Official Luthiers Forum!

Since we're mostly builders, not players, this isn't geared toward "what guitar do you hope to own someday", but rather, "What guitar would you like to build someday?"
Several ideas continue to haunt me, as well as elude me, time getting tighter and tighter.
And I guess I'm also thinking of unusual species you'd like to try, but haven't?
For instance, Bruce Sexaur and Howard Klepper have tried Pernambuco.
For myself, I have two lovely sets of Purpleheart here that are constantly beckoning me. As the colors of my Alma Mater are purple and white, I dream of a Purpleheart guitar with Holly bindings.
Perhaps impossible to sell such a guitar, but the urge is still there.

Anyone else have wild ideas they'd go public with?

Steve

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From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

Morning Steve, How is the east edge of the state this morning.

I have plans for a thin line (4" deep) J-200 9 string EADGgbbee all curly maple teaburst finish top, back, sides and neck

Good question Steve,
The things I would like to try in a dream build are what keep me traveling on this crazy train we are all on.
The latest challenge for me is getting a figured top of myrtle to respond as well as Lutz.
I just can’t pass up the idea of putting the zoot up front so-to-speak, instead of being hidden in the back.
Another on-going search is for the winning combo of electronics to amplify the voice of my creations. There are so many choices..

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Wade
Nashua, NH
http://www.wadefx.com

All I really dream of at this point is to build a guitar with the fit and finish of a Taylor (for lack of personal experience with any better guitar)

Christian

I've got a B&S set of macassar ebony and a sinker redwood top - both absolutely jaw dropping in beauty AND tap tones - that I can't wait to make a guitar out of. I hope to get to it within the next couple years. Maybe curly Oregon walnut for the neck and bindings. It'll probably be a "small jumbo" of my own design.

I'm also looking forward to building some baritones, and a mandola.

I have to say, though, that I'm quite excited about the four instruments I've got in the works right now. One will be heading off to Joe White's shop within the next few days!

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Todd Rose
Ithaca, NY

https://www.dreamingrosesecobnb.com/todds-art-music

https://www.facebook.com/ToddRoseGuitars/

Since you asked, I'm working toward a 12 string that Leadbelly or Dave Ray couldn't put down (were they alive), a 6 that sounds like a fabulous old Larson, and this!

I think I have about 5 ( ) combinations for a dream-guitars-set. It is really a problem, when someone looks at my stash to select wood for a guitar, I have to say no this is for a personal guitar, what about this nice one, no, this one the same, etc etc, you can have that discolored indian rw set though, .....

...but the one I really drool about is made with these two sets, German spruce and Madrose. They not only meet all visual criteria of being perfect master grade, they also have outrageously nice tap tones. Not going to touch them for several more years, this is not the kind of wood a rookie should mess with!

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Build log

I have a set of tiger myrtle that I like to wonder and dream about. It's not something I want to build with until my skills improve, but I can't wait to see what comes out of it. It might end up being paired with a beautiful bear claw Italian spruce top I also have in the vault, zipflex purfling, and who knows.

I have a set of Brazilian and a 4 piece 40 year old German Spruce top that I'm looking forward to building with when I get my chops honed a bit, and feel like I won't trash either of them. It will replace #2 as my player, eventually.

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

Mmmmm - great post.

Interesting thought. At the moment, I've got a pretty conventional thought for my "dream guitar" - if only because I know I won't be ready for it for quite awhile.

I've got a wonderful set of Brazilian, and a nice Adi top - will eventually build a 000 in either a wedge or with an armrest. That won't happen for at least 5 more guitars - probably more. I'm just not ready for that wood yet.

I made mine a few years back.
A 40 year old Euro. top with Brazilian B & S with ghost grain and chocolate in color.
Abalone trim (paua) very Curly Koa bindings-body &f.b.
Slotted head with Waverly tuners .
100 year old African Mahogany neck with Ebony board with abalone diamonds.
Brazilian veneers front & back.
12 fret neck .
Brazilian bridge with Abalone diamond inlays.
It was a steel that a famous Taylor endorsement player just had to have .
He had the money -I have to make a new one-which has not happened yet !
oh well !~
Sounded great and felt just right !
Mc

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Mike Collins

Dyer type harp guitar with BR B&S, Englemen top

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John Nowicki

A matched set, one dreadnaught, one OM, made from brazilian and adi spruce.......with some discreet inlay.

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Formerly known as Adaboy.......

I have some nicely flamed black walnut sets that will grace my future builds with cedar tops and koa bindings.Curly walnut and curly maple laminated necks with spalted beech fretboard and bridge with blk. pearl inlay.

great post.
like many of us who only get around to building a guitar a year or so, the next one is always the guitar of my dreams. in this case, it's 95% done and has been waiting for months in my parents home while me and my family have been relocating, changing jobs, and renovating - including framing in a small shop in the basement.
it's got a cedar top, beautiful oregon walnut back and sides, and curly koa binding. the longer i'm away from it, the better it gets! but i can't wait to bring it home and finish it up.
phil

I would love to put together a guitar that Tarrega couldn't put down.

I'm working on another dream guitar now. Stay tuned for photos; soon, real soon.

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Expectation is the source of all misery; comparison the thief of joy.
http://redrivercanoe.ca/

Some real creativity out there.
Michael, we've currently received over 5.5" of rain today, and remain under a flash flood warning. And people think of Texas as arid.
Cool pic, Haans. Love to see you document that build.
Alexandru, beautiful wood mate. I'd dream about that, too.
Wade, I dunno about a myrtle top, but hey...as long as we're dreaming, right?
Mike, just make another.
Johnny, you got some Brazilian big enough for that? (And where, again, do you live?)

Thanks guys. Dreaming's fun...and a lot of these ideas just might become reality. Who knows?

Steve

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From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

Mine run almost the opposite...

I currently have a couple Guitar Dreams beckoning me..

1. Sheoak Ditson GC (Called Australian Pine where I grew up in South Florida) It is regarded down there as the epitome of trash tree... but I found out recently that the wood is absolutely beautiful. Nonporous, hard, dense, and QS rays that put Oak to shame... Heartwood is dark orange/red and the sap wood is yellowish... I was able to get ahold of 1 smallish board from near where I grew up (A hurricane blowdown)... I could smell that brackish swampy river smell when I resawed it... That smell brought back memories of sailing and fishing away long summer days down by the beach... I will probably start this project this winter. I also have a spectacular set from Tim in Australia that I am afraid to use at this moment...

2. Crazy as it sounds... a full-on pallet guitar... where everything Wood on the guitar would come out of 1-pallet.... Soundboard, back, sides, neck, inlay, etc.... Not sure what an Ash or Oak soundboard would sound like... but I am going to find out one of these days.

3. An All-local guitar... where all the wood grew close to here. I am thinking Eastern red cedar soundboard + Walnut, Oak, Ash, Maple, etc.... for back and sides. Sourcing the soundboard will be the biggest challenge for this build.... as Hardwoods are everywhere..

4. I also have piles of miscellaneous weird woods to try out as I get around to it...

5. Then there's the dream of building them for money!

Thanks

John

As of today, just *a* guitar, any guitar. I'll make that happen this winter.

Slightly longer term, I dream of building a few nice sounding, beautifully crafted things that I can give away to a friend or two or three.

And then I have some vague design things I'd like to try after I improve my skillz and figure out how to make a guitar sound good, but first things first. I like how some modern renaissance cittern multi-piece backs look; I might want to try something like that in an acoustic guitar. And, after reading about how QS white oak makes wonderful-sounding instruments that many potential buyers won't give a second glance since it (I guess) looks too much like furniture, I perversely want to make a stripey nearly-black ammonia-fumed oak guitar, just because. I know I'd like how it looks, and hey, popular tastes change all the time. Maybe the rest of the world will come along...

I'm too thrifty to dream too much about using the really expensive pretty woods -- and feeding a family of five on one income kinda makes the zoot question moot, I guess. But maybe some day, just once, I'll treat myself... unless my wildest dreams come true and building with fancy wood makes economic sense, some day. Ask again in a decade...

While I've yet to fully begin my first, the thought of the "ultimate" builds is what has drawn my interest to making my own instruments. I'm sure I'll never gain the notoriety or skills of a Poling, Kragenbrink, Somogyi, Ramirez, de Jonge, Manzer, Laskin, or a Padma. Nevertheless, I aspire to emulate and take something from each of them. (although I only intend to use Bondo to repair my daughters first automobile accident )

I've owned several nice and several crappy guitars in my life, and played many others of both. I know what my personal tastes sound like for everyday guitars along with what I consider to be exceptional instruments. Nothing against any other builders or manufacturers, but there are several wood combinations, body styles and trim options that don't speak to me personally. I like some Martins, Taylors, Guilds, Breedloves, Collings, Webbers, Paragons, Blue Ridges, Yamahas, Mustapicks, Larivees, Bourgeois, Huss and Daltons, Takamines, Ted Thompsons and Gibsons. Some for the sound my ear hears, some for aesthetics, some for both. Some instruments from each of the aforementioned builders you could keep as I've got no interest in them. Personal tastes vary from individual to individual.

I'm intending to hone my building chops on some IER and HOG back/side sets with some Bearclaw spruce tops I've got and when I feel my skill in overall construction/bracing has eliminated most beginners mistakes, I've got a set of BRW and some Sinker Redwood that is begging me to make a mess of it tonally as well as visually and will get my full on attention.

I absolutely love Mad Rose, have an affinity for cedar tops (even though my personal playing style typically overdrives them), want to try some waterfall bubinga, love striped fretboards and ebony headstocks, and think some highly figured lacewood makes an excellent visual looking binding or headstock veneer when paired with the right back/sides/neck. My vision is to build what I think is aesthetically pleasing along with doing my damndest to learn along the way how to get it to voice itself in such a way as to get someone to say "I like the way that guitar sound and it looks good!"

Great thread and I hope everyone adds their thoughts on this topic.

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Bobby Masten

I've got a B&S set of Bois d' Rose - a dalgerbia that is nearly black with hints of red/purple - and a German spruce top that rings and rings that will one day go into a Manuel Ramirez-shaped classic guitar.

I need to build a couple of more classics first; but I am SOOO looking forward to making that guitar.

Tin can dobo or national...with the engraved Hawinan dancing girls.

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Audiences and dispensations on Thursdays ~ by appointment only.


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I hear ya. Its a serious roller coaster ride.

Mike

ok, I'm envisioning your dream build and have a question. Are the dancin' skirts brown or green?

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Bobby Masten

Tin cans were all chromed. no colour.

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Audiences and dispensations on Thursdays ~ by appointment only.


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