Official Luthiers Forum! :: View topic - #4 Oregon Myrtle/Bearclaw Sitka SJ

Todd - my brother is moving back to the Ithaca area at the end of the month. I'm not sure which town they are moving too, but he went to Cornell and loves the area. I will most likely be visiting them sometime this fall since I'm almost done a guitar for him. Maybe when I'm in the area? I'd love to see some of your guitars. They are very beautiful and sound great in the Youtube clips I've seen.

i like it! must be nice to work along side alan! 19 frets, huh? that sound hole looks pretty far north. good work!

How deep is the body at the neck and tail?

Thanks, Matt. I hope you will get in touch with me when you're coming to Ithaca. I'd love to meet both you and your brother, and have a little guitar show-and-tell with you. You'd be welcome to visit my shop, come over for dinner... whatever. Feel free to give your brother my contact info, too (see my "contact me" page on my web site). Maybe there's some way my family and I could be of help to him (and his family? ...you said "they") as they resettle in the Ithaca area. I'll be away a few times this fall, so keep me posted on your plans.

That is just gorgeous. I love the myrtle, which seems much darker than the one I just finished assembling this weekend. In the white it's like maple.

Any chance of a sound clip?

I always like the look of Oregon Myrtle but to tell the truth I don't think that I have seen it under finish until now.... What kept me away is the yellow colors...

If I can get up to my friend's recording studio and he's got a guitar player hanging around who can play better than me (which is just about every guitar player!), I might be able to get one up in the next couple of months. Otherwise, it'll be me and my rudimentary skills you'll hear!

Author:	Matt Bouchie [ Sat Sep 11, 2010 7:12 pm ]
Post subject:	#4 Oregon Myrtle/Bearclaw Sitka SJ
I strung up number 4 today in class at Alan Carruth's. It's Alan's version of an SJ. It's made of all North American woods. It sounds awesome already. It still needs a pickguard and maybe some adjustment of the action, but I'm very happy with it. Top: Bearclaw Sitka (RC Tonewoods) Back & Sides: Oregon Myrtle (Oregon Wild Wood) Neck: Black Walnut with Oregon Myrtle in the middle (complete with worm holes) Fingerboard: Persimmon stained with Alan's Black Walnut hull tea Binding: Black Walnut Bridge: Black Walnut Headplate: Black Walnut (left over from the neck) Rosette: Oregon Myrtle (left over from the back) Purfling lines: Maple and Black Walnut veneer Finish: Behlen's Rockhard Tabletop Varnish brushed on I used Spruce for all the braces (whatever Alan had in the shop), Butternut for the blocks and Willow for the kerfed lining. Here's some not so great photos.

Author:	Matt Bouchie [ Sat Sep 11, 2010 7:14 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: #4 Oregon Myrtle/Bearclaw Sitka SJ
I almost forgot the close up of the end graft. It's not a great picture but I'm really proud of how well it came out.

Author:	Todd Rose [ Sat Sep 11, 2010 7:25 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: #4 Oregon Myrtle/Bearclaw Sitka SJ
Nice wood combinations! Great looking guitar. Wish I could play it. Maybe I can sometime... we're both in the northeast.

Author:	Colin North [ Sat Sep 11, 2010 7:28 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: #4 Oregon Myrtle/Bearclaw Sitka SJ
Wow! - Nice

Author:	Tom West [ Sat Sep 11, 2010 7:32 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: #4 Oregon Myrtle/Bearclaw Sitka SJ
Love that Myrtle....! Congrats. Tom

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#4 Oregon Myrtle/Bearclaw Sitka SJ http://www.luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10101&t=29018	Page 1 of 1

Author:	Steve Kinnaird [ Sat Sep 11, 2010 7:56 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: #4 Oregon Myrtle/Bearclaw Sitka SJ
Very nice, Matt! How did you enjoy working with Persimmon? Steve

Author:	Matt Bouchie [ Sat Sep 11, 2010 9:26 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: #4 Oregon Myrtle/Bearclaw Sitka SJ
Thanks, guys. Steve - the Persimmon was very easy to work with. This guitar has a Persimmon bridge plate, too, since that's what Alan uses for them. It planed very easily. Cutting the fret slots was easy enough, too. I have very limited experience with wood working, though, so I don't really know what to compare it too! Todd - my brother is moving back to the Ithaca area at the end of the month. I'm not sure which town they are moving too, but he went to Cornell and loves the area. I will most likely be visiting them sometime this fall since I'm almost done a guitar for him. Maybe when I'm in the area? I'd love to see some of your guitars. They are very beautiful and sound great in the Youtube clips I've seen. Matt

Author:	Ian Cunningham [ Sat Sep 11, 2010 9:49 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: #4 Oregon Myrtle/Bearclaw Sitka SJ
I like that a lot

Author:	Heath Blair [ Sat Sep 11, 2010 9:56 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: #4 Oregon Myrtle/Bearclaw Sitka SJ
i like it! must be nice to work along side alan! 19 frets, huh? that sound hole looks pretty far north. good work!

Author:	rono [ Sat Sep 11, 2010 10:31 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: #4 Oregon Myrtle/Bearclaw Sitka SJ
looks great! I love the wood combo. How deep is the body at the neck and tail?

Author:	alan stassforth [ Sat Sep 11, 2010 10:38 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: #4 Oregon Myrtle/Bearclaw Sitka SJ
very nice! i like the varnish finish. looks nice and yellow. i want to use that, because i think it looks better than any water based, or nitro finish!

Author:	Doug Powdrell [ Sun Sep 12, 2010 12:23 am ]
Post subject:	Re: #4 Oregon Myrtle/Bearclaw Sitka SJ
Great wood selection (all N.American) and beautiful looking!!!!! Gotta find me some persimmon!

Author:	Todd Rose [ Sun Sep 12, 2010 5:20 am ]
Post subject:	Re: #4 Oregon Myrtle/Bearclaw Sitka SJ
Matt Bouchie wrote: Todd - my brother is moving back to the Ithaca area at the end of the month. I'm not sure which town they are moving too, but he went to Cornell and loves the area. I will most likely be visiting them sometime this fall since I'm almost done a guitar for him. Maybe when I'm in the area? I'd love to see some of your guitars. They are very beautiful and sound great in the Youtube clips I've seen. Thanks, Matt. I hope you will get in touch with me when you're coming to Ithaca. I'd love to meet both you and your brother, and have a little guitar show-and-tell with you. You'd be welcome to visit my shop, come over for dinner... whatever. Feel free to give your brother my contact info, too (see my "contact me" page on my web site). Maybe there's some way my family and I could be of help to him (and his family? ...you said "they") as they resettle in the Ithaca area. I'll be away a few times this fall, so keep me posted on your plans.

Author:	Mark Groza [ Sun Sep 12, 2010 9:04 am ]
Post subject:	Re: #4 Oregon Myrtle/Bearclaw Sitka SJ
Very Nice! The fretboard looks real nice, i like the shade of it. Great choise of woods too. I also like the walnut/ maple perf you went with. Way to go, keeping it all Native with the wood.

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Author:	Matt Bouchie [ Sun Sep 12, 2010 12:38 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: #4 Oregon Myrtle/Bearclaw Sitka SJ
Thanks, everybody! Heath Blair wrote: i like it! must be nice to work along side alan! 19 frets, huh? that sound hole looks pretty far north. good work! It is nice working in Alan's class. You learn a lot. The biggest thing I've learned is that you can fix just about any mistake! It has 19 frets because of some alignment issues I had with the top that we didn't realize until we had closed up the box. Alan was worried we wouldn't get the 19th fret on there but we just barely did. So, the sound hole is a bit higher than originally planned, but it doesn't seem to have hurt the tone at all. rono wrote: How deep is the body at the neck and tail? It's 4 1/4" at the tail and about 3 7/16" at the neck. Matt

Author:	Matt Bouchie [ Sun Sep 12, 2010 12:58 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: #4 Oregon Myrtle/Bearclaw Sitka SJ
Todd Rose wrote: Thanks, Matt. I hope you will get in touch with me when you're coming to Ithaca. I'd love to meet both you and your brother, and have a little guitar show-and-tell with you. You'd be welcome to visit my shop, come over for dinner... whatever. Feel free to give your brother my contact info, too (see my "contact me" page on my web site). Maybe there's some way my family and I could be of help to him (and his family? ...you said "they") as they resettle in the Ithaca area. I'll be away a few times this fall, so keep me posted on your plans. Definitely. I'd like to visit your shop. My work schedule doesn't allow me to get to as many of the NEL and the NH Luthiers meetings that I would like to, so having a chance to visit someone's shop would be really cool. My brother and his wife and their 8 month old daughter will be moving at the end of the month. They found a place to rent back in June when my brother was back on the East coast for business. I'll give them your contact info. He still has quite a few friends in the area, which is one of the reasons they are moving back. I will let you know when I'm heading out there and hopefully it'll work out that you'll be around. Matt

Author:	SteveCourtright [ Sun Sep 12, 2010 1:45 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: #4 Oregon Myrtle/Bearclaw Sitka SJ
That is just gorgeous. I love the myrtle, which seems much darker than the one I just finished assembling this weekend. In the white it's like maple.

Author:	Matt Bouchie [ Sun Sep 12, 2010 2:31 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: #4 Oregon Myrtle/Bearclaw Sitka SJ
SteveCourtright wrote: That is just gorgeous. I love the myrtle, which seems much darker than the one I just finished assembling this weekend. In the white it's like maple. Thanks! When I first brought the set to Alan's shop, everyone thought it was Walnut. Oregon Wild Woods had quite a few darker sets when I bought it. It's amazing the variation in color of the stuff. Matt

Author:	CraigSz [ Mon Sep 13, 2010 7:38 am ]
Post subject:	Re: #4 Oregon Myrtle/Bearclaw Sitka SJ
Matt great looking instrument and with Al Carruth helping it's guaranteed to have the sound to match. Any chance of a sound clip? Regards Craig.

Author:	Hesh [ Mon Sep 13, 2010 8:55 am ]
Post subject:	Re: #4 Oregon Myrtle/Bearclaw Sitka SJ
Beautiful guitar Matt - very well done! I always like the look of Oregon Myrtle but to tell the truth I don't think that I have seen it under finish until now.... What kept me away is the yellow colors but I can see with yours that under finish it looks a lot like highly flamed Aussie Blackwood - a favorite of mine. May have to get me some and learn proper English at some point too... Great job - very cool guitar!

Author:	Matt Bouchie [ Mon Sep 13, 2010 9:43 am ]
Post subject:	Re: #4 Oregon Myrtle/Bearclaw Sitka SJ
Thanks, guys! CraigSz wrote: Any chance of a sound clip? If I can get up to my friend's recording studio and he's got a guitar player hanging around who can play better than me (which is just about every guitar player!), I might be able to get one up in the next couple of months. Otherwise, it'll be me and my rudimentary skills you'll hear! Hesh wrote: I always like the look of Oregon Myrtle but to tell the truth I don't think that I have seen it under finish until now.... What kept me away is the yellow colors... The varnish definitely gives it more of a golden tint. Before the finish went on, this set had a lot more grey and brown than yellow. When I bought it, Oregon Wild Woods had a lot of sets that weren't very yellow and had a lot of figure. I've got a uke set that looks completely different, almost totally yellow. It's a nice wood that is very easy to work with. Great for someone with limited experience like myself! Matt

Author:	CraigSz [ Wed Sep 15, 2010 7:57 am ]
Post subject:	Re: #4 Oregon Myrtle/Bearclaw Sitka SJ
Matt Bouchie wrote: If I can get up to my friend's recording studio and he's got a guitar player hanging around who can play better than me (which is just about every guitar player!), I might be able to get one up in the next couple of months. Otherwise, it'll be me and my rudimentary skills you'll hear! I look forward to it Matt. I am trying to organize something similar for my #4. By the way I think you are very fortunate to have Al Carruth close at hand to help and I'm sure to inspire you with your building. He is so generous with both his time and knowledge on this forum and others it boggles my mind. Regards Craig.