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I just finished up a guitar that we are going to raffle off to support a fund we (the employees of my cancer center) run. The money we raise goes directly to help people who have been left in a financial bind due to their treatments. In an attempt to have something I could email out to the rest of the oncology division (to boost ticket sales) I asked a guy at a local shop to make a video. I pretty much just dropped it off, told him what it was made from, what it was for and asked him to pick some music that would highlight its strengths. The video is long so you can skip to the end to hear it. . .

This is a parlor guitar roughly the size of a martin size 1. I drew up all the plans myself and had some head-scratching with regards to bracing. It was part of the 2016 OLF challenge so there are some build photos in that thread. The body is short (about 18 1/4 inches) so the 12 fret neck pushes the bridge back into the widest part of the lower bout, which I wanted but then I had to figure out how wide and where to put the X to maximize the use of such a small top. I also moved the soundhole closer to the heel in hopes to support more bass. This left a big space between the soundhole and bridge which made it hard to get the pickguard to look right and be in a position to do its job. One of the things I love about this hobby is how every decision affects something else.

I wanted to design a guitar that would be comfortable for a person who may be bed or recliner ridden. Another theme of this guitar was finding woods that were in need of rescue and giving them a second chance at new life.

top : Pine from the cull bin of the Home Depot. The board was twisted and cracked but there was s section of clear wood large enough for this guitar. I could tell by how it had split that it didn't really have any runnout so I gave it a chance. I resawed it and watched. It didn't move. I took it through several baking cycles; that bubbled a ton of resin out of it but it didn't move. I jointed it and watched. It didn't move. I thicknessed it and it felt really good. I kept expecting to have to throw it away but it kept passing the tests. . .

Back and sides : Cherry form our local urban log recycler

Neck : Maple. Years ago I bought craigslist table saw that belonged to the sellers deceased grandpa. it had a giant chunk of maple screwed to the fence as a sacrificial fence for dados. It sat in the corner for years until I realized I could squeeze a neck out of it if I cut it up just right.

Jatoba appointments : Old hardwood flooring

I'll add the photos when I get a chance to go into tapatalk since they are too large to upload.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCBqhxH8o-U[/youtube]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCBqhxH8o-U


Thanks for looking.

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Bryan Bear PMoMC

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

It sounds great!!

Well done!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Bryan Bear PMoMC

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

Very graceful, Brian.

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

a dang fine guitar, Bryan. Great job!

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-Marcus
http://www.bailieguitars.com
Instagram | YouTube

That little guitar sounds fantastic!! Way to go man.

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John Lewis
Wannabe builder owned by 2 crazy dachshunds

LOVE smaller guitars, very nice. Sounds as good as it looks!

Finish?

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Thank You and Best To All

Thanks for the kind words everyone.



I forgot to post that. It is French Polish with Royal-Lac. The base coats are regular shellac. This was my first time using Royal-Lac so I had to get used to it but it wasn't too difficult of a transition.

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Bryan Bear PMoMC

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

Thanks Bryan - even better...

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Thank You and Best To All

Bryan,
That is one impressive guitar. I have never had an interest in making a parlor but after seeing/hearing yours I am very interested. I would love to see pictures of 'inside the box'.

Great job and what a great cause !!!

Edit: Saw a picture of the bracing on the Build Thread. Very interesting

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Joe Beaver
Maker of Sawdust

A beauty and a worthy cause, congrats.

Sounded great!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

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Insta - https://www.instagram.com/cbcguitars/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/cbcguitars

Wow! A lot of sound comes out of that little thing... I like the idea of the rescued materials, especially for the cause...

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Steve Sollod (pronounced sorta like "Solid")
www.swiftcreekguitars.com

Nice parlor, Brian!

Dang Bryan!
It looks beautiful!
Congrats!

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wah
Wah-wah-wah-wah
Wah

That thing is awesome! Nice work Bryan, be cool to take it for a spin sometime.

Nice one Brian, looks good, sounds great!

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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.

That's a beautiful little guitar, and what a great sound!
It shows people that it's not the materials used, but rather how they are used that makes the difference. I have a special fondness for parlor guitars. I hope the eventual owner appreciates what a fine instrument they are getting.

Could you share the link to that 'build' thread, been looking but can't find it. Thanks.

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Thank You and Best To All

Here it is:
viewtopic.php?f=10145&t=47794

I gave it a quick look and it appears that when I had to bow out of the challenge I wasn’t very far along and didn’t go back and update it. But, the there are some discussions of the design phase and a bit about the bracing. . .

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Bryan Bear PMoMC

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

Thanks so much for the link and taking the time to post your build progress. Again very nice job...

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Thank You and Best To All

Awesome guitar Bryan. Love that cherry and all the purfling. Phenomenal craftsmanship.

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Jason Moe
LaCrosse WI 54601

Looks good, sounds good. Someone will be very happy

Ed

I was stunned at how much sound that little guitar produced--and very well balanced! May just need to retool for building them myself. Thanks for sharing!

beautiful!
Sounds great!
Mike

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Mike Collins