Hopefully this will last for a while...
In other news, check out this cool little ant carting around a dandelion spore like a big feather duster. Way to go little buddy!
Libraries Are Cool.
Managed to coerce the librarian into letting me take this home for a week so that I don't have to sit downtown and read the whole thing. Very interesting and strangely melancholy...
Happy Sunday!
After being brought aware of John Eliot Gardiner's Bach Cantata Pilgrimage a long while ago, I've finally started reading his book Music In The Castle of Heaven. I'm only a couple of chapters into it, but it is already very exciting. It even got a good review from Philip Pullman!
I would honestly rather spend the rest of today lounging around and reading, but unfortunately I have to build more guitars!
Below are some photos a new concert model that I am working on. Indian rosewood back. Indian rosewood/Alaska yellow cedar sides. European spruce top.
On a similar note, Here is a recording of Gardiner conducting Schumann's first symphony. Schumann is often disparaged for having dense and muddy orchestration. Composers/conductors such as Mahler have even gone as far as to re-orchestrate his symphonies in an attempt to lighten things up. Gardiner maintains that when performed on period instruments and with enough liveliness, the original orchestration is just fine!
It's that time again...
...French polishing time!
Just finished up a new guitar and started putting on the initial wash coats of shellac. It's got some cool new stuff going on. Most notably, the neck is made from a composite of super light Spanish cedar and Port Orford cedar. The resulting stripe looks pretty slick and reminds me of a penguin... or an orca whale... or both. Either way it's cool. I've also started messing around with a new Fleta inspired bracing system which I'm pretty excited about.
In other news, these cappuccino potato chips are disgusting and Patty got a new bed!
"Electric" Guitar
Just finished up this new "electric" guitar for my old buddy Wes. Very excited about it...
It has a K & K Trinity pickup system that blends the signals from four piezo transducers with tiny microphone inside the guitar. It's hands-down the best sounding classical pickup system I've ever heard.
Engelmann spruce top. Indian rosewood back and sides. Spanish cedar neck with an elevated fretboard. 640mm scale length. Rubner tuners with ebony buttons. Traditional French polish finish.
New Guitars...
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...
