Official Luthiers Forum!

Some have suggested I post some photos of instruments I have built over the years. I will include some " in process" photos. It will probably be a process in progress over time. Your questions are welcome...
Not sure of the order of some of these as it has been 20 years, and I never kept records. Not something I did well. Then again, I never numbered or dated guitars either.
This is one of the first Grand Concerts, 16" lower bout, 25-1/2" scale, laminated top (X) and back bracing, lacquer finish...



GC white oak back and one of the first times I used the red/black/holly purfling.



Left is the original purfling...the center cuts were done on a 12 tooth 1/4'' bandsaw blade and were rough. Later, I cut those strips on a Proxxon mini table saw and that worked much better.

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J. Brentrup Guitars & Mandolins
http://www.brentrup.com

Very nice Haans. You really do have a great eye for things.
No matter how complex the detail work gets, it's always very tasteful.
I'd very much like to see more.
Thanks Haans

Brent

They look even better in real life.

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

That's a pretty piece of oak!

It's always been a treat for me seeing your gorgeous guitars Haans and I'll add that you certainly have the artist's eye too with your photography!

Excellent! May we see more, please?

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George :-)

Thanks guys...
Here's a couple of "Prairie State" types, the larger 18" and the smaller 16" with a 23" scale. I favored that one for a long time when my left thumb went out and had an operation to replace the padding between bones.



The 18" was my 3rd and last Cocobolo backed instrument, the 16" was BRW. They were both 14 fret instruments, the only 14 fretters I ever made if I remember right. The smaller instrument was just a joy to play, and sounded quite loud and full.

Here's the heel and rib of the BRW one. Note the green in the rib. Center of neck was holly.





This is another of the short scaled instruments. One local builder called them the "Old Man's Guitar" because they were so easy to play. This one had a white oak back.

I even tried a 12 string version with .070-011" strings, but it was touchy to tune even though I went to great lengths to come up with sets of 18 to 1 grovers.



They never were that popular because of the strange look, but most folks that tried them had to admit they were so easy to play with the waist settled on the right knee.
All were braced with my combination of X and ladder bracing.



Think I built 7-8 of them total, and I mostly gave up on them because of the non-standard cases that cost a small fortune.

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J. Brentrup Guitars & Mandolins
http://www.brentrup.com

Thanks for showing your work, Haans. Always a treat for the eyes.

Pat

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formerly known around here as burbank
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http://www.patfosterguitars.com

Those are absolutely beautiful.

I have really enjoyed reading your book and in fact the 000 guitar I am building now is inspired by it. One day I hope to take the time to really build one of those Larson style guitars.

Thanks Pat and John!
The Prairie State phase of building lasted several years, and as most of you all have found out, it's best to stick with guitars that you can find a case for.
The Grand Concert was probably the most popular model with either a 25.34" scale or 24.9" scale. Lower bout was 15-1/4".



Most all were laminated X braced with laminated ladder braced backs. I mostly used BRW for the center lamination, but some were Wenge. I also made the GC in a 12 string with heavy strings and 25.34" scale.



Only GC I built with a solid P/H was for Dave Hull.



This was probably the fanciest one I built.





Stunning 70 yr old BRW back...



A back with filler applied to one half.



Sanded Back ready to dye.



Shot showing the 10' cylindrical radius board for tops. Note the Hormigo ribs.



Hormigo back dyed.



One left, very Larson purfling, being finished by a friend. Here's a teaser...



Thanks again for the interest. That's all for today...

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J. Brentrup Guitars & Mandolins
http://www.brentrup.com

Hi Haans,
Beautiful work!

How wide did you make your 12 string bridges? Looks like 1-3/8"?

Thank you Haans. Not only does your work inspire me, I'm also really enjoying the way you have photographed each guitar.

Thanks, guys.
Brad, most were 1-3/8", Holzapfels were closer to 1-1/2", but I only built a couple of those. I just thought GC's and Stella's sounded better. Here is an AFB rough out of each...



Here are some of the Stelle's and a Holz.



I guess the Stella was my favorite although the long scale was a big reach for me.





They all had three brace tops with a 10' cylindrical top.



These were huge guitars, referred to as "lap pianos". Here is an interesting photo comparing the three sizes of 12's, 23", 25.34" and 26.5" scales. The Stella's were strung .070"-.012 or.014" and most all were tuned to B or even A.



Here is a photo of an old Stella's sound hole and my copy...



At the end of my building, I thought them a bit too large for me, so I built a BBQ Bob Stella 12. I am still waiting for that one to be completed by a friend.



This one has a white oak back and 26" scale. All others were sapele. Here is a size comparison between the two.



Here is a Holzapfel 12.



They were rather a plain looking instrument, with no binding on back. I decided to bind the back in tortoise celluloid on mine.



They also had sort of a "reverse" herringbone that I decided to copy. Try peeling both sides of herringbone sometime!



Here is an original Holz bridge...



Bolts were popular...

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J. Brentrup Guitars & Mandolins
http://www.brentrup.com

Your purflings and marketry are absolutely incredible!

Thanks Glenn!
There's a lot of hard work in those purflings as you can see from the Holzapfel reverse laminated herringbone. I think you used to be able to buy it (well, obviously, but relatively recently), but it fell out of "favor". Takes a finesse of hot water to separate the center from the outside black strips without breaking the whole mess into little tiny bits. Also consider that you have to hand seal (paint) with lacquer each time you dye or stain.
As for making it, it's a lot of work, much worse than some B/W lines and shell. You can get some idea on my website.

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J. Brentrup Guitars & Mandolins
http://www.brentrup.com

That really is beautiful work. It shows the best of The Luthier's art!

Order Haans’ book. You won’t regret it.

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

Thanks, Haans.

A lot of great info. here......

Wow! I love this stuff, Haans. Your stellar work is a huge reason why, when people start gushing over something I've done, I just shake my head and say, "It's nothing. Believe me."

Thanks again for sharing!

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George :-)

Thanks guys!
That brings me to Parlors and Concert guitars.
While my first guitar in years was an 0-45, I switched to Parlors after that. I had an old mold from the '70's that I believe was similar to an old Washburn Parlor.
Here's an old photo of my wife, Maureen with the 0-45...



The torch inlay...



Here's a few Parlors. All were 12-1/2" lower bout. A couple were BRW, but most were white oak.







Purfling on an early one...





Last Parlor I built...







I only finished one Concert size...just flat ran out of time. It has a 13-1/2" lower bout. I ran across a photo of a Stahl "Presentation" guitar and decided to copy it. While I love the instrument and the tone, I surely would never have made another. I think I counted over 120 pieces of inlay on the neck and finger board.













That's about all I've got for guitars. Still have lots of construction photos. May put some up in the future.
Enjoy!

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J. Brentrup Guitars & Mandolins
http://www.brentrup.com

Thank's Haas. I am enjoying your flavor of building. I'll probably do a ladder braced guitar with your bracing in mind. The inlay, might take a few years before I get up to your level if I ever do.

Thanks Pal! You've always been an inspiration.

And now....... mandos?!!

Oh my. What an inspiration. Thank you for posting these pictures.

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"We must make our choice. We may have democracy, or we may have wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can't have both." Louis Dembitz Brandeis, Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court

Thanks for showing these terrific instruments, Hans. Your artistic sensibility and level of workmanship are to be admired.

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin

A fantastic taste of your work Haans. Thank you.