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I have been building this one since April and summer got in the way - finally strung it up. If you are interested I have way-too-many pictures in "Doc-U-Build" under the same title.

So here it is

It is built of Alaskan Yellow Cedar - all of it. Top, back, sides, neck, braces, and some of the lining. I was wondering what an all softwood guitar would sound like and I found that this construction is sometimes used on Flamenco guitars. I laminated the braces of AYC with Osage Orange for the middle 1/3rd.

The shape is a mid-1920's Gibson L body with a 1-11/16" nut and 25.4" scale. The first couple of days the sound was not balanced yet and the low E was very quiet, but the trebles sounded like my Martin rosewood 000, and it had as much sustain as that guitar. Just 4 days after stringing it up, the sound has changed radically. It is balanced throughout, very crisp and jangly, and it has impressive volume - much more than I was expecting, and as loud as a 000 twelve-fret I built recently.

The Yellow Cedar has about 30 grain lines an inch, and all of it is vertical grain. The head plate fretboard and bridge are ebony. I switched the nickel tuner buttons for ebony. I like the look of the Martin volute where the head meets the neck.

There are a couple of sound clips at the end of the second entry

That big round lower bout of the early L-1 really appeals to me, as well as the color and that it is all the same wood.

My daughter is fine player and she tried it out with bare fingers and a plastic thumb pick:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCEMYpr8Vpc

Also:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NUD-bdNR0g

I really like the look, the feel, and the sound of this guitar. Don't know if sounds so good already because of the all-Alaskan-Yellow-Cedar construction, the laminated braces, or, like the chief said in Little Big Man, "sometimes the magic works and sometimes it doesn't".

Thanks for looking.

Ed

Looks real fine Ed, nice one!

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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 think the magic worked.

Sweet! This is a guitar we like.

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George :-)

That is a fine guitar sir! I love Alaskan Yellow Cedar, I had never thought of a whole guitar done from it. If you're ever in my area then I'd love to play it.

Very nice and it sounds great! I'm a big fan of that body shape too. What's the white/black/white layering in the nut?

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Once in a while you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right - Robert Hunter

I like everything about that beauty!

Nice! Love the sound and Mamies playing.

Thanks all. My daughter can make anything sound good.

J - the nut is a sandwich of bone and ebony. Martin used it on ukes in the teens and twenties.

Ed

Sounds great. I really like the looks of all one wood on this one and your decorations are the perfect fit/compliment.

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Bryan Bear PMoMC

Take care of your feet, and your feet will take care of you.

I bet it smells real nice too

Nice looking axe ya got there.

Thanks everyone - really fun to string them up. And AYC has one of the best smells- earthy and sweet

and J -

I forgot to mention that Hoffner used the laminated nut on some instruments in the 60's too. Here is a screen shot I took from an old video showing them building their violin bass.

Below it is a shot of 4 koa Martins. The one on the left has a bone nut (maybe ivory), the center 2 have ebony nuts, and the one on the right has the laminated nut. They seem to have used it only on style 3 ukes. I have more pictures of the if you want to see them. That fancy one is a style 5 in figured koa - top o' the line.

I think it is right smart looking.

Ed

Also, here's something your hardwood won't do - I guess the sun is coming through all of our coniferous tops and we just don't know it

Wow man. That’s a great body shape. I actually have molds being delivered with the same shape!
Again well built:) I like it


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Very cool, Ed!

Thanks for sharing that.

The translucence feature is a great bonus, not to mention it sounds great.

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I'm not a luthier.
I'm just a guy who builds guitars in his basement.
It's better than playing golf.

Sounds as good as it looks!

That's a fine looking guitar. Mamie's playing style really brings out the sound of it.

Thanks again all. Boy is this addictive - next up, a Redwood top, natural Maple b+s, black neck, faux ivory bridge. Maybe in this shape again.

Ed