Jered Posted February 6, 2022 Share Posted February 6, 2022 (edited) Hello all, I thought I'd share some pics and progress of an acoustic guitar that I'm making. It's a Martin style 0-18 12 fret parlor guitar. I'm a bespoke fine furniture maker by day, but this has definitely stretched me past previous boundaries of skill. For the guitar nerds: Top - German spruce Bracing - scalloped X Back and sides - Brazilian rosewood Neck - walnut Fretboard - gaboon ebony Binding - louro faia Tuners - Rodgers Pick-up - schatten hfn-1 active transducer Slightly different shape to the Martin - it has less of a flat on the lower bout but basically the same. I ended up replacing the stem part of this inlay as I felt it was too light. I think the sky went blue with swearing. Some custom made tuners designed by me and made by Rob Rodgers of Rodgers tuners. Pre neck carving/gluing Planing up the neck blank The inlay on the fingerboard was hard. It's abalone shell, mother of pearl and pink mussel shell on gaboon ebony. Cutting the neck joint. A massive sliding tapered dovetail. Tricky old joint but very strong. This rosette I made featuring three different designs. It's made like a stick of rock and then tiles cut from the length. There are ~17,000 pieces of wood in this rosette! Nice little volume and tone control cover. Much neater than sticking the circuit board on directly. AAAand my latest progress - finished the inlay on the headstock. Next is drilling holes and slots for the pegs. My sister kindly designed the "Allcock" logo (which is our last name obviously) This is actually in memoriam for one of my best friends who tragically lost her life in a car crash at the start of 2020 and this was/is an outlet for grief as well as my magnum opus Cheers, Jered Edited February 6, 2022 by Jered 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted February 6, 2022 Share Posted February 6, 2022 Damn good looking work sir, a fitting tribute to your friend. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Bunker Posted February 7, 2022 Share Posted February 7, 2022 I thought Rosewood was banned under CITES? Or am I wrong? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jered Posted February 7, 2022 Author Share Posted February 7, 2022 15 minutes ago, Nigel Bunker said: I thought Rosewood was banned under CITES? Or am I wrong? You're not wrong, however, this timber was from pre-cites regulation (very old) and I have zero intention of selling this. (Although musical instruments evade the cites ruling since 2017) I do feel guilt for using it, but I also didn't want to see such a beautiful board of wood languishing around doing nothing. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duncan B Posted February 7, 2022 Share Posted February 7, 2022 Absolutely stunning skills on display here. I wouldn't even know where to begin with a project like this. Duncan B 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil.C Posted February 8, 2022 Share Posted February 8, 2022 Incredible skill, well done. Puts the old gluing together a plastic kit in context. 😜 As a guitarist, albeit electric, I appreciate what you have achieved. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackroadkill Posted February 8, 2022 Share Posted February 8, 2022 That's a lovely instrument there. I'm particularly impressed with your skill in making those inlays out of hard to work materials. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted February 8, 2022 Share Posted February 8, 2022 Not the normal fare we're used to seeing on the site, but there are some pretty impressive carpentry and instrument building techniques on display. All respect due 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jered Posted February 9, 2022 Author Share Posted February 9, 2022 Thank you all for your kind words. Seeing the amazing modelling work here, I'm sure all of you could do the same 😉 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil.C Posted February 9, 2022 Share Posted February 9, 2022 2 hours ago, Jered said: Thank you all for your kind words. Seeing the amazing modelling work here, I'm sure all of you could do the same 😉 <sarcasm mode> Yes, I'm sure we could. 🤣 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Six97s Posted February 10, 2022 Share Posted February 10, 2022 Beautiful. You're lucky to have some Brazilian RW to work with. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
One 48 Posted February 11, 2022 Share Posted February 11, 2022 Brilliant, true craftsmanship on display here. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
upnorth Posted February 11, 2022 Share Posted February 11, 2022 That guitar is simply gorgeous and your craftsmanship is astounding! Well done!👍 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jered Posted February 11, 2022 Author Share Posted February 11, 2022 Thank you all so much, I promise I'll do some scale modelling at some point! I feel like I've been neglecting it recently in favour of work and this thing. Anyway - here's a little update for those interested Now, despite being a bespoke fine furniture maker for the past 11 years, putting those slots in was quite nerve wracking! (The holes look terribly big because they have a low friction bushing for the string pegs) 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackroadkill Posted February 11, 2022 Share Posted February 11, 2022 That headstock is a think of absolute beauty. More acoustics should come with a slotted headstock, I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jered Posted February 11, 2022 Author Share Posted February 11, 2022 1 hour ago, jackroadkill said: That headstock is a think of absolute beauty. More acoustics should come with a slotted headstock, I think. Thank you. Having an optivisor definitely helped cutting the shell. I cut the rose completely by hand and used a CNC router to do the logo. I agree, I think slotted is much nicer but it's a lot more work so I can see why big companies would avoid it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil.C Posted February 12, 2022 Share Posted February 12, 2022 21 hours ago, Jered said: Thank you all so much, I promise I'll do some scale modelling at some point! I feel like I've been neglecting it recently in favour of work and this thing. Anyway - here's a little update for those interested If I could do stuff like that I'd chuck the models out of the window. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now