Official Luthiers Forum!

Some of you asked to see photos of this guitar when it was finished. I just shipped it today. I'm quite happy with it.
I've done nothing to increase color saturation. This is some of the special cocobolo that Allied had a little while back. The rosette is camphor burl.

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Howard Klepper
http://www.klepperguitars.com

When all else fails, clean the shop.

Wow....every bit as gorgeous as I was expecting. Very nicely done Howard...as usual.

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

Howard,

A Gorgeous guitar, you can be proud
I love the color combinations...

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Gene

Politicians and diapers must be changed often, and for the same reason- Mark Twain

WOW! that blows me away very nice work and the wood too! I like the neck design and wood rosette

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Zac

Anchorage Alaska

Finshed my 1st! See #1 here

Rather minimalist for a Klepper!

Spectacular and flawless as we've come to expect. Beautiful Howard...thanks for posting.

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JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

Oomph! Thats a guitar I would reach for. Dig the rosette, and that wood just grabs you.

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Gabriel Regalbuto
Carlsbad, California
Freedom 35!

As beautiful as was expected, Howard.
I love the color palette of this instrument.
And, there's a nice 3-piece back for you, JJ!

Steve

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From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

Howard,

Thats as gorgeous and impeccably elegant as all of your creations - lovely wood combinations and craftsmanship as always. What wood is the top?

Playing a combination of African Blackwood/Cocobolo in a small room will be like playing in your own private Cathedral - I bet you could get lost in there forever!

Hats off to you (we need one of those emoticons but this one will do)

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Dave White
De Faoite Stringed Instruments
". . . the one thing a machine just can't do is give you character and personalities and sometimes that comes with flaws, but it always comes with humanity" Monty Don talking about hand weaving, "Mastercrafts", Weaving, BBC March 2010

To reiterate what Dave said from my neck of the woods, 'Chapeau Howard'.

Wow this is a killer guitar Howard!

Great work, Howard. That cocobolo is spectacular. A lovely top too.

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Ken Franklin
clumsy yet persistent
https://www.kenfranklinukulele.com

A stunning guitar!

Love the attention to detail; the rope/style purfling around the rosette is exquisite

Man, do I like that!!!
As others have said, the colours are just beautiful!
Howard, could you expand on the whats & hows of the soundport binding?....I'd like to try something similar. Thanks

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Dave
Milton, ON

MMMMMM MM MMMM MMMM MMMMMMM! What a beauty.

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

Bravo! Very dramatic wood choices.

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"Building guitars looks hard, but it's actually much harder than it looks." Tom Buck

Howard, the artist in you always comes through in every detail. Beautiful.

What does this thing sound like? It must be amazing!!

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Here is what a Parlor Guitar is for!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEa8PkjO6_I

Amazing workmanship, just amazing something to aspire to!

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Formerly JJH

I learn more from my mistakes than my successes

I guess that's pretty cool. If you're into guitars with amazing craftsmanship and incredible artistic design, anyway.

That is beautiful, Howard.

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Mike

"The Dude abides. I don't know about you but I take comfort in that. It's good knowin' he's out there. The Dude. Takin' 'er easy for all us sinners. Shoosh." The Stranger

Howard
It looks “to good to sell” .
Is it a OM size with 12 fret to body?
What are you doing in/around the sound hole?.
Great work.
yours Geordie

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some tunes on acoustic and guitar synth.
http://www.youtube.com/user/TheGeordieAdams
http://www.myspace.com/geordieadams

That's really nice Howard!
Bet it sounds great!

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Jim Watts
http://jameswattsguitars.com

Well, thanks to all!

This was a commission, and I got it because the buyer has a friend who has a Klepper and he loves it and the buyer wanted one similar.. That's the way it's supposed to work, no? It's very similar to the friend's guitar, except the latter has an all African blackwood back. Yes, 12 fret OOO size; my own plantilla. The top is Swiss alpine spruce, bridge and fretboard African blackwood. Brazilian satinwood in the neck centerstripe and one of the headstock layers, as well as the soundport binding.

Re soundport: I bore the hole after bending (and, in most cases, laminating) with a sawtooth type Forstner bit. I've found it goes better to bore from the inside, which may be counterintuitive since usually there is more splitting on exit. In this case, the curve of the sides makes inside-out the direction that cuts downhill to the grain, and that matters more. I match the side purfling with black and white fiber "fishpaper" cut from sheets (so it will be deep enough to allow for the side curvature). Then I glue in a turned ring to match the binding, and trim it flush to the top and round the edge down like I do with the binding. I once was successful using a drill press to cut out a ring using a dowel cutting bit and Forstner bit, but the lathe lets me get the size just right, with a very slight taper for a tight fit. It's a simple bit of turning, done freehand on a small wood lathe. When I get close to size. I test it on the guitar body before parting it off on the lathe. This photo of the friends guitar shows the style of the port binding and purfling a bit better:

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Howard Klepper
http://www.klepperguitars.com

When all else fails, clean the shop.

Thanks for the insight re the soundport Howard........it's very elegant!

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Dave
Milton, ON

Howard...any chance you could do a tutorial on how you get the backstrapping effect on your neck volute? That just reeks class and craftsmanship!

TIA

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JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

Thanks for posting the sound port pic. It just looks very elegant.
So much better than just a hole cut in the side like mine.I have got to
dress up my ports.Thanks for the inspiration Howard.
Very lovely guitar btw.

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Anderson Guitars
Clearwater,Fl. 33755