Back plate, back joint

I imagine for younger folk, it’s inconceivable to imagine a world without the WWW. When I first started out, I devoured as many guitar making books as I could find. Amanda, then girl-friend, worked for a publishing house, so when in 1976, I wanted a copy of David Russell Young’s book she wrote to the American publisher, waited for a letter to come back with the cost etc, bought an international money order, posted it to the States and waited…………….
Like many, I still like a physical book and have quite a lutherie library but sometimes descriptions of making techniques can be a bit lacking. Try, for example, looking up, in one of the definitive books, “how to join an archtop back plate together.” Wouldn’t it be easier to look at a video on YouTube?

And here’s the aforementioned back fully carved……….

Do digital cameras wear out?

Do digital cameras wear out? I don’t know, but we bought a new one and hey-presto!

Much better eh?

Archtop progress

I’ve been having a bit of difficulty taking some good photos lately; don’t know why but I can’t seem to do the wood justice. So just to keep up-to-date, here's the best I can do. The completed rim-

I’ve made up the neck blank and you can see that I’ve used Brazilian rosewood for the head overlay. The inlay is from black pearl; I like its subtlety; in some lights, it disappears into the wood! The neck itself is maple with a rosewood core, you can see that I’ve started to carve the volute.

I cut up a billet to use for the fretboard and was really surprised by the bright rose-pink colours (is that why, along with its sweet, sickly smell, someone named it “rosewood”?). 

Quite a spectacular pieces of wood, although the colours will tone down over time, I’ll have to decide whether it’s a step too far!