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Hey... that’s a lovely guitar you have going there


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I have been using a higher proportion of the Murdoch 500 in my varnish, and as an experiment, I buffed out the Madrone Hybrid after only 4 days of cure time. It will be instructive to see how that goes. Over the last couple of days I fretted it, installed gold Schertler classical tuners, and made and installed a Madrone bridge. Might get away with stringing it toward the end of today!

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Bruce Sexauer, luthier
http://mojoluthier.com

That rosette must have taken forever to make. I think my hand would cramp up pretty badly attempting that!

I doubt the rosette was more than 6 hours . . . not counting drop-fill, the matrix required a lot of attention during finish.

I have been playing the guitar, and tuning constantly, for the last hour or so. I could not be happier, especially knowing as I do that it will be even better tomorrow.

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Bruce Sexauer, luthier
http://mojoluthier.com

Yup they always sound better the next day. 6 hours is lot for a rose in my book but even so that kind of work would take me forever.

[quote="Bruce Sexauer"]"I doubt the rosette was more than 6 hours . . . not counting drop-fill, the matrix required a lot of attention during finish.

I have been playing the guitar, and tuning constantly, for the last hour or so. I could not be happier, especially knowing as I do that it will be even better tomorrow."



Time flies when you are having fun! I remember reading an article where Jose Romanillos said he was explaining how much work went into making the rosette. The person who he was talking to said "then why do it?" He thought that was a funny question.
I strung up a nylon string guitar a couple of days ago and thought "this is the worst guitar I've ever built". The sound was completely unfocused, quiet, and had a weird high harmonic that continued forever. Two days later it has come alive - good tone, decent volume, and no weird harmonic. I would like to know what is physically happening in the first couple of days that makes the sound change so dramatically.

The 'drone has a nice informal look - a guitar you wouldn't be afraid to pick up and play. I think the light colored bridge and "color" in the top adds to that feeling. Very very nice!

I spent a silly amount of time today (It IS Sunday) recording a tune on the Madrone nylon guitar. My skill, such as it is, is with a flatpack, and this is a Swedish fiddle tune named "Polska after From-Olle". Lemons/Lemonade.

http://www.sexauerluthier.com/Music/FromOlle.m4a

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Bruce Sexauer, luthier
http://mojoluthier.com

Hi Bruce,
Nice tune. Nice sounding guitar.
The other day I was trying to play a Laurindo Almeida tune (English Air) I played when I was a kid. I've forgotten it completely. I did find a PDF of the sheet music to down load, so I may try to relearn it.
What are you building now? I enjoy seeing your building threads and hope you will continue them.

In end user oriented forums (AGF and UMGF) I have for years been documenting my working life. But this is a builder oriented forum, and I imagine it would feel like a vanity to me to do so here. It does seem like good citizenship to share some of what I have learned in 53 years at the bench, and I do believe that I have moved our work forward in a number of ways. That is why I have shared a couple of build sequences here. If people interact with me, asking questions in particular, I am happy to share further. I have no secrets, and I do have a complete methodology that has led me to a successful career in lutherie.

Judged on my own standards, no one on the planet makes or has made a better guitar than mine typically are. If I thought they did, I’d figure out why and improve my own, as I have constantly over the years. We all all have our own standards of course, but surely my attitude is typical of many or most who strive for greatness in any field. For me it is “holy work”.

Currently, I am making the neck for an Adi/H. mahogany 000 cutaway for my 4 times customer John Matchette. In a day or two when this guitar goes into finish I will block and buff another 000 cutaway in Adi/Myrtle which I will ship to Robert Berger, his 5th commission to me. Then I will start a JB-15 (asymmetrical 13 fret 15” guitar, virtually yet another 000) in EuroSpruce/Pear for another guy, only his 2nd Sexauer.

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Bruce Sexauer, luthier
http://mojoluthier.com

I get an error when trying to play the file. I am not familiar with the .m4a file format, what software plays that?

I really appreciate the build threads, and should ask more questions. I do have lots of questions. I've made almost a dozen violins and violas, but the arch top, and the little baroque guitar that isn't done; all just from reading books, and watching videos. A lot of times, the questions that I have aren't even addressed.

I do like the open, glue on the belly Spanish style build, and that's what I'm changing to.

I like the color of the Madrone after varnishing, What did you do to lean it toward orange? My oil varnish might get to gold. I found that Azo green oil paint, just a tiny bit, made Zpoxy, and my home made varnish more orange. It is wonderfully transparent. I just spread mine on with a card, and fingers, so my 2-3 coats is probably many more sprayed coats.

I learn a lot just from pictures. Just a loop to tie on strings? I've read you have to twist so many times...... A loop is simple.

I do like the thin, no nonsense binding; but then, why do I like early guitars? I think because they are all different, and I like different.

Thanks for sharing.

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Why be normal?

The file format is what GarageBand makes It and plays on iTunes.

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Bruce Sexauer, luthier
http://mojoluthier.com

First time I tried to hear the file, using Firefox for Mac, I got the message “No video with supported file format and MIME type found." Suspecting it was browser issue, I tried Safari, and it worked just fine.

Lovely sparkling tone! I'd like to hear more of that guitar.

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Tim Allen
"Never hurry, never rest."

Bruce, would you be willing to describe how your system of building handles neck angle geometry? In particular with regards to steel string instruments. I’ve been thinking about about different ways to achieve consistency in this regard when building Spanish-style on a solera and would very much appreciate some insight into your approach.

Because bracing concepts vary wildly from one luthier to another, there is no set way to get neck geometry right that I am aware of. I can list my steps, however:

My neck block is 90 degrees to the top in all cases.

After cutting the dovetail cavity, I cut the end of the neck blank 1/4" too long and square to both surfaces, which are absolutely parallel/perpendicular.

With the body sitting on its tail, I set the neck block on top and check for center alignment and pitch.Center alignment is usually perfect, but pitch varies from my target by as much as a degree either way. In my system, a straight edge on the guitar top, with the neck block flush to the top surface, should have a gap of between 1/16" and 3/32" measured at the nut. Using a chop saw, I adjust the neck block till I have this. I do it by eye.

I make a final cut 9/16" from the projected body join.

I use a 1/4" thick dressed fingerboard blank on steel string guitars, and a straight edge on the FB (not glued on till after the dovetail is fully fit) surface should project to between 1/4" and 5/16" off the top at the nut, depending on tonal target.

I do not further dress or crown my FB until the finish is done and the neck is assembled to the body. This give me a final chance to adjust the saddle height off the top. Also, you may find it interesting to note that I create a complex crown that lowers the height of the E6 as compared to the e1 at the bridge, to make them more equal in the interest of tonal balance.

My final goal is to have the e strings between 3/8" and 17/32: off the top, again depending on tonal target.

Hope this is of assistance.

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Bruce Sexauer, luthier
http://mojoluthier.com

Thanks Bruce, that's very helpful. The information about your FB crowning is especially interesting.

Here are 3 pictures of the H. mahogany 000 I have in finish at the moment, just 'cuz:

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Bruce Sexauer, luthier
http://mojoluthier.com

Thats beautiful mahogany. My guess is it's very old? And certainly cut perfectly on quarter. I have a guitar built in the 50's that has that same look to it and I never knew what to attribute to it. I have plenty of perfectly QS mahogany but it just doesn't have that look. So Iwonder if it's an old growth thing or perhaps the species... IDK.

Also I love those classical tuners they look great.

Really nice, Bruce.

People often say quarter-sawn when the material is actually only within a few degrees of being so, and they are arguably right . . . But if it is within one degree or less, many woods will show a spectacular medullary display like this set of sides. This set is so close to perfectly quartered I cOuldn’t tell which way the inevitable “error” was off. The back has a little more variance, but also has nice medullary display here and there. The back might be as much a 2 degrees off in places, and I do call it quarter-sawn.

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Bruce Sexauer, luthier
http://mojoluthier.com

I would like to share my current project, and "brag" a bit about my progress as an evolving craftsperson, but I don't want to start a new thread. so:


The European Pear and Polish Spruce JB-15 body I am currently building is closed and I have completed the binding. One of the scales I use to judge my work, my progress as a craftsman, is the accuracy of my mitered purflings. These are hand cut by eye, and it is quick but I only get one chance to be right per miter, and generally have to take what I get. This guitar may be the first EVER to get all 11 miters my idea of right. While not actually beyond criticism, I hope to do it as well again soon.

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Bruce Sexauer, luthier
http://mojoluthier.com

I too do them by eye and it is very gratifying when they are right.

I'm still working to get them all that nice.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Nice work!

Well mitered.

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George :-)

Ya gotta love that. Of the 65 plus I've built I can honestly say I have never gotten it perfect and it drives me crazy but you have to move on at some point too. The chisel mirror trick works great for this work.