Official Luthiers Forum!

Well, this one's finished and ready and ready to go to its new owner.

The wood to make this guitar came from my neighbour's old window frames, and that's who this guitar is going to.

The mahogany top is superb wood, perfectly on quarter, and came from the window sills, and was wide enough for a two piece top (with a few more sets left over), the neck sides and three piece back, from the widow uprights.

So, the components were:

Back Sides and Top and Neck, mahogany.
Fingerboard, bridge and binding, Madagascan rosewood.
Headplate, ebony.
Purflings, rosette etc Black/white/black and rope.

I make my small bodied steel strings using the same plantilla as my classicals, the Torres 1864 FE19, who am I to argue with the master.

Tonewise it's what you'd expect from mahogany, real growl, but full and even across the board, this is the perfect little blues guitar, and will get better and better over the next months and years.















Colin

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

The mahogany is beautiful! I like your brace design.......how does it sound?

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Formerly known as Adaboy.......

Really nice Colin. I love recyling materials, the amount of good moggy being thrown away in the UK is unreal. UPVC....

Very nice !!

L.

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Cut to size.....Beat to fit.....Paint to match.

Boy! I like that one A LOT!

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

Colin awesome git what was the thickness of the top, back and sides? I'd like to build a small body all mahogany git for my next project!

Very nice.
I'm surprised you haven’t signed, or at least put “your mark” on it

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Say what you do, Do what you say.

Before final sanding the various thicknesses were:

Sides, 0.085"
Back, 0.095"
Top, 0.100"

Top thickness as always is down to the individual piece of wood.

Colin

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

I don't particularly like headstock inlays, I guess it's my European classical guitar influence, nor am I keen on labels directly under the soundhole. But all of my guitars have small 1" x 2" violin style labels up against the bass side lining.



Colin

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

Let me beat Don to it: *dang*.
Really sweet Colin... you did it again.
When we tear out windows here, all we get is rotten yellow pine.
You are so lucky.

Steve

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From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

Very nice. I'm doing an all-mahogany OM size right now. I hope it matches your sound description

Thanks Steve, yours (or Don's) "dang" is the highest praise I can be given!

Before uPVC windows became popular, it was quite common here to have aluminium window frames set in hardwood surrounds. It's sometimes hard to spot what wood it is, as with these frames they are often covered in nasty brown varnish

Colin

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

Now how did I miss the tone description??? Just went back and found it......

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Formerly known as Adaboy.......

That's awesome! I hope your neighbor doesn't freeze this winter without his windows though

It's a beautiful guitar, Colin.
Did you brace the back like that because it's a 3 piece or is that your normal way? I've never seen that before and I really like it.
Whereabouts in England do you live?
Do you have a website?

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We are all in the gutter but some of us are looking at guitars.

Nice little guitar.

Beautiful guitar, Colin! I love wood with a story behind it.

<sigh> Steve beat me to it...

Gorgeous instrument, and I also share the view that we are sorely challenged here for old window material being that nice...

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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."

Gee most of my neighbors windows are vinyl....Mike

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Another day, another dollar.

Joe, I always use an X braced back of some description, sometimes just a single one in the lower bout, with a transverse brace in the upper bout, or like this with two X braces. I like to build with a stiff back, and find that the Xs do this and stiffen the back.

I'm down in Kent, but spent several years living in Durham when I taught at the University there. I don't have a website I'm afraid.

Colin

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

Thanks Don, If you and Steve like it, then I'm content. Having just duff uPVC window frame material in the US didn't stop Ovation using it for their backs.

Colin

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

Awesome Colin!

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It's not what you don't know that hurts you, it's what you do know that's wrong.

She's awesome, Colin.

After seeing one of your earlier FE19 based steel strings, and after working away on my first non-Selmer steel string (a L-00 a "classic"al steel string) I am very tempted to use the FE19 plantilla in the future...that's assuming that I build more steel string guitars rather than nylon...

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