Official Luthiers Forum!

Hi everyone! Well I'm back out in my shop after my accident with the drill press and I've completed my first custom made rosette. I'm pretty excited with the way it's turned out so I thought I'd share my success!

I really enjoy doing mock ups as I progress through the build, so here's my soundboard with my rosette, the fingerboard I've made and a pick guard. I'd also like some feedback on the leaf I've put in my fingerboard. I'm still reserving judgement on the leaf fingerboard. The rosette and fingerboard are Wenge and the leaf backing is maple. I've included a shot of my soundport I've made to provide the backdrop as to why I thought I'd try the leaf detail in the fingerboard. What's everyone's thoughts on the fingerboard? (The fingerboard is still yet to be bound with maple binding with b/w/b detail)





Rob

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Rob Flindall
Flindall Guitars
http://www.flindallguitars.com
https://www.facebook.com/FlindallGuitars

Beautiful!
I've never had any success working with wenge -it's very brittle.
Nice job!

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wah
Wah-wah-wah-wah
Wah

I like em all. Nicely done on the sound port.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

I like it!

Really nice looking! I love the concept and the execution is very clean. I think the leaf on the FB would look cool if it went all the way through and you could see rosette through it but with a bottom laminate of maple like the sound port.

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Bryan Bear PMoMC

Take care of your feet, and your feet will take care of you.

Looking at the sound hole, it looks like the sides are lamenated. (maple?) But the back of the farside doesn't appear to be laminated with anything. Do you just have a peice of maple veneer around the sound hold to give it that look/renforce the area?

The Rosette looks great!

Hi guys - thanks for the input!

The Wenge was a bit of a pain in the keester, but I still enjoyed working with the wood. The soundport was tricky to rout out because, like you said, the wenge kept wanting to splinter.

The leaf in the fretboard came after I had the rosette done. I had planned to cover the rosette ring joints with just a simple fretboard so the joints aren't clean. That's why the leaf has the solid maple in it - to hide my joints! But I agree - seeing the rosette through the leaf would have been much cooler - I'll just have to make clean joints next time.

Evilfrog - there's nothing fancy about the sound hole. It's just a simple soundhole cutout in Englemann spruce. Maybe it's just the way the photo is taken.

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Rob Flindall
Flindall Guitars
http://www.flindallguitars.com
https://www.facebook.com/FlindallGuitars

Rob,

I really like what you've done! I like both soundports and the idea of doing something with the fretboard extension.

If I could make a couple of suggestions for your consideration...

1) You might want to consider a clear pickguard. You've done such a nice job on the rosette, why not leave it totally visible...

2) Your cut-out in the fretboard might look more refined if it had some veneer layers. You could rout out around the cutout area on the back (so the final product would lay flat), then put a couple of sheets of maple and black veneer, in some combination, in there to give it some depth and pop. That may be more than you'd like to take on, so, just an idea!

Ken

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Ken Mitchell
Durham, NC

Very nice. Only issue I would have with the fretboard is that it's a perfect place for stuff to collect that would be hard to clean out of the corners.

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Wes McMillian
Santo, TX
http://www.wesmcmillian.com

Very nice!
I agree with Ken's assessment...

Really nice. I like the leaf detail but agree that seeing the rosette through it would have been cool. Next time!

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http://www.CostaGuitars.com
PMoMC

Super cool. I don't think there'd be enough contrast between the fingerboard cutout and the rosette if it ran all the way through. If there were shell or some other, more contrasting wood, then I agree, it would definitely be awesome to see it.

Nice...a very tasty ensemble! I like the leaf cut into the fingerboard

Another pickguard idea: increase the radius so the inner ring of the rosette is visible. I like the maple leaves.

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Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from poor judgement.

Thanks for all the comments guys. You know what the fun thing about guitar building is? Being able to build another one using all the great suggestions you receive!

Right now I have enough ideas to make at least 25 more guitars. I can't wait! Lol.

I'm going to pick up a clear pick guard and a black pick guard to see how each of those look. Increasing the radius on this pick guard might be a good idea, but it's a radiused edge. I'm not sure how to radius the edge if I were to cut it. Speaking of which, does anyone know a source of radius edged pickguards? Most I can find are straight cut along the edge.

Rob

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Rob Flindall
Flindall Guitars
http://www.flindallguitars.com
https://www.facebook.com/FlindallGuitars