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I'm very happy to be able finally make this thread. I started this guitar last October and have worked on it on and off until I got it finished up last week. I used the plans from the Kinkead book. It is Sitka spruce, EIR back and sides and maple binding. Finish is em6000 over system 3 epoxy porefill. I ended up with a little bit of blue haze in the lacquer but I was told that comes from applying the coats to thick. There are quite a few mistakes but I am thrilled with it. Of course my expectations were pretty low, my goal was to have it not implode under the string tension!

I want to give a huge thanks to everyone here. This is a great community and everyone is very willing to help. Kindead's book was really good but I would say 75% of the information and techniques came from this forum. Robbie O'brien and his youtube video were a tremendous help as well. I also have to give a big thanks to Ken Casper who really spent a lot of time via email helping me out with the em6000. One thing about building that I really love is that there are several ways to do everything. To each his own.

Anyways, I am hooked! Already started #2 (d-18 clone with adi top). Here are some pictures I took attempting techniques from John Kitchen's photographing guitars articles.

I think it looks/sounds outstanding congratulations!

Wow!! Very nicely done! And it sounds as good as it looks. Congrats!

It looks and sounds great!!

I have also just finished my first guitar with the Kinkead book also and got most of my information from this forum also.

James

Very nice!

Very Nice! Love the quality of the tone and even sound from bass to treble.

Amazing! I hope my first build comes out half that good!

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LEED AP

Extremely well done!

A build to be proud of for sure , great job .

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That's your first?? Wow...looks like a real pro did it

Excellent work Jethro! You should be very proud.

Wow guys, I really appreciate all of the positive comments! There were several times (more than I care to admit) over the course of the build that I said to myself "welp, no way I'm going to be able to fix that!". It's kind of funny but the things that I thought I would really have trouble with such as cutting the binding channels, bending the sides and carving the neck were actually not that bad (thanks to some jigs of course) but others like pore-filling and finishing really kicked my butt!

As far as the sound, I was pleasantly surprised. I didn't (and still don't) have a clue about voicing a top. As someone said in another thread of mine, Kinkead's book says that if you want, you can scallop the braces but then offers no guidance on how to do so. I got a rough profile of what to shoot for from some free OM plans on the net and then kinda did the best I could.

Thanks again for all of the encouragement, you guys are awesome!

Jeff

excellent job. Sounds really great.

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"Preoccupation with an effect gives it power and enhances the error"
from "Your Owner's Manual" by Burt Hotchkiss.

I like the tone, real nice voice.
sweet playing too!

Wow...I love that tune just beautiful..
Lovely guitar/sound and playing...
is that your version? Do you have TAB?

Thanks Steve! That's actually Kenny Smith, a friend of mine playing. I wish I could play like that! I used to take lessons from him when he lived near me about 10 years ago. Super nice guy. I don't think that he has the tab for that particular song but he does have a DVD on acutab.com out that is very good.

Looks good, sounds good and well played. Well done and good luck on the next build.

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Fred Tellier
http://www.fetellierguitars.com
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Very nice, Jeff! I am glad the guitar turned out so well for you. It looks great in the pictures and sounds nice too! I can see why you are so pleased with it! Don't worry about the bluish cast. It will go away as the finish continues to cure. Have fun playing it, and good luck with the next one!

Ken

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http://www.casperguitar.com

Very, very nice!!

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PMoMC

Looks great, sounds great!
You mentioned you had some questions about scalloping braces. From Dana Bourgeois' lecture on 'voicing the steel string guitar'. A copy of it is here: http://www.pantheonguitars.com/voicing.htm

I used this and a great deal from so many others that are always so eager to help for my first. She could have looked better but the sound,.... I got very lucky. Anyway, it's good info. Good luck on your next too.