Okay, so lutherie hasn't actually dominated my life in recent weeks (as it had during the holiday break). My schedule is settling down a bit, and I'm finding some time in my week when I can get some work done.
This is the braced underside of the top for the sapele guitar. Now that the sycamore and mahogany SJ (small jumbo) is done, I've returned to this Orchestra model. My aim is to make it as good a guitar as the mahogany and cedar guitar Eclectic Guy and all the fine folks at HalcyArt liked so much. So I have high hopes for it.
You can see the striped figure so prevalent in Sapele. I asked the folks at LMI (Luthier's Mercantile International in Windsor, California) to pick some super-stripy sapele sets when I ordered a few sets last fall. I wedged in an ultra groovy strip of cocobolo down the middle just for giggles.
And, here's the back's innards. I glued the back to the sides earlier today.
I like building guitars because they are alive. I mean, in the end they have voices of their own, sometimes in fulfillment of your vision, and sometimes in what amounts to an utter surprise. And they come to life at early stages, not just after the wet sanding, rub-out, set-up and strings. Sometimes the wood does exactly as you expect (and makes you feel really capable, a genius the world is aching to discover), but other times ... .
It seems to me you have to follow the wood and do what it allows you to do. A more seasoned craftsman than myself might be able to coax exactly what he (or she) wants from every piece of wood. Perhaps I'll be able to in time. I can usually win my way with every stick, but sometimes the wood doesn't do just what you want it to. Or, sometimes it does, but you reach a point at which you stand over a half-completed neck, or a freshly bound and sanded body, and re-assess just what it is you have.
Here's the sycamore and mahogany SJ cutaway. It's a big, deep box. The bracing all over is stiff, and that top is really stiff. This box is whispering to me "Coach, let me play 12-string! I know I can do it!" Coach is thinking, kid, you look like a 12-string. Maybe this is a good idea.
But, what about the 12-string body I made in December?
And, more importantly, what about Eclectic Guy? I was thinking SJ would be his guitar for some time.
Eclecto is born and bred a classical player -- he just wants to play and hear the ringing harmonics of steel. I'd thought the cutaway would give him upper fingerboard access he's not got on his nylon instruments, might open up some areas to his thinking. Of course, he's not suffering for a lack of ideas. And, moreover, when we talked about this in WV during December, he says he cares not one whit about getting more than 12 frets clear of the body. I should listen to him, he's the player.
So, now I'm thinking Mr. Sapele is for Eclecto. It's light, light, light. Back bracing is uber stiff, and flying buttress carbon fiber will make it more so. Top is less stiff, and is actually scalloped near the bridge to allow more rocking. Silk and steels will mimic nylon string tension for his left hand and feel closer to nylons for his manicured fingernails and classical technique.
I also patched the bass side upper bout rib to drill out a "player port" -- an extra sound hole aimed at the player's face.
This is the 12-string body I built in December. Or, so I thought. It actually has only two finger braces per side (rather than the three I saw in a Guild 12 top) and two lower face braces (again, rather than the Guild's three). The X members are actually only a little over 1/4" wide, and not all that tall. They aren't scalloped -- but neither were the braces on the red guitar. Now, the X does have a 120 degree spread. Other than that, the ONLY difference between this box and the red guitar is that this top is engelman spruce and red was, of course, western red cedar.
So, I think this guitar wants to be another orchestra model a la red. Mahogany back and sides, flame maple binding, minimal purfling. Oh, yeah, that's what this guy needs to be.
This is another Engelmann top, but Sycamore back and sides. Flame maple bindings, lots of bwb purfling, herringbone, and that back strip is two flame maple binding strips with a highly figured hunk of sycamore down the middle. I think this one will look really cool when it's finished -- all those medullary rays in the sycamore, all that flame maple. I hope to make PGM's guitar much like this one. He wanted the redwood top, and I don't blame him at all -- the figured white back and sides with that dark, rich, straight grained top will look really cool.
I could throw this at Eclectricity man. But it's a risk. I braced it for a tailpiece. The X is really stout, no scalloping at all. Of course, no bridge pad on the underside.
But, I did put three fan braces between the X under the bridge, and one finger brace on each side. Even without a bridge pad, I could do a pinless bridge. I did a pinless bridge for Addison Willis' guitar, and it works just dandy. A pinless bridge for eclectoman would be quite reminiscent of the classical. In fact, I could do EXACTLY a classical bridge! A 12-fret join! A slotted peghead! What a rig that would look like, if we stuck a magnetic pickup in something looking that much like a straight classical guitar!
In the end I don't know. Right now I'm leaning toward Mr. Sapele for Eclectic Guy.
Several nights of insomnia ought to straighten this out. Guitar building is a sleep disorder.
