sMg Guitars

June 29, 2008

Now that the OM is out of it’s mold, and I have use of the spreaders, I’ll spend today building a mold for the Parlor so I can get the sides in and settled.

I’ll begin by making a posterboard half plate from the Plans, then transfer to plexiglass.  Once I have a plexiglass half plate I can trace out a master on MDF, cut in the band saw, then drum sand down to the exact shape.  I think I’ll go with 3 layers of 3/4″ thickness for the mold, but I might fool around with an open frame of two dowelled together.

June 14, 2008

Went to the GAL exhibit in Tacoma with Carl. We spent about an hour perusing the exhibits, which included luthiers and suppliers. Stew Mac and LMI were there along with a bunch of tonewood suppliers. If I was looking for particular woods that I wanted to hold and select, this would have been perfect. But, in the end, the only purchase I made was for some nicer paua for the rosette for the koa parlor.

I met Charles Fox and Denise Fox, who will host the guitar building seminar I attend next week. Seems they’ve had a last minute cancellation (anyone out there want to attend? See my ASL link for more info). Saw Rob Girdis, and a whole range of instruments from the simple to the ornate, from questionable quality to exceptional quality.

June 10, 2008

Got my shipment today from LMI.  The backordered koa came through and I was real excited to see the components.  First, I laid out everything from in the box, sort of a still life presentation.

The Koa back wood is nicely figured and I can see the shimmer in the grain that will come out strong once lacquered.

The next shot is of the koa sides and you can see the purfling (which I had bent) sitting in with the sides and the ebony binding.

Finally, I’m jazzed about using mahogany as top material.  Still haven’t decided if I’m going to apply any stain.

The plans are straightforward and through a double check of components, I nailed everything I wanted.  With this guitar, I’m going to use the guitar work surface as referenced in Cumpiano instead of a mold.  Another diversion to help see what’s the best method for me.

June 2, 2008

Finally….Gurian Instruments, after two months, has delivered my custom made inlay and headstock veneer. There was a rush charge on the invoice?????? They took it off. The work is beautiful and I’m ready to rush to the workshop, chisel off the ebony headplate on guitar number 2 and glue on my new stuff!

May 28, 2008

LMI hasn’t yet filled my order as the Koa back and sides have just come out of the kiln and are curing before being available for tonewood. As I am building a Parlor (very small), there will be a considerable amount of scrap from the back when they profile for the parlor shape. I contacted LMI to ensure that I get that scrap, which hasn’t been the case in the previous two guitars ordered from them. They assured me the scrap would be included in the shipment. I figure the profiled back is about 60% only of the starting bookmatched koa back pieces, so the amount of scrap will be substantial.

May 21, 2008

I’ve place an order with LMI for a Koa back and sides, Mahogany top parlor guitar.  The Koa is the best quality figure and color available, but it’s on backorder until May 30th.  So, I don’t expect any deliveries until early June.

I’ve dropped a line to Iris, the person for whom I’m building the guitar.  Here’s the gist of my email:

Now that this looks official, I want to let you know that I am very excited about building your guitar.  I have made some design decisions which, if they come out like I imagine them, should be stunning.  My only concern is that I become quite attached to the guitars that I build, and once it’s ready for delivery, I may get a little emotional.  

I will keep you posted all through the build process.  I will document on my blog, and whenever I post an update on your guitar, I’ll send you an email prompting you to go take a look.  Also, if you are interested, I can run design decisions through you for your input.  Of course, you can always choose to allow me to take off and make all decisions myself. 

I work on several guitars at the same time.  For example, I’m finishing up a Rosewood OM guitar for myself at the same time I’m progressing with Larry’s Maple OM.  Once your materials arrive (by May 30th), I will be finished with the Rosewood and be working on Larry’s and your guitar at the same time.

I don’t know how quickly I will deliver, but it looks like around 3 months, on average, from start to finish

May 14, 2008

Larry has been in communication with Iris, my new client, about the options for her guitar: body style, tonewoods, rosette, purfling, etc. It looks like we’re going to pursue a Parlor size with Mahogany top and Koa back/sides. This should be a stunning little guitar and I’m excited about working with Koa. I think a herringbone purfling will look nice, and I was inspired by a little Martin type 5 that I saw at Elderly to use as a model. The Martin has a spruce top and rosewood back/sides, but the appointments look nice and I’m going to try and model some of these after it.

Here’s an example of the purfling.

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May 7, 2008

My good friend Larry, who commissioned guitar 003, took the bold step of getting one of his customers to commission a guitar.  I’m excited, and it appears that I will have the exclusive decision making process in what to build.  Larry and I will brainstorm this weekend.  This may be the impetous to venture to another style, most likely, dreadnought.