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I just strung up my 8th guitar. Here is a quick photo. More will come after I do a final setup, clean it up, and "Feed N Wax" the fingerboard and bridge, which will give it time to get used to being a guitar.



Details:

Slot head; 13 frets clear of the body; normal 25.34" scale length.
Sort of a wide auditorium body; 16" wide lower bout, 12" wide upper bout. A little over 4" deep at the tail.
Sitka Spruce top, East Indian Rosewood back and sides, Honduran Mahogany neck, East Indian Rosewood fingerboard, bridge, and headstock veneer.
Maple binding and end wedge; green and blue dyed veneers and maple for the purfling lines and rosette.
Evo fretwire, Grover tuners.
unbleached bone nut and saddle, and bone bridge pins.
Hand carved pyramid bridge.
Traditional dovetail neck joint (my first).
100% hide glue construction.
Silvertip pore fill; Enduro Var finish; both applied by brush.

I put in the side mass blocks (per Gore/Gilet), and after the guitar settles in, I'll take some resonance measurements and see what might need tweaking.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with it, for it only being a few hours old. I can't wait to hear what it sounds like in a few weeks.

Thanks for all the help and guidance that has gotten me to this point. A particular shout out to Greg Maxwell. Thanks, Greg!

Nice bridge!

Like that shape!

Very nice. Congrats!

Very nice, Don. I love that shape.


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Another one here who likes the body shape a lot. Looks great. The colors in the trim are nice touch.

I just recently completed my second instrument using SilverTip for pore filling and brushed on EnduroVar and I like both. I'm sticking with them from here on out.

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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

Thanks for all the positive comments, particularly about the body shape. I take some pride in the shape, because I tweaked it myself, using G Thang. Awesome program. I started with dreadnaught dimensions, moved the waist up a little toward the neck, tightened the waist, and rounded the lower bout. With it being a 13 fret guitar, the bridge lands right in the middle of the circle that defines the lower bout. I’ve done two regular scale guitars and a baritone with this body shape. It won’t be the only shape I use, but it’s a keeper, for sure.

Much YES!

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

+1 on G Thang. It's an excellent guitar-specific design program.

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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

Another one in love with the shape. Looks a lot like a Gibson J-185, the 16" version of their classic round bout shape, only better.

Ed M

Thanks, Ed! Yes, the J-185 is a pretty good reference point for this body shape. The biggest differences are where the waist sits and how much of the upper bout stays flat before curving. In my version, the waist sits higher, about at the midpoint of the soundhole, where the J-185 has it at the bottom of the soundhole. My version has the upper bout staying flat for a bit longer than the J-185.

I encourage everyone to experiment with G Thang.

Nice looking guitar Don!
I look forward to seeing more pictures of it.

Looks great, Don! Can’t wait to see more.


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Sweet!

That's a nice classic look!

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

That is an awesome guitar and my favorite part is this "Silvertip pore fill; Enduro Var finish; both applied by brush.". I want to learn this technique.

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Hutch

Get the heck off the couch and go build a guitar!!!!

Hutch--

On the pore filling with Silvertip, the best guide I have seen is a video by Jay Lichty on applying waterborne finishes. It used to be available for free, but it might now be part of the Robbie O'Brien video series (all of which I love, by the way). You can look online to see where it is available. He shows lots of detail, but it boils down to mixing the Silvertip, brushing it on with a good foam brush, letting it sit for either a half day or overnight, sanding back to get rid of the shiny spots, then doing it again (and maybe again) until there are no more shiny spots and no sand-throughs. Then you can finish on top with whatever you want. The layer of Silvertip is the first layer of finish material for the back, sides and neck, and it gives the wood a wet look.

On the Enduro Var, there is a good finishing schedule from Woodie G here on the OLF. Search for Enduro Var Brush, or something like that. Same technique as the Silvertip, but you apply a coat every hour, stop for the day after a handful of coats, then sand back the next day before applying however many coats you need to have enough finish for level sanding.

I'm going to move to spray finishing, because brushing necessarily calls for more aggressive level sanding (which is not my favorite thing in the world), but in terms of material, the Silvertip and Enduro Var are great products. I am sure I will use them some more as I determine which sprayed finishes work best for me.

Good luck!

I recently finished my first Endurovar brush finish - love how easy it works and I don't mind the easy level sanding by hand at all. My daughter - a blues singer and professional repair person with her own shop - said the neck felt as good as any neck she has played.

My only complaint is that it colors the wood a little brown. It shows up on the ivoroid binding I used where the color appears to be inconsistent around the body because of varying finish thicknesses. And compared to unfinished ivoroid, it considerably darkened. Here is finished next to raw ivoroid

Ed M

I have the same complaint - an ambering of the color of the raw wood. In some cases it might be a help, but if I want amber I could add a little dye stain to tone the finish. Ironically, ambering doesn't bother us on old nitro finishes.

I personally like the amber tint, and I don't find it overwhelming. When I compare it to some shellac finishes I have done with something darker than super blonde, the Enduro Var is lighter than those. But yes, if you want white-white, a different finish is probably a better idea.

Great looking guitar, Don!

I’d love to see more pictures of it.

M

It may not be what you wanted but it looks fabulous.

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Hutch

Get the heck off the couch and go build a guitar!!!!

I'll try to get her gussied up for more photos tomorrow. I literally just strung her up two days ago; I haven't leveled the frets, cleaned glue off the fingerboard, etc. And I need to buff a few spots that got a little dinged during the initial setup. But she's starting to sound pretty nice.

On this one, I waited to arch the fingerboard and install the frets until after I had glued the neck to the body. And I mostly pressed the frets in with Jaws I and II; I only had to hammer a few in around the heel. Wow! I'm never going back to earlier fret installation. I have literally not done a bit of fret leveling at this point, and yet it is buzz free with pretty low action. Thanks to Hesh for the "wait until the end" plan for fretting. The OLF has really helped me with little things that make a big difference, like that idea.

OK, this and the next post contain photos of Number 8. As I said earlier, I'm letting the guitar settle in, and I have not yet leveled the frets, so I also haven't cleaned up or treated the fingerboard and the bridge. The next few weeks will be spent just getting to know this guitar a bit before I do the final, detail setup. So, there are some smudges, a little hide glue schmutz, etc. But you can get a better idea of what this guitar looks like all over.

Here are shots of the full front and back:





Here is the headstock, front and back:





Here is the heel joint, bass and treble sides:





More in the next post.

Here is the rosette:



Here is a section of the purfling and binding:



Here are shots of the bridge:







Here is the tail wedge:



She's not perfect, by any stretch. I need to get better at finishing and buffing. But each one gets a bit better. And even for being new, she sounds pretty good. Very responsive, and very even in terms of tone. Not bass heavy, but not bass lacking, either. Intonation is excellent; probably the best I have ever made in that regard. And the frets are nearly level before I ever try to level them, which is a new experience for me! I look forward to taking some resonance measurements and seeing if something needs adjusting in that regard. Overall a good bit of progress over Number 6 and 7.