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Off the OLF SJ plans...

Aussie Blackwood/Lutz with maple purflings...and a nice recovery:)

Well, that turned out real nice!

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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.

Color me green with envy.

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

Nice job Ed!
Pleasing modern (almost German in its understatement) efficiency, simple lines. Flamed maple line is nice...
Little top inlay the recovery?

I really like that one, bro. The inlay above the bridge is fantastic. Was that part of a “recovery”? Either way, looks great!

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sweat the small stuff.

Yup, the inlay was unplanned. I was swamped trying to get stuff ready for VIGF. This guitar was sent off for finish at the beginning of June, and of course it turned up Tuesday afternoon before the show. I'd been very careful, taking my time with everything and doing my level best towards perfection. Everything was gold. When it came time to fit the bridge, I hemmed and hawed...do it the old way where you leave a little bit of finish around the edge of the footprint and just clamp it down, or the new way, where you rabbit the underside of the bridge. Went with the rabbet. it was around hour 15 of the shop day, and I forgot to dry for it. It looked fine with no clamps, so I glued it on and, while cleaning off the glue, I noticed it was actually not all down. I figured it would come off easy as it had been on 10 minutes at the max. And I was right, it came off quite cleanly, except one little chheky chunk that came off right at the centerline. So I spent about another 15 hrs carefully making different versions of the inlay, each one better than the last til I got one that was perfect, then excised the offending bits, inlayed the new piece til it was inset exactly even with the top, then drop filled it with glu-boost til the surface was proud of the finish and then carefully leveled and buffed the area, miraculously all without burning through the finish. Easily the most delicate operation I've ever had to undertake! And as it goes, I put the strings on at 9:05 Saturday morning, and handed it to the demo guy without even having a chance to check for high frets and such. But it sounded great:)

I explained it to the client, and we both think it looks great, so he's still going to take it, which is real good news for me. Off to deliver it in Victoria next week!

Great looking guitar and great recovery story. That's a very classy, tasteful look. Nice fret markers, rosette, purfling, and the recovery inlay looks really good.

A set of those same Gotoh open back tuners arrived in the mail today. I'm looking forward to using them on my current guitar in progress.

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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

Very nice!
Really like the materials. The figure in the top is insane!

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wah
Wah-wah-wah-wah
Wah

You're a fine craftsman. The inlay in front of the bridge looks like it was part of the design and the wood is beautiful. Congratulations!

So I spent about another 15 hrs carefully making different versions of the inlay, each one better than the last til I got one that was perfect,

Ahh....memorable 15 hours of unadulterated joy! Nice save!

Super clean work! Love the radial rosette!

Nice side/binding match. Classy!

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Pat

It's not radial in the way it's usually done these days.

The main strips are offcuts of the back, but from the length, not the width. Then everything is heat bent on the pipe and inlayed all together in one go into the cavity. It's pretty fussy but I like the end result...

The bindings are offcuts from th sides, glued back on as close to exactly where they came from as I can get it...

Thanks for the kind words:)

It sure looks great!!

It sounds great also! Good to see you at the show Ed. I just walked in on Saturday morning to be treated to a performance on Ed's guitar. Being played by one of my new favourite pickers, Terry Robb out of Portland. That fellow can light up a room!

Yeah, he was pretty badass! The guitar had been strung up ~ 2hrs at that point, lol!

How did you make that nice even black border around the headstock inlays? It looks really good against the lighter wood of the head plate. Are the letters pressed into black epoxy or CA in recesses that are bit larger than the letters? Or did you maybe glue the inlays into the recesses and then fill in around them with black epoxy/CA?

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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

Light Amplified Stimulation of Emitted Radiation

Pieces carefully tacked in position with wood glue, then the borders filled with Ebony dust from shaping bridge wings hit with ultrathin CA...

Thanks. In an inlay class a while back, I asked about making a black border around an inlay sitting in a slightly larger recess and the instructor poo pooed the idea. I guess he wasn't aware of the awesome power of Light Amplified Stimulation of Emitted Radiation.

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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

Using black epoxy might actually be a better way, up the CA is instant...

It is a beauty !!! I like everything from the shape to the recovery and all things between. I particularly like Aussie blackwood back and sides and how well it all works with the rosette, the headplate, the recovery and the fret markers. Outstanding

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Joe Beaver
Maker of Sawdust

Thanks!

Looks great, Ed, and an awesome save!

Alex

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

Some new techniques to attempt...

Thanks for the inspiration, Ed!

Most welcome!