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PostPosted: Thu Oct 30, 2014 6:42 pm 
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Joined: Fri May 09, 2008 2:25 pm
Posts: 1954
First name: George
City: Seattle
State: WA
Country: USA
Focus: Build
Status: Amateur
Friends,
I've been too busy and disorganized to participate fully in this challenge, so I am not entering as a contestant for any prize. However, I have been building and I thought I would go ahead and share what I have with all of you here.

Here's the stuff I consider "local"...

Top wood: Lutz spruce (purchased from Shane for practicing jointing)
Back, sides & back headplate: Cherry (purchased from Bob for practicing plate jointing and bending)
Braces: Sitka
Linings: Port Orford Cedar
Neck: Port Orford Cedar

Since this started out as a practice build, I didn't want to spend much money, so I used a few non-local elements that I had on hand...

Fingerboard: EI rosewood
Bridge: EI rosewood
Front headplate: EI rosewood
Binding: Ebony

Bang all that together and you get this 12-fret Slope D, which I strung up last night and photographed today (pardon my poor Photoshop skills). I'll probably post more info and a few pics over in the main forum, so I'll save some bandwidth by only posting a couple of pics here:

Image

Image

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George :-)



These users thanked the author George L for the post: MatthewM (Sun Jan 11, 2015 6:36 pm)
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PostPosted: Thu Oct 30, 2014 9:37 pm 
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Joined: Tue Mar 01, 2011 1:32 pm
Posts: 3470
First name: Alex
Last Name: Kleon
City: Whitby
State: Ontario
Zip/Postal Code: L1N8X2
Country: Canada
Focus: Build
Status: Amateur
Looks nice, George! Cherry is one of my favourite woods. What did you use for stain? I've got a few cherry sets, but instead of staining, I want to try applying a source of tannin, and fuming them with ammonia.
I might be in a minority, but I like some less than "perfect" tops. Yours is pretty silky!

Alex

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PostPosted: Thu Oct 30, 2014 11:25 pm 
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Joined: Fri May 09, 2008 2:25 pm
Posts: 1954
First name: George
City: Seattle
State: WA
Country: USA
Focus: Build
Status: Amateur
Thanks, Alex. I really liked working with cherry. So much so, in fact, that I've since purchased another very nice set. Since this one was somewhat challenged cosmetically, I decided to play around with staining, something I'd mostly avoided previously.

I tried a very dark stain at first, but thought it just made everything look dirty. I sanded most of that off and then applied some Minwax Red Oak that I had left on the shelf. I like the resulting color and think the dark blotches left from the first stain are kind of cool and rugged looking. I'm giving this guitar to my brother, who's a big, hulking guy, so this one should suit him well.

I hope you'll record and share the results you get with your stain experimentations. I, for one, would love to see what you dream up.

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PostPosted: Fri Oct 31, 2014 6:51 am 
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Brazilian Rosewood
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Joined: Wed Apr 08, 2009 9:34 am
Posts: 3081
George, that looks so VERY nice!
I like the look of the traditional approach (you knew that) and cherry seems like a nice looking wood, and a plus, sustainable. Makes me want to try cherry.
Keep us posted on the tonal qualities!!


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PostPosted: Fri Oct 31, 2014 8:50 am 
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Joined: Fri Oct 14, 2011 10:29 am
Posts: 502
First name: joseph
Last Name: sallis
City: newcastle-upon-tyne
State: tyne and wear
Zip/Postal Code: ne46xe
Country: UK
Focus: Build
Status: Amateur
Excellent job, George. Everything blends together really well and looks very well built. Pity you didn't use all local woods (you have so many to choose from in the USA) then you could have entered the challenge.

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PostPosted: Fri Oct 31, 2014 8:58 am 
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Koa
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Joined: Thu Jan 10, 2008 5:08 am
Posts: 1904
Location: Raleigh, NC
First name: Steve
Last Name: Sollod
Focus: Build
Status: Amateur
Very nice George. What finish did you use? ...and did you design the shape?

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PostPosted: Fri Oct 31, 2014 7:24 pm 
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Joined: Fri May 09, 2008 2:25 pm
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First name: George
City: Seattle
State: WA
Country: USA
Focus: Build
Status: Amateur
Thanks all. For something that started out as a bunch of leftovers, the guitar turned out pretty nice. Hope to take better pictures this weekend and record a sound clip next week.

The shape is a 12-fret variant of a Gibson J-45, so not my design. I finished the guitar by wiping on Pratt & Lambert #38 gloss varnish.

For me, the best thing about this project was making the Port Orford Cedar neck. Liked it so much I went out and found a plank big enough to yield several more. I love that stuff.

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PostPosted: Fri Oct 31, 2014 7:29 pm 
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Cocobolo
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Joined: Fri Mar 28, 2008 9:59 pm
Posts: 202
Location: Manchester, New Hampshire
First name: Matt
Last Name: Bouchie
City: Manchester
State: New Hampshire
Country: USA
Focus: Build
Status: Amateur
Cool guitar!

Matt


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PostPosted: Sat Nov 01, 2014 6:55 am 
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Mahogany
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Joined: Thu Mar 03, 2011 12:55 pm
Posts: 69
Location: Ottawa, Ontario
First name: Alain
Last Name: Gagnon
City: Ottawa
State: ON
Country: Canada
Focus: Build
Status: Amateur
Very nice George. May I ask where you got the P&L #38. I can't find that stuff Anywhere.

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PostPosted: Sat Nov 01, 2014 8:34 am 
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Joined: Fri May 09, 2008 2:25 pm
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First name: George
City: Seattle
State: WA
Country: USA
Focus: Build
Status: Amateur
Alain,
P&L #38 varnish is getting harder to find here in the U.S. as well. I thought we'd seen the last of it several years ago, but every now and again I stumble across a can at a paint or hardware store. I've had good results with the finish and like the slight amber hue it adds, so when I saw a can of it last summer I snapped it up.

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PostPosted: Sat Nov 01, 2014 8:46 am 
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Joined: Mon Aug 23, 2010 11:42 pm
Posts: 1701
First name: John
Last Name: Parchem
City: Seattle
State: Wa
Zip/Postal Code: 98177
Country: USA
Focus: Build
Status: Amateur
George, Excellent looking guitar, I never thought of Port Orford Cedar for the neck. Does the the guitar with the Port Orford Cedar linings still have that great smell. Also that is a nice top! I am not sure I would call it a practice top for jointing. It looks like a sister of the top I used in the guitar I just posted.

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