Getting ready to start building a new tricked-out "anniversary" guitar to to celebrate my first year of building guitars full-time come November. Check out this crazy Claro walnut back.
Also some photos of me planing a new spruce soundboard to thickness, rolling out a ton of Alaska yellow cedar veneer and messing around with some new bracing patterns...
Splitting Bracewood, Rosette Tiles and French Polishing
In between French polishings sessions, I've been plugging away at some new stuff. The general theme lately has been the AVOIDANCE of noisy tools and sanding. SANDING IS THE WORST.
- Splitting some Port Orford cedar with an axe. It's fun.
- Made up a big old pile of black walnut and maple rosette tiles. Hopefully, this will last for a while...
- Planing and scraping back a completed rosette.
- French polishing and pore filling. I've gone back and forth with various pore filling techniques, but I always come back to the traditional pumice. It's really the best. All you need is some pumice, a bottle of booze, oil and shellac. It's quiet and kind of fun once you get the hang of it. Best of all, NO MASK AND NO SANDING!
New Instrument at Guitar Salon International
Pleased to announce that Guitar Salon International is now carrying my instruments!
Newest Guitar Ready for French Polish
Got everything cleaned up this morning. Now it's time to start putting on some wash coats of shellac.
Back to work!
Been back from the GFA for a few days now and I'm back to work on a new guitar for my old friend Wes! Gluing, carving, more gluing and getting ready for binding...
GFA Convention 2014
We finally got home from the 2014 GFA convention in Fullerton, CA. It was a long week, but lots of fun.
Caught up with some old friends, made some new ones and saw some amazing concerts. Got to see Paul O'dette, Tilman Hoppstock, Jorge Caballero and Ana Vidovic.
New Guitars and Stands for the GFA Convention
Been working hard to finish everything up for the GFA convention on Friday!
Torres Model:
Based off of the famous instrument owned by Francisco Tarrega. Engelmann spruce top, Indian rosewood back and sides, Spanish cedar neck, carbon fiber reinforcement, Rubner tuners with ebony buttons and French polish finish.
Standard Concert Model:
Engelmann spruce top, Indian rosewood back and sides, Spanish cedar neck, elevated fretboard, carbon fiber reinforcement, Rubner tuners with rosewood buttons and French polish finish.
New Folding Guitar Stand
Just finished designing and building this prototype. It looks and works great!
-Bookmatched black walnut
-Lightly French polished
-Black leather grips
-Brass hinge
New Guitars Ready To Be Finished!
Finished up a new Standard model with an elevated fret board and a new Torres model. Ready to be French polished and taken down to LA for the GFA show in June!
New Demo, Binding and Purfling
Spent the past couple of days working on binding and purfling. My hands kind of hurt, but everything turned out great!
I also recorded a quick piece to display the dynamic and timbral range of my newest Torres model guitar. It's very responsive, has an attractive tone and is surprisingly loud. Based on the famous 1888 instrument owned by Fransico Tarrega.
It's also still available!
Engelmann spruce top. Indian rosewood back and sides. Spanish cedar neck. Includes TKL double arched case! $3,000
