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Been playing with this idea for a while. Finally put it to the test on a nice piece of Redwood (Thanks Hank Mauel).

What do you think?



Had to throw some shellac on it to see it in 3D. Need to do some leveling and detailing still.

Steve

Ummm....thats terrible. I'm going to send you a couple dozen of my tops to practice that on. When you are done, send the tops back and I will evaluate your progress!

That's pretty sweet! I really like it a lot!
PM me your address for those "practice" sound boards!

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http://www.CostaGuitars.com
PMoMC

Thanks Tony. The miters were a bugger. Each one was a different angle. And fitting the pieces together??? Ugh. Definitely need to build some templates to make it easier, but it was fun and only took me a week.

VERY nice.

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-Marcus
http://www.bailieguitars.com
Instagram | YouTube

very nice indeed!

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Jim Watts
http://jameswattsguitars.com

That's super cool. For those of you who have done segmented rosettes, what's the process? Just steady hand and careful work?

Mike

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Mike Lindstrom

I LOVE that! I'd like to hear more detail about your process too! Beth

Me likey!

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Bill Hodge


One does not simply, own enough guitars!

Nice work!

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

I love it! It looks very artistic and well made.
May I steal your idea?

What are the woods that you used?

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http://www.CostaGuitars.com
PMoMC

did you put additional support on the underside? Isn't the rosette for strengthening the top around the sound hole? dang the torpedo's full speed ahead! Just a newbee not nitpicking.

That's great! And to think that you did it in redwood just amazes me. The redwood I've had is freakishly difficult to excavate even for simple work--let alone for work like this. Then again, my skills are pretty sub-standard. Maybe some day... In the meantime, it sure is inspiring.

Patrick

I can't take credit for segmented rosettes. A lot of people do them, I am, however, the only one that has done an offset segment - Please forgive me if you've done it and I didn't give you credit. I do use a soundhole brace of about .075 to cover the rosette area. The lower part will be under the lower transverse brace. But overall it is supported from the underside.

After a lot of layout, I cut channels in some plastic to do the layout.


Then came the process of figuring out the different angles for the miters.


Then the sphincter factor. Cut into a wonderful set of Lucky Strike Rosewood (Thanks again Hank Mauel)


My original idea was to just use a solid color. Couldn't figure out what to use. Tried a bunch of different ideas and none seemed to work out, so I took it to an artist friend and we came up with a graduated radial (Hat-Tip to all the radial ideas on this forum) inside with complementary Southwest colors. I wanted this to appear Southwest American Indian in feeling. I came up with Almond, Ebony and Cocobolo. These woods are harder than SIN and the all three were easily chipped when cut and sized.


Once I had them all in, it was a matter of planing them down. What a bugger. Again, if you haven't worked with Almond - it's density is crazy and you can see some veins in the wood that were quite porous wanted to split there.


Then it was just a matter of cutting the segments and getting a good fit in the spaces. Again, much harder than I anticipated. I have some gaps, but I can fill with dust. Also had a few chip outs as I was planing down, but was able to cut plugs and get a good fit.



Overall, I think I achieved the SouthWest look I was going for and am quite pleased with the results. The purflings are a dark blue and blood red I dyed myself. I'm not sure how it will be received on a classical since it is so unlike a typical classical rosette, but I sure like it. I'll use it again, but if I do, will create some templates to make cutting and mitering the purflings easier to give a tighter fit. Also a template to allow me to route out the segments to the exact size.

Love the comments.

BIG question! Would this type of a rosette turn you off on a classical guitar? Or is it unique enough that you wouldn't care.
Steve

I would be proud to own and play (and display) a classical guitar with that top/rosette......keep me in mind if you're looking for a home for her

That's impressive, Steve!

Thanks for sharing all of the info on how you conceived and executed it.

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Ken Mitchell
Durham, NC

Steve,

Beautiful design! I think it would be quite cool on a classical.
I'm curious, but how do you cut the channels which run perpendicular to the arcs? It's not immediately apparent to me how you approach that with precision; do you use a specific jig as a guide for each channel?

Rick

That's cool. It reminds me of an Egyptian necklace or something like that.
Too many episodes or Stargate SG1 I guess...

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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."

Ran the spokes radially from the center, then used a ruler offset the width of the Stu-Mac Dremel base and put on a very good set of visors, came real close and then hit the corners with a very sharp chisel.

Ideally, I would like to have the template already routed out X+width of a bearing and then just run the channel that way. Much less stressful.
Thanks for the comments,
Steve

That is one GREAT Rosette!
Nice selection of woods.

It may be difficult to make a jig or jigs for that style.
But what the heck-it does not hurt to try.
Maybe some of us can come up with ideas to help you.


I love making my own rosettes,I do not like very many of the pre-made ones.
Making you own is worth the time & trouble to figure out the process &obtain the woods
that look great in them.
Great rose!
Mike

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Mike Collins

Thanks Mike.

If it is well received, I may make this a signature type rosette for me; kind of like John Mayes Medallion Rosette

viewtopic.php?f=10101&t=32723&hilit=medallion+rosette

It is John and others that give me the love of something unique.

steve

I'd say it's been pretty well received!

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http://www.CostaGuitars.com
PMoMC

Coming in late here... That is really cool!

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Jim Kirby
kirby@udel.edu