Friends,
I recently strung up my twelfth guitar. It's OM-sized with a Western red cedar top, wenge back and sides, walnut neck, and curly maple bindings. I made this one for my sister, who will be giving it to her boyfriend for Christmas. (Boyfriend doesn't seem right for a couple nearing retirement, but it will have to do.)
The rosette, headstock veneer, end graft, and heel cap all feature a look that I've been developing using scrap pieces from other projects. Look closely and you'll see that in lieu of a complete veneer on the back of the headstock, I decided to just cover the visible line left by the scarf joint. I think it's kind of cool. The wenge was as splintery as advertised and had pores deep enough to swallow a finger plane--my pore filling skills need more practice! It wasn't particularly difficult to work, though, and had a nice stiffness and almost glassy ring to it that I think works well with the damping nature of WRC. I fail miserably at describing tone and will just say that it has a pleasing sound, at least to my ears, with the full mid-range presence and relative balance between bass and treble that I expect from an OM.
While I do this solely for fun and go about my work rather slowly, I feel as though I'm starting to get the hang of things. This is in no small part thanks to all of you for being so generous with your time, expertise, and encouragement. So, thank you!
![[:Y:]](./images/smilies/smiley20.gif "Thumbs Up")
![[clap]](./images/smilies/smiley32.gif "adulations")
With a tip of my cap to Haans and the rather unique approach he takes to photographing his instruments, here are a few shots:
![[headinwall]](./images/smilies/headbangwalluf8.gif "Mad")