000 milestone. You must be much better at typing than me.

Cheers,
Danny

I know that this style is quite non-traditional, but I think it is really hot! Love the gloss black carried across the face of all these parts. Gives it great continuity through the instrument. Love the consistent wood grain too.

Is that logo on the headstock inlay?

Hesh-
No greasy fingers on that top!!

(One of my favourite cars ever was selected to be 'dirt' color, so you know where I'm coming from..... )

Spectacular and original!

Cheers
John

Whooooah!! That's a beauty! I'll bet she's really going to sing too. Way to go Hesh. Are we looking toward your 15,000th guitar next?

Thanks everyone!

Randolph bro yeah now I only need to build 14,980 more guitars to match my post count..... I am getting faster though with another one 1/2 done in the last two weeks.

John maybe we could collaborate on a dirt finished guitar?

Sea.of.white yes the "Heshtone" is inlaid in an ebony head plate. The guitar is built to be finished with a black top. The bindings on the top are very black ebony and don't need to be painted. The bindings on the back are sapele and cut-offs from the sapele sides. I call this treatment "stealth bindings" and I have done a number of guitars this way now. What I like the most about this look is that the top looks like a 1/4" thick drop-top and indeed has a kind of modern look to it.

Danny my friend no I am just way more full of crap than you are..... But thanks for the congrats!!!

James exactly and when I get it all together we shall see how a modern or non-Martinish headstock looks on a dread - this is actually my biggest concern.

Zach my friend I keep plugging Shane's fantastic Lutz trying to stay on his good side (not that I was ever there yet mind you.... ). BTW I took photos of this top on the guitar just prior to finishing in case anyone wanted to say that I had it painted to cover up something. I just like a black guitar once in a while....

Hey Rod - I can relate and I still am not sure if the pear shape will look good or worse black but from the pics I am kind of liking it. But I hear ya - dreads are not the curviest of guitars are they...

Thanks Mark!

Colin my friend you should have seen the posts when I did my first sunburst..... People were in some ways a bit rude but to each their own. My first black top evoked a similar response but it also gained some converts too.

Thanks Corky!

Ken since I built this one to be a blue grasser and braced it for mediums a pickg*ard.... is probably a good idea.... Since it's black I could go with a clear one although the right, very thin black pickg*ard might work well too. I just hate to put a pickg*ard on a guitar though....

Thanks Chris!

Chris W. you will have to ask Joe how he does it - he is a master at guitar finishing!

Dave buddy the plan for this one is to use the EVO goldish wire again since this one will have gold tuners. Black fret wire would have been cool with black tuners or even silver ones. I am not sure if we can get black wire though - anyone know?

I'm glad you know I don't mean anything by it

Oh and I understand that you REALLY love this emoticon, so I'll use it

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"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

I really like the black-top finish - very Euro looking - looks like someone named Dieter should be playing it

Looking forward to seeing you at Wednesday's lunch!

Mike

I am one who hates painted acoustics, so cant say im a fan of that top! the sides look great though, what is the top made of?

I wouldn't want 100 black topped guitars laying around, but maybe 98 or 99....

Very cool Hesh, that looks fantastic!

You sure have sped up your production line. That's great though. Now we can see more Heshtone's more often.

Look forward to seeing the pictures when she's all finished.

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Thanks,
Blain

http://www.ullrichguitar.com

"89.67% of all statistics are made up on the spot."

Hesh,

Another great looker! Of course it does look like an Esteban guitar off the TV. On the other hand the black top really hides the small nails holding the top on.

Great Job!

Philip

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aka konacat

If you think my playing is bad you should hear me sing!
Practice breeds confidence and confidence breeds competence. Unfortunately, I'm stuck in practice.

Can't wait to see it strung up.
Link

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Cut to size.....Beat to fit.....Paint to match.

Very Cool Hesh. And that's from another guy who's not a big fan of dreds.
I STILL wanna know how you mask (especially around the rosette) so cleanly.
If I tried that, the black finish would creep under the masking & I'd spend HOURS trying to clean it up with scrapers, razor blades, CHAINSAWS......
Very nicely done!!!
Dan

Can't say I love the black, but on stage it might look really cool. Also, I care more about sound than anything. In fact, if I had the best sounding guitar in the world, I wouldn't care if it was lime green.

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Always remember you are unique......just like everyone else.