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Just thought I would do a little update on the Osage Orange guitar from the swap meet. This is the wood nobody wanted, so I decided to make something out of it myself. The yellow color is kinda growing on me

 

If you look real close at the first picture, you can see the other 4 guitars that are a part of this set of 5 guitars I am building. Today was the first spray day, so everything has its first coat of nitro in it and is waiting for tomorrow.

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Reguards,

Ken H

By the way, this is similar to an OM, but is 1/2" wider in the lower bout and is the same depth sides as a dreadnaught. It is my own design I am calling my OD-1 model

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Reguards,

Ken H

Looks cool, Ken! The top sure does look white against the Osage. The binding works well to frame it.

Dennis

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Dennis Leahy
Duluth, MN, USA
7th Sense Multimedia

Very nice Ken!. Was the osage difficult to bend?

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Anderson Guitars
Clearwater,Fl. 33755

The osage bent really easy. I thinned the sides to about .80 and used moderate heat. As soon as I felt the heat through the wood, I bent the sides. Nothing to it at all.

I have heard that this is a drop in replacement for BRW... it wont be long and I'll know for sure!  Althought I dont have a comission for this guitar, someone that was in my shop last week was so interested that they want me to call them as soon as it is playable. I have suspicions they may be interested in buying it.

I used mahogany for the back braces, and used a 3 arm cross brace for the back with 2 ladder braces int he upper bout. The top is Englemann spruce and the binding and inserts are all EIR. I used a rope purfling on this one also. It will have a spanish cedar neck and a EIR fingerboard and bridge.

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Reguards,

Ken H

Looks great, Ken. I love that dark wedge of EIR in the back against the Osage. It's got a unique sort of art nouveau look to it. Looking forward to seeing her when she's done.

Max

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Max Bishop
Brighton, Michigan

Hi Ken,

I really like the contrast!

And as Dennis has pointed out, the Top looks very white. What kind of spruce is it?

Also, I’m guessing that’s not native U.S. Osage orange, which is quite orange, and under a finish
looks almost red. Where does that Osage come from?

Glad to see all your orders coming along nicely!

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Everything has beauty, But, not everyone see's it!

Ken buddy it's looking great.  It is yellow but a much warmer yellow then I would have thought with some finish on it. 

Great job buddy!

Wow, I mean, just wow. Stunning and that backstrip is just breathtaking, the way you've arranged the figure..

Ken, looks great! I like the contrast between the Osage and the EIR... well done. Please let us know how it sounds when you're finished, a sound clip would be nice.

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Jim Womack

"Be thankful we're not getting all the government we're paying for. "
Will Rogers

The Osage Orange came from a friend of mine that owns a sawmill in Indiana. I have more of that wood laying around and more on the way. It is extremely bright yellow! After one coat of nitro, it appears to have mellowed some, but still has an almost 3D effect in yellow/gold/brown going on. I had tried to stain it with stewmac's wood stain, but even full strength the stain wouldnt absorb and just sat on the surface. This is some extremely tight grained and dense wood. I didnt even use pore filler on this guitar and so far everything looks lovely.

The spruce is Englemann spruce that I got from the ebay seller that sells tops in lots of 50. So far I havent been dissappointed in anything he sent me.

The wedge in the back started out as a fingerboard blank. Because of the curved lines, it wasnt desirable either but has turned out beautifully as a back wedge. The tail wedge started out it's life as a headplate from a Martin pre-carved neck I bought. I removed the headplate and added one of my own. Just couldnt see throwing the old headplate away and thgouht it would come in handy some day. The rosewood binding came from Shane at highmountain tonewoods. Good looking stuff!

I am trying something different with the bracing on this guitar. I have carved it much smaller than I have been using on my other guitars just to see if it will hold up. The cross brace is 1/2" tall where it meets in the center and is 1/4" wide. The top has been baked for 2 hours at 200 degrees also.

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Reguards,

Ken H

Very cool, Ken. I've got two sets of OO waiting in the wings, so I'm anxious to know how yours sounds.

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now known around here as Pat Foster
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http://www.patfosterguitars.com

That's a really neat looking guitar, Ken.  The color is initially a little shocking, but it grows on you.  The tapered wedges really make the look work.  Nice job. 

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

I meet Steve S? at ASIA. He had a Osage guitar he had built from wood from a tree on his property. He also had a piece that had aged a few years that was a chocolate milk brown. Steve said the guitar should also turn brown. Alan Curruth(sp) played it and I think he said he thought for guitars Osage was the same as BRW. Hopefully Alan will read this post and let us know.

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Say what you do, Do what you say.

The Osage I've tested out is just like BRW: same range of density, stiffness, and damping along and across the grain. The Osage guitars I've made have sounded like it, too.

When freshly cut all of the Osage I've seen has been very bright yellow or orange. It darkens pretty quickly, and can become a brick red similar to BRW. One of my students made a guitar out of Fustic; the so-called 'Aregntine Osage' (they are different species, apparently), and it looked and worked very similar.

Thanks for the compliments everybody!  I'll be sure to post more when it all gets done. Shouldnt be too long to wait :)

 

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Reguards,

Ken H

Ken I really like the way that back wedge is mirrored in the butt wedge. VERY creative. Wish I had thought of that. Hope you don't mind if I copy it sometime.

The contrast is great and the colors match very nicely. The binding carries on the theme in the wedge, etc. Just great!

John

That's very nice Ken. I got a set of osage from Dennis Leahy at the swap meet and after seeing yours I can't wait to try it.

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Ken Franklin
clumsy yet persistent
https://www.kenfranklinukulele.com

Great work Ken, it looks fantastic!

I look forward to seeing more pictures when it's finished.

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Thanks,
Blain

http://www.ullrichguitar.com

"89.67% of all statistics are made up on the spot."