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I can't seem to find a thread for this guitar so that leads me to believe I never made one.
So here is a quick thread on this guitar. It is my second walnut and cedar dread and #7 to be completed. I should have it done by labor day. I am moving slow as can be on this one. Not sure why.
Here are pics:


Top getting some braces:


Gotta make sure your lap joint is tight:


Bridge plate and finger braces going on:


I need to make a rosette. This box elder burl looks promising!!


Yes. It will do nicely!!


Some back braces all shaped up:


This is a very sophisticated clamping system I developed for clamping odd shapes. I call it a "rice clamp" and I use it when I...well...when I feel like it. I am gluing in a veneer inside the box for a side port.


More to come soon.

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http://www.CostaGuitars.com
PMoMC

After I had the box closed I had to decide on bindings. I had some choices on hand:
Wenge?


Plain mahogany?


Rosewood?


This other wood?


No. Those wont do. I chose curly mahogany. It's either from Cuba or Honduras. I really can't remember but I can check later if it's important to anyone to know right away.


Once I bent it and stuck it on the box with an adhesive liquid of some sort, it looked like this:


Next I needed to add some lacquer. That looked a little like this:


And the soundboard:


And here is a pic of the rosette that I forgot to post:


Thanks for looking!

Tony

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http://www.CostaGuitars.com
PMoMC

Neck, meet box. Box, meet neck. Talk amongst yourselves.


Next up is scraping off the finish under the fret board extension and the bridge. I have already drilled the holes for the bridge location.
This finish gave me a lot of problems. I sanded through several times and then sanded through the additional coats I put on to repair the original sand throughs. The neck is finished with Wipe on Poly. The back strap is Macassar Ebony. The poly and the mac ebony did not get along so the poly was not drying. I had to sand off the finish to seal it with shellac and then begin coating again. All in all, it was the worst finishing experience I have had. I suppose I have been lucky in the past! Hopefully all of my finish woes are behind me and I can keep moving forward.

Thanks for looking.

Tony

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http://www.CostaGuitars.com
PMoMC

Looking real fine!

Looks great, Tony! The mystery mahogany bindings are sweet next to the claro. Did you use the box elder before? It looks very familiar - kinda deja-view.

Alex

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"Indecision is the key to flexibility" .... Bumper sticker

Thanks Alex. and meddlingfool. I never used the box elder on another guitar but this particular box has been another thread before. One of the "What's on your Bench" threads a while back when I had just closed the boxes.
Maybe it was back in February or March. Anyway, this thing is slowly coming together and hopefully it will be done by the end of summer. Or sooner.

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http://www.CostaGuitars.com
PMoMC

Yo, Tony,
Normally, dreads don't do much for me visually, but yours is a knockout! I'm especially impressed by your choices for accent woods. The rosette and bindings compliment the other woods so nicely, and each other, too.
Well done!
Patrick

Nice work. I suspect that your "mystery mahogany" bindings are actually Koa. I've cut and used a lot of Koa for bindings and the grain pattern is identical. Looks great what ever it is though.

Oh no Tony! It looks like you have some AWFUL ghosting going on on that back.

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ELEVATE || Next Level Lutherie
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That looks great Tony and I like your choice for binding, it nicely accents the walnut. Can you please tell me more about your rice clamp for gluing veneer inside the sides. Does that really work well? If so, what an ingenious solution to what I consider to be a pain in the ...
Wendy

Holy Moly,
That is a beautiful work of art!

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wah
Wah-wah-wah-wah
Wah

AWW!! Chris you went and spoiled the secret to my success!! My garage is actually haunted by the ghosts of luthiers past and they help guide my hands and choices when I build. I guess it was just a matter of time before the secret got out. Now you all know.

It is not koa. It was very light compared to the koa I have handled and the pores were MUCH bigger. But you're right, whatever it is, I like it and I am not concerned. I bought it in the classifieds so if I still have the PM I exchanged with the seller, I can figure out what it is.

Wendy,
Yes. The rice clamp works. When you clamp a joint, you are creating artificial gravity in a sense, by increasing the pressure on the glue joint. I am doing the same thing here but with rice. This bag weighed about 9 lbs so I added the clamps to increase the pressure. A flat board on top of the Uncle Ben's with clamps on that would be great. I just clamped the bag. I ended up not adding a port on this guitar but since I am not completely finished, I still could!

I don't know about it being a work of art, but it's alright. I really like the combo of the binding against the walnut. It came out better than I expected.
Thanks for the kind words! I always appreciate the encouragement.

Tony

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http://www.CostaGuitars.com
PMoMC

Lookin' good, Tony!

Really nice, Tony.
I like that streaky top.

Thanks guys! I like wood that looks like wood, ya know?

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http://www.CostaGuitars.com
PMoMC

Looks real tasty Tony!

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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.

Tony awesome looking guitar. I have been thinking a Claro walnut and cedar J-45 build based on the Michael Collins plans. I was thinking curly maple binding but that curly mahogany? is amazing looking...Mike

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Another day, another dollar.

looks like one of the most beautiful guitars I've seen in a long time. The combination of woods is lush.
How do you drill the bridge pin holes before the neck is on the body?

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

Listen to Filippo. He is obviously "in the know" on this.
I had the neck on, located the bridge, drilled and then took the neck off to complete the buffing. Plus it's easier to work on the box to remove the finish under the bridge if you don't have the neck on. I can then sit on my couch to work. Even my working environment is lush. Ha!!

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http://www.CostaGuitars.com
PMoMC

Be wary! Too much couch lush leads to tush lush...

Great top Tony .. Mario sent me some of that choc-vanilla cedar for the stash ... my personal harp is being made from that, it looks very cool.

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Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"

Beautiful work as always, Tony! Love that rosette, and your use of tops with lots of colour variation! Looks fantastic!

Thanks a lot guys! You are making me think I know what I'm doing!

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http://www.CostaGuitars.com
PMoMC