Official Luthiers Forum!

Well, I've finally got this thing finished...as some of you know, Denis Merrill had a wild brainstorm to provide 100 Sitka tops from the same tree to 100 luthiers, for each to do with as they chose. The only catch was a commitment to bring the guitar to the Newport Guitar Festival where Denis will conduct some tests on the guitars - record the data, and then conduct periodic tests over the years to see how these guitars evolve.

Denis was kind enough to include me in the project - as a novice luthier, it's an honor - and I'm looking forward to meeting some of you at Newport.

Please forgive the quality of the pics - not a pro photo shoot by any means.

Way-to-go Corky - she's a beauty!!!!

Looks real good I hope someone publishes the data on the sonic Sitka project as it will be quite interesting.

Fred

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Fred Tellier
http://www.fetellierguitars.com
Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/FE-Tellier-Guitars/163451547003866

Thanks, Hesh! Thanks, Fred!

Yes, I'm interested in the results as well. Should be fun to see what changes over time with these instruments.

Great looking guitar. I like the top, nice bearclaw. What bracing did you use for the top? How does iit sound?

Chris.

Nice work Corky!

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Bill Hodge


One does not simply, own enough guitars!

Thanks all!

I just got back from Newport - which was really fantastic! What a great opportunity to meet other builders, get honest feedback on the guitar, and get the indescribable kick out of having incredible talented players sit there and play my guitar. No kidding - Lawrence Juber came through and played the guitars - it was a real blast to watch him play my guitar. Yes, he was kind - said some nice things about the guitar - although to be totally honest, the band was testing the PA system at just the wrong moment. I don't think he could even hear what he was playing.

Stacy Hobbs also played it for a while - by the time he was finished there was a group of people standing around listening to him play. That guy can play! If you have a chance to see him or hear him play, don't miss it.

I also got some very good feedback from Mark Hamre - he tookt he time to be very clear about what he likes in action, expecially in the first fret - it was very very good advice.

As for the bracing - I braced it in a modified x - braced approach, which laminated spruce and rosewood braces. I'm really happy with the sound. Lots of sustain - "chimey" tones - there's no mistaking that it's a rosewood guitar.

Also got some really great advice from Pat Podpadec from Wood-n-strings on compensating my saddle, and some help from Charles Fox and Bryan Galloup on a crack that developed - could have been very ugly. Denis Merrill caught it as it was falling off the table. That guy moves fast! Great meeting, seeing and hanging around with Dave MacCubbin, Brent Gilligan, Bob Mizek, Craig Lavin, Larry Robinson, out own Lance Kragenbrink, and a dozen other luthiers and players. What a trip!

It was really a great time - and I left very very motivated to bring my building to the next level. There were some guitars there that literally brought me to my knees, the worksmanship and acoustics were so good.

Finally, I even won some money playing blackjack - which promptly went to buy a couple of sets of Madagascar Rosewood that Madinter was selling there! Now that's a productive use of ill-gotten gains!

That's awesome, Corky The guitar looks great, nothing novice about it. And the show sounds like a really fun time, and very useful as a builder to hear what sort of sounds different players can get out of your guitars. I'll try to make it out there next year, hopefully with a few guitars under my belt

So how did the initial tests go? Any results yet, or is Denis still compiling the data gathered at the festival?

And congrats on the madrose, indeed a fine use of gambling money

Dennis -

Thanks - I'm very happy with the guitar. It's a step up from my previous guitars, and I'm clear on what I want to tackle on the next one, to bring that to another level as well (and I'm sure I'll have similar ideas on the one after that....

The testing was very interesting. I'm not qualified to discuss the output, but I can say that the testing process was very controlled and diligent, and it will be interesting to see these guitars evolve over time.

I do know that Denis intends to make these results generally available - I don't know what his timeframe for that is.