A Luthier's Blog

2008-05-04T16:46:00.009+01:00

Finishing the Baritone Guitar

One of the final stages of a guitar’s construction is gluing the bridge in place. All the varnish, lacquer, whatever has to be scraped off of the soundboard, back to bare wood so that you get a good glue joint between the two surfaces. Get this wrong and you wreck the guitar!!
The positioning of the bridge has to be spot on. I’m sure that most people who are reading this will know that the bridge’s saddle has to be set back further than its theoretical positioning order to get the intonation correct. The longer the scale length the further back the saddle has to be.
Now that distance i.e. between the theoretical position and its actual position was, for the baritone and its 685mm scale length, “a known unknown.”
So I built this....

....I call it my Rumsfled jig: it allows me to experiment and find out known unknowns! By sliding the movable saddle back and forth, I can find the ideal position for the saddle for any combination of scale length, string gauge and pitch.

With the distance found out the position of the bridge can be ever so carefully marked out, the lacquer scraped off and the bridge glued on.

Some fine tuning (literally) later and we have one completed Baritone guitar ready for collection!

2008-04-20T18:57:00.004+01:00

Beautiful Tonewood. Don’t you just love wood!!

In the photos below you can see some beautiful tonewood that I have just got in.
Here are two sets of rippled Claro walnut; these are going into stock for future commissions and will make someone a great looking guitar some day.

Below is some Snakewood, you can see from the grain why its called Snakewood! This is for a steel-string guitar that I shall start building as a commission later in the year. Head overlays, fingerboards, bindings and bridge blanks. I’ve also got a big bag of Paua shell for it, it’s going to be quite spectacular...watch this space.

2008-04-05T14:37:00.014+01:00

Building the Mandocello

The baritone guitar is going through the final finishing stages and you can see it below.

The real work on the mandocello has now started; it’s an interesting build, so I thought I’d put a fair bit on the blog about it. Firstly its shape, in an earlier blog, I mentioned the Music from the Woods of England project and I proposed an unusual shaped guitar for it. See below.

When Andrew and Jane approached me about building them a mandocello, this shape immediately sprang to mind. When I did the original drawing, I decided that I didn’t want a shape that looked like it belonged to a particular time or place. Also I’ve always felt that the best place for the bridge of an instrument is the centre of the lower bout. These two factors got me sketching and hence the idea evolved. I’m very grateful to Andrew and Jane for going with this design; all artisans need patrons with some vision.

With 8 strings and a narrow neck, I’ve decided to reinforce it with two strips of carbon fibre and an adjustable truss-rod. I’m becoming much more confident with the carbon-fibre, the neck of the bass that I recently completed for my son is supported in exactly the same way and it hasn’t moved at all and that’s without the adjustable rod being tightened. I’ve taken the carbon-fibre right through the head joint which will greatly strengthen this area too.

The soundhole is oval so I had to make up a jig in order to cut the channel for the rosette and the hole. Being oval, each piece of mother of pearl had to be shaped individually to fit.

For the sides I’ve made up the external mould in four sections. It’s a bit odd cutting the sides into short sections before bending them, you keep double checking before sawing them! The back and sides are being made from some really beautiful English walnut.

Once the sides were bent, the four pieces are joined together by blocks of wood. The tail block is made from plywood. This going to have a hole drilled through it for a jack socket and the tail-piece attached to it; ply is the obvious choice so that it doesn’t split.

These heavy duty rubber bands and strips of plywood are a very effective way of clamping the awkward shape of the sides into the mould. Also they help to keep the overall weight of the mould down. The mould plus a dozen clamps gets extremely heavy and you run the risk of dropping the lot as you work on the sides.

All the other blocks are made from Honduras Cedar; it’s both very light and extremely stable. The linings will also be made from Cedar. Another reason for using Honduras Cedar or “Cigar box cedar” is that it gives the inside of the instrument a nice aroma; how’s that for attention to detail, worrying about how your instrument smells!

2008-03-16T11:26:00.004+01:00

Carving the inside of the Archtop

I thought that I would show you the next step of carving the archtop. With the outside profile more or less there, the inside is carved out.

The first step is to drill a series of holes to give me a rough guide to depth whilst carving. I’ve set up this post on the pillar drill, the outside profile of the top sits on it. The drill is set so that it stops 8mm away from the post.

I can now drill holes all over the inside of the top and they will stop 8mm from the outer surface, this gives me my rough guide.

The next step is to sharpen up the gouge and plane and get carving!

This is going on whilst the baritone is being sprayed and it’s looking really good! I’m also preparing the wood for the mandocello, doing some design work for the cittern and sourcing some exotic materials for the left-handed cutaway steel-string. Any one got any Snakewood!

2008-03-11T20:38:00.007+01:00

Magazine Article

This month I’m featured in the Richmond Magazine: it’s a glossy lifestyle magazine for the area that I live in. Ironic really as I don’t have a glossy lifestyle! Joking aside, I’m really pleased with the article. The journalist, Tanya Reed, did a really good job; she managed to take my technical ramblings and write an article of general interest. I’m also pleased with the amount of room that I got. So a BIG thank you to all at Richmond Magazine!!

2008-03-02T19:29:00.008+01:00

Interesting Commissions

Things have been quite busy lately so I haven’t had many opportunities to update the blog.
The twin point mandolin has now been sold and has found a home in the Western Isles.

It’s always a worry sending an instrument so I built a crate for this one and I was glad to hear of its safe arrival.
Its new owner Ruaridh seems to be very pleased with it and has said some nice things. I guess he must like it, as we are currently discussing me making him a cittern!
All my recent commissions seem to be for less ordinary instruments: a baritone, a hybrid archtop, a mandocello, left-handed cutaway steel-string and a possible cittern!
It’s always exciting getting a commission and going through the design process with a new client. These less usual instruments give you a great opportunity to develop your knowledge as a luthier.

The photo below shows the baritone in the middle of being fretted, the neck has now been shaped and it just needs a major clean-up before spraying.

Making an Archtop guitar (my way!) Part 2

I’ve reshaped the profile of the archtop. I used a Wagner Safe-T-Planer to create a consistent 6mm rebate around the edge and reshaped the profile to blend it in. You can see below the Planer look quite vicious.

It’s set 6mm above the bed of the pillar drill and piece of 6mm plywood is clamped in place to act as a guide. You then feed the top into the spinning cutter, although it’s a bit nerve wracking at first it does work remarkably well.

You can see the finished rebate below.

Walnut for Mandolins

As the mandolin was going out, I got this batch of walnut for mandolins; 3 sets of English and 2 of Claro. It’s beautiful stuff and will make some stunning instruments. But not yet! It will spend the next year at least in storage and then a few months in the workshop before I start work on it. You have to make sure that your wood is dry and stable before making with it.

2008-02-10T19:49:00.000+01:00

Luke's Short Scale Bass

As you can see the short scale bass built for Luke is now completed. Luke is really pleased with it and he will be using it with his band, “Hands on Heads.”
One aspect that I’m particularly pleased with is the amount of subtle detail, such as the green lines in the laminations which go unnoticed until you pick the instrument up and examine it. I think I would describe my approach as “making an electric guitar for grown-ups.”

I finished this bass in Tru-oil, which is something new to me, although I know a number of US luthiers use it. It’s an oil based finish that has been formulated for gun stocks and is therefore presumably resistant to all manner of chemicals and weather conditions. So it will be interesting to see how hard-wearing it is.

The Tru-oil finish has a similar visual and tactile qualities to French polish. The obvious difference between the two is that with Tru-oil, the grain is not filled and on woods like the ash of this bass’s body, the grain is still very much open and natural looking.

Ian's Baritone Guitar

Ian’s Baritone guitar is progressing nicely and you can see that the body is together and is ready for the rebates for the purflings and bindings to be routed. The English walnut looks stunning, so I can’t wait to see what it will look like with some finish on it .

2008-01-01T12:28:00.001+01:00

Inlays

Over the past few years I’ve been put-off of doing fancy inlay work on my instruments. Why? A while ago, I was lucky enough to visit a number of guitar factories in the States and they were all using CNC (computer numerical controlled) machines to produce absolutely perfect inlays. I had always felt that individual luthiers had the edge in producing this type of work but that is clearly no longer the case. Although I hate to admit it, a machine can produce far better quality inlays than you can by hand! Therefore it’s not for me! I’d rather spend the time and effort in other ways to enhance my guitars and give them the edge. The only inlay that I regularly do is my Nava “N” and this is a free optional extra for my clients!

I used to try to ensure that all my Ns were the same; however, I now draw them freehand straight onto the pearl and if they are all slightly different it adds to the uniqueness of the instrument. I start of by gluing the pearl to thin plywood; it’s so brittle that it needs to be supported when being sawn. The N is drawn on and I cut the shape out using a fine piercing saw. I’ve tried powered jig-saws but I feel that I can cut more accurately by hand.

Once the shape is cut-out there is some filing to do.

The head overlay for this guitar (Ian’s baritone) is made up from ebony, red and black veneer. I’ve been lucky to get some beautiful ebony veneer that is so, so black all over. With the N cut out I lay it in place on the head overlay and cut right the way through the veneers. The pearl N is then glued into the N shape hole.

Once the glue is set, the head overlay has to be carefully glued onto the head so that the N will eventually be in the correct position. This involves some careful marking out and some 2.0mm wooden pins to stop the overlay sliding around whilst being glued.

And hey presto! One inlaid guitar head.

2007-12-28T11:15:00.001+01:00

Carving Luke’s Bass Guitar Neck

Like most woodworkers I always prefer to use edge tools: planes, chisels etc. These tools cut the waste wood away, unlike using abrasive papers, files, rasps etc which turn your wood into expensive dust. However, there comes a time when the rasp has to come out of its drawer!

The maple that I used for the neck of this bass guitar is so hard and the grain so figured, that carving it with a spoke-shave proved virtually impossible. When the going gets too tough, these are the rasps that I use.

The two on the left have hand-cut teeth, this means that the teeth are in a random pattern so when you use them, they do not leave any grooves in the wood. I’ve had the small one for about 30 years (Swiss made) and it still works well, the rosewood handled (Indian made) one is only a year or so old and is already getting blunt! I’ve just bought myself a “Shinto” saw-rasp, made in Japan, and what an excellent tool it is! It ripped through the maple in no time and made the shaping of this neck a real joy. I can’t believe how good the saw-rasp is and it cost less than £9 from Axminster. At that price it’s almost disposable and thoroughly recommended! One word of warning; the teeth are sharp and when I had finished shaping the neck, I had lots of tiny holes in my finger tips! Particularly painful when playing a guitar!

All the wood work on the bass is completed and it has had its first coat of finish. I’m using Tru-oil on this. My son, Luke prefers an oil finish on the neck. Oil produces a very silky “fast” neck, the only problem is that it gets grubby and has be re-done form time to time; but when your Dad is a luthier it’s not a problem!
I’ve not used Tru-oil before; it’s used in the USA for gun-stocks so it should be hard wearing. More on the bass later...

2007-12-14T18:35:00.000+01:00

Commissioning a guitar part 6

Richard’s guitar is now completed and you can see it in its full glory on my website (click here for details)
One of the last details was to print out the label with Richard’s name on it. This is a little touch that the client always appreciates. I delivered the guitar to him earlier this week and to say he was thrilled is an understatement! Although I felt that the guitar was as good as it gets, there’s always some apprehension: are you going to make someone’s dreams come true or not? I’ve not seen anyone so happy for a long time and his reaction was well worth all the effort. He played it like a man inspired! I think that Richard did get his dream guitar!
Below is a sample that I sent off to Ian for his Baritone guitar. He wants me to use red in the rosette and purflings.

There are three different shades of veneer here to choose from, one is Paduk which is a naturally reddish wood and the others are two different shades of sycamore that have been dyed red. Photos never show the true shades, so making up a sample like this is the safest way to ensure that the client gets what he wants. We both liked the bright red so this will be used.

Mandolin

The two point mandolin that I have been working on is now completed and below you can see my son test driving it.

I’m very pleased with it; it is such a beautiful little instrument. This is the first time that I have used this shape and the twin points allow real access to the high frets and visually it looks stunning! The French polish enhances the grain; the shellac must diffract or reflect the light in a certain way and although it is not as robust a finish as lacquer it is far more attractive. It also feels so silky!
This mandolin will be up for sale on my website in the next day or so, I’m just waiting for some decent weather so that I can take some photographs outside!

2007-10-27T15:38:00.000+01:00

Making an Archtop guitar (my way!) Part 1

I started this commission for a hybrid archtop guitar a while ago ( Link to original blog entry) and have spent along time thinking about the shape of the sound board. This isn’t my first archtop, I made the one pictured below in 1977!

It was the 7th guitar that I made and it was built during my second year at the London College of Furniture. I got the guitar out of storage the other day to help me with the design of the hybrid, I can’t believe that I made this 30 years ago when I was 19
At the time two other students Bill Dinsdale and Mark Lacey were also making archtops. Herbert Schwarz, our tutor had a great deal of experience in building this type of guitar, when Bill and I had completed ours, Herbie arranged for the jazz guitarist Ike Isaacs to try them. I can’t remember his reaction, but needless to say it was quite a thrill for both of us.
One of my favourite parts of this guitar is the art-deco styled tailpiece.

It was all hand made by me out of brass and then gold plated. I can remember taking the brass tailpiece to be plated, somewhere in the East End, long before it was full of bars and art galleries and the guy asking me how many microns thick did I want the gold? I didn’t know anything about microns so I asked for ten quids worth! That must have been a good amount as it’s still in mint condition with no signs of corrosion. You’ll notice that the Nava “N” has changed a bit!

Anyway back to this one, after much thought and research I produced some full-size drawing to work from. Robert Benedetto’s book Making an Archtop guitar is invaluable for anyone wanting to build this type of instrument; I wish he had published it 30 years ago! There are also some great articles in the Big Red Book series published by the Guild of American Luthiers.
I joined the top a while ago, so the next step was to get the underside completely flat, even though this will be hollowed out later, it must be flat around the edges, where it will be glued to the sides. Having flattened the bottom it's turned over and planed down to the overall thickness. It makes me laugh when people talk about going to the gym, just plane up some wood; it’s great for upper body development! Many archtop specialists use a 3D pantograph machine for these roughing out stages. Hey, but when I say that my guitars are handmade guitars, I mean it!!
The following sequence of photos show how the shape emerges from the initial wedge of wood.

Now the outside is done, I’m going to put this aside for a couple of weeks. Two reasons; firstly so that I can come back to it with a fresh set of eyes and decide whether or not I want to modify the profile and secondly to let the wood “rest” and stabilised to its environment now that a large amount of its mass has been removed. I’ve no doubt that building a guitar over a long period of time improves the stability of the wood once the guitar has been completed.

2007-10-20T13:36:00.001+01:00

Getting back to guitar making!

The bulk of the work on the new workshop is completed and I can now get back to the business of making guitars! I’m so pleased with way it’s worked out; I have so much more room!

As I haven’t blogged for a while, I thought that I’d update you on what’s currently being worked on.

Richard’s guitar is being sprayed; the reorganisation of my work space has allowed me the extra space to be able to spray lacquer under more favourable conditions. The guitar is pictured outside the new ‘shop.

The maple mandolin’s French polished finish has hardened nicely and here I’m fitting the hardware and making the bridge. This was made speculatively and I hope to be able to offer it for sale via my website in a few weeks time. The great thing about making an instrument speculatively is that you can do anything you want and try out new ideas that help you grow as a luthier.

Luke’s bass in coming along nicely and as you can see the next major stage is gluing on the fingerboard and shaping the neck. As well as an adjustable truss-rod, there are two lengths of carbon fibre laminated into the neck.

The classical guitar that was on sale at the Spanish Guitar Centre was sold and at some point I need to build another guitar for them. I’ve started making up pieces for the rosette. The steel string that I had for sale on website has also sold, so at the moment I’m sold out! I need to build a new demonstration model and I’ve just got hold of some stunning Macassar Ebony that I might use for it. It has an incredible ringing tap-tone and will make a fantastic instrument. It will need to have a three piece back, but that’s not a problem.

There are a few more instruments that are in the design stage at the moment, more on them later.

2007-10-15T18:06:00.001+01:00

Commissioning a guitar part 5

Richard’s guitar is now being lacquered and you can see it pictured above. I am now offering two types of finishes, lacquer or French polish; again this allows the client to have exactly what they wish for, when they commission a guitar from me.
Whilst Richard’s guitar is being lacquered, one of the other things that I’m working on is a baritone guitar commission for Ian. Below is my initial full-size drawing for Ian to consider, he has already been over to choose the wood; a bear-claw sitka spruce soundboard and some wonderful English walnut for the back and sides.....and so the circle continues!

I always buy too much wood, so fortunately I have a good stock which allows most clients to choose whatever they wish. For back and sides, I currently have 3 varieties of walnut, 2 varieties of mahogany, 2 varieties of maple, and a good selection of Indian Rosewood in stock. Other woods are surprisingly easy to get if you are willing to pay the price. Last week I was offered 15 sets of Brazilian rosewood but the cost was prohibitively expensive; but the point is it’s out there! For soundboards, as well as the usual Spruces and Cedar I’ve got Douglas Fir and a stunning Californian Redwood soundboard that I can’t wait to use on something; watch this space!

2007-09-25T19:36:00.001+01:00

New Workshop

I’ve been busy over the past month or so building a new workshop. The photo above isn’t something from a nuclear fallout shelter, but some of the insulation that’s going into it! There is a vapour barrier and four layers of foil and bubble wrap type insulation. With all that in place, the inside will be clad in softwood. This should go along way to keeping the temperature and humidity constant. If you read the article on me in Classical Guitar magazine (click here for PDF) you’ll remember that much was made about how small my workshop was, well that article got me thinking... also I’ve had a number of visitors to the workshop recently and it gets a bit cramped with more than one person in! I should have rebuilt long ago but the disruption to my making always put me off, but with more commissions and projects on the go I have had to take the plunge and enlarge my space.

2007-08-28T17:03:00.000+01:00

Music from the woods of England

A while ago I mentioned a project called, “Music from the woods of England.” The idea is to get British Luthiers to make some steel-string guitars entirely from indigenous woods, which will go on exhibition and will be given to the Nation as a permanent collection.
After doing a bit of research, it transpires that indigenous woods are those which grew in the British Isles before the last Ice Age and there are only about 30 or so species and some of the woods that I had wanted to use did not fall into that category. I doubled checked with Neil, the organiser of this project and he said that naturalised species were also allowed. So below is a drawing of my initial idea.

So far I have produced full-size drawings and am about to start making an external mould. I have got some fabulous English Walnut that is going to be used for the back, sides AND soundboard and the neck is going to be made from rippled ash. I have been fortunate to come across Andy, a great supplier of fine quality wood and he has been really helpful in sorting me out with most of the woods that I need.

All of the guitar’s internal construction will be from Scots Pine, if I can find any that has tight enough grain. The main stumbling block is the fingerboard, I’m trying to find some Laburnum or Hornbeam; if you’ve got any, I’m your man!

2007-08-20T08:47:00.000+01:00

Commissioning a guitar part 4

You can see that the body of Richard’s guitar is complete. He came over to see it last week and to discus its neck. He was really thrilled with the work so far, I haven’t seen someone so excited for a long time; that’s the kind of reaction that makes all the hard work worthwhile!
So what details regarding to neck were discussed? Well here’s the list...
Width of finger board at nut.
Amount of curve on the fingerboard.
How the edge of the fingerboard is finished; some steel-string players like the edge rounded off so that it’s more comfortable to fret a note with your thumb.
Inlays; where and type...Richard chose dots (he also chose the size of them!)
Action and gauge of strings.
Profile of neck.

When you go for a custom built guitar you get to make these choices and if you are not confident about making the decisions for yourself, the luthier should be able to help you. With this new information the rest of the construction work has been taking place.

I’ve just completed fretting Richard's guitar. Once the frets have been hammered into their slots, any protruding fret wire must be cut-off. Over the years I have used many different types of cutters and none have been 100%. You need plenty of leverage so that you can cut cleanly through the fret wire without tugging and twisting and hence disturbing the newly installed frets, also you want to be able to cut as close to the fingerboard as possible, this cuts down on filing. Below are my “new” favourite cutters, these were made by Starrett in the 1890’s and are still going strong!

This is my new Veritas spokeshave, you’ve seen my wooden ones. This has much better adjustment and allows you to take really fine shavings; thoroughly recommended!

I’ve been listening to Martin Simpson’s new CD. Apart from his superb playing, one thing that I like about him is that he plays luthier built guitars and always gives the luthier credit on the CD liner notes. If only there were more players like him!!

Yesterday we went to West Dean College for their guitar summer school open day. Various luthiers had their guitars on display; it’s always interesting to see what your fellow craftsmen are up to! Andy Manson had his Mermaid on display, an amazing piece of woodwork.

Andy’s hybrid guitar

This guitar is taking me longer than normal as there is so much to think about. The sides have been bent and you can see the cutaway. I shall start carving the top soon. One problem for me to solve is the rosette; the guitar is going to have an oval sound hole, which requires me making special jig to cut the hole and slot for the rosette. This in itself is no problem, just the same procedure as my mandolins. The complication is that the top of curved and not flat! As I said much to think about.................

2007-08-02T09:03:00.000+01:00

Commissioning a guitar part 3

Commissioning a guitar part 2, you saw the ideas sheet that I prepared for Richard; after some consideration he made his choice for the style of rosette and above you can see a portion of it completed. It’s made from the same piece of burr walnut as the head veneer. Hopefully, you can see how I like to work with the client to ensure that they are 100% happy. The body is almost completed and I now have to consult with Richard on the final dimensions of the neck. Also the fingerboard inlays have to be decided upon. Once I know how wide the neck will be I can prepare the neck joint and bring both elements together.

Commissioning a guitar Part 1
Commissioning a guitar Part 2

Luke’s Bass

I mentioned in my last post that my son wanted me to make him a short scale bass. Well I’ve made a start! It will have a straight through neck construction and you can see the laminations above. It’s made up
from highly figured maple, 2.5mm black walnut and 0.6mm green veneer.

One of the first guitars that I made was a bass with a straight through neck. I made it at school when I was 17 as an ‘A’ level project. I remember watching the Old Grey Whistle Test and seeing Return To Forever with Stanley Clarke playing one of the first Alembic basses. I’d never seen anything like it and thought that I must build one like it. In those days (pre-internet) information was difficult to get hold of so most of my design was based on guess work, looking at whatever photos I could find. I made every part expect for the strings and machine heads. I wound the pickups by hand and made their covers from brass sheets that I had chromed plated. I also made the bridge! It served its purpose as it got me my A level pass and in to the London College of Furniture to study Modern Fretted Instruments. I eventually sold it for £60. You can see that Stanley’s Alembic still influences me!
A couple of years ago, I spent some time in the USA, visiting various luthiers; one of them was Rick Turner who was one of the co-founders of Alembic. It was quite exciting to meet a guitar making hero/legend and a genuinely nice guy!

More Repair Work

This is a 1960s Martin 00-18 that I have just done some repair work on; it’s a sweet little guitar and I’ve made some drawings for future reference. Some of my recent repair work has involved me in putting right the work done by someone else. This Martin’s bridge had been “repaired” so well that the strings could not be inserted from the front and had to be threaded through the sound hole! I cannot understand how anyone could “repair” a guitar and take someone’s money for work that is clearly not satisfactory. The bridge pin holes were in such a state that I had to fill and re-drill them. Below you can see a simple jig that I made to ensure that when I re-drilled the holes, they were centred exactly where I wanted them to be.

2007-07-12T17:58:00.000+01:00

Commissioning a guitar part 2

You saw in Commissioning a guitar part 1 how Richard and I decided upon the shape of his guitar. That was enough information to get me started; preparing the wood that I’m going to use for most parts, getting it acclimatised to the humidity in the workshop etc.
I have now put this sheet of ideas together for Richard to consider. There are ideas here for the rosette, purflings and head veneer.

I also emailed him a photo of the back glued together and cut-out. When I spoke to him he said that when he received the sheet it brightened his day at work, which is a really nice comment to get. I know I’m not going to get rich making guitars, so this kind of feedback makes your efforts feel worthwhile. Details such as the rosette have to be worked out early on as you can’t progress to the construction of the soundboard until the rosette has been inlaid into it.
Below is a photo of two heads of two guitars that I’m working on at the moment: one is Richard’s using the burr walnut head veneer; you can compare the real thing to the one on the idea sheet. The second is for Andy’s carved top guitar, as you can see commissioning a guitar is all about getting the guitar of your dreams.

Luke’s 12 string electric

This is really a case of a cobbler having holes in his shoes! I originally made this guitar for my son Luke’s 21st birthday (4 years ago). However, in its original form it was far too heavy to play so the old body was cut off and a new walnut SG body made. There are some photos in an earlier blog entry (scroll to the bottom of the page).The modification has worked well and both Luke and I are happy with the results. Although a good guitar player, Luke plays bass in two different bands. Now the 12 string is completed he wants me to build him a short scale bass; I’m going to try to get this one done quicker!!

2007-06-30T12:27:00.000+01:00

Head stock repair

I’ve been picking up some repair work lately so I thought it would be interesting to show this one. In a previous posting (Cedar Classical Update 2) I discussed the neck/head joint and this repair illustrates clearly my reasoning.

The yellow line shows where the scarf joint is, which is ridiculous as you still have short grain running across the head in one of the most vulnerable places hence the breakage. The position of the break is where the joint should have been and if it were, this breakage would not have happened; my method of construction stands up even better!

Some careful clamping and Titebond

Job done !

I’ve not played a factory guitar for a while; this one cost its owner £350 four years ago and was made in Canada. I put new strings on and couldn’t believe the lack of volume and how lifeless it was in comparison to one of mine. When its owner collected it he was pleased with the repair and then told me how good it sounds. You pays your money, you makes your choice................

2007-06-17T18:14:00.000+01:00

Commissioning a guitar part 1

I feel that some prospective clients are intimidated by the idea of commissioning a guitar. A common comment is, “I’m not a good enough player for a hand made guitar.”
My response to that would be; if you have a guitar made for you, you’ll get an instrument that is perfectly set-up and easy to play. It will have good volume and a balanced tone and you will want to play it and hence improve. Even if you don’t play it as much as you would like, you’ll still have a beautiful object that was made for you.
Another common comment is, “I don’t know much about how a guitar is made and wouldn’t know what to ask for.” Hey, that’s why you commission from a luthier, you get the advice you need.
I’m just in the process of starting a new commission for a guy called Richard. I thought it would be useful to relay the story so far.
Firstly, Richard knew that he wanted a steel-string guitar better than the ones that he already had, but was not 100% sure what he really wanted. So, I lent him one of mine, small bodied, 12 fret neck, wide fingerboard.

Although I didn’t expect him to order an exact replica of this one, it was a starting point for the design process.
He played it for a few weeks and what impressed him most was the quality of sound and craftsmanship. So he knows he wants one of mine.
We discussed shapes, one thing that was important to Richard was how it felt, under his right arm when sitting down and playing. One problem that I have is that I don’t always have an example guitar around to show: I build the guitar, it goes off to its new owner. So, I made a full-size three dimensional model for him to try.

He liked how it felt under his arm and how the waist locates the guitar on his leg (his dreadnought slips around). Shape decided.
Next what are we going to make it from? Richard liked the tone of the guitar I loaned him and said that he prefers a mellow tone, so I’m going to use the same materials, Western Red Cedar soundboard and Claro Walnut back and sides. I always buy too much wood, so over the years I’ve built up a good stock, this meant that Richard was then able to choose the back and side which he preferred. How cool is that! To be able select the pieces of wood that your guitar is made from?
The head shape will be my standard shape and we’ve been discussing the veneer overlay. I’ve got some nice pieces of burr Claro Walnut that I hope to use on the head and also for a matching rosette. This week I’ll make up some samples for Richard to see; we’ve also got to discus details such as the purflings, width of fingerboard and inlays etc.
Now, this all may seem a lot of work, but for many people commissioning a guitar is a once in a life-time experience, they’re spending a lot of hard-earned money on a luxury item and I want them to get it right!!

Click here for Part 2

2007-06-03T17:35:00.001+01:00

How pleased am I? Fame at last!!

I was delighted when this month’s (June ’07) copy of Classical Guitar magazine came through the letter box, not only am I this month’s featured Luthier, but I’ve also made the front cover. This blog is mentioned in the article so, “Hi there, if you’ve just found me!”
Some regular readers have pointed out how I occasionally contradict myself, for example the mandolin was meant to go on the back burner, but as you can see below it nears completion! Being a “one man ‘shop” I am flexible in what I make and projects can get shuffled around depending on priorities; that said guitars are always ready on the date promised. I’m very pleased with the way this mandolin looks; the quilted maple is stunning and the double points give it a kind of medieval look (if that makes sense). Of course the double point isn’t just about aesthetics, it allows easier access to all of the frets.

I had an interesting ‘phone call the other night from a guy called Neil he is starting up a project called, “Music from the woods of England.” The idea is to get British Luthiers to make some steel-string guitars entirely from indigenous woods. He said that so far, he has approached 130 of us! All the instruments will go on exhibition and will be given to the Nation as a permanent collection. It sounds an interesting project to get involved in.
Now 130 luthiers may sound a lot, but if we all managed about a dozen instruments each a year that would make about 1500 new instruments in a country where 4,000,000 (yes four million) guitars a year are sold! So remember “Support your local luthier”
I got the impression from speaking to Neil that he would welcome some experimental instruments: I have ideas and theories that I’ve been wanting to explore so watch this space………..

2007-05-13T18:40:00.000+01:00

Fitting a Back

Over the years I’ve built up quite a library of books on guitars and their construction. It’s always interesting to read what other guitar makers have to say and guess what? I don’t always agree with them!
All luthiers develop theories about how their guitars behave; I know I have! But whether they (or me) are completely correct in their hypothesis is another kettle of fish. And of course does it matter? If I make a modification to my guitar and the result is the desired one, does it really matter if my reasoning is not 100% accurate? Allow me to clarify that: for hundreds of years we were happy with Isaac Newton’s theories on mechanics and by and large they still predict the behaviour of mechanical systems. It wasn’t until Quantum mechanics came along and silly sub-atomic particles that Sir Isaac was proved “wrong”.
I’ve mentioned the Ramirez book before, to quote Jose III, “I do not think that there has been another musical instrument that has promoted so many controversies, arguments, differing opinions, hair-splitting observations……” See what I mean?

I’ve recently fitted the back on to the mandolin, so I thought I would mention “backs” in more detail. The back of a guitar or mandolin should have a graceful arch to it. This is for a number of reasons, firstly aesthetics; it simply looks much better, than a flat back which I think looks rather flaccid. Old, unloved guitars that have been subjected to climatic trauma and neglect look like this. However, my main reason is that the arch holds the back in tension, if the back cannot flap about or vibrate too much, more of the strings’ kinetic energy can (via the soundboard) move air (sound!) rather than being absorbed into the instrument. The curve also helps focus the sound towards the soundhole. Nava’s 1st Law of Back Construction!
The shape of the back should be part of the surface of a sphere, with its centre about 5 metres in front of the instrument somewhere. Nava’s 2nd Law of Back Construction! Getting the back to this shape is no problem really; the braces are shaped to the desired arc and the reinforcement strip which runs down the length of back’s glue joint is glued on in a curved jig.

Notice I call this a reinforcement strip and not cross-banding. I always have the grain of the reinforcement strip running in the same direction as the back’s grain. Most makers have it at right-angles to the grain. However, I believe that the back is more dimensional stable with my method, as when any wood expands or contracts due to moisture change it moves far less along its length. Hence the reinforcement strip’s grain can’t distort the back’s curve, even if one my instruments isn’t looked after! You can see the back’s construction in one of the photos above.
The real fun is fitting this curved surface to the curves of the instruments side. A couple of years ago I visited a number of luthiers and guitar factories in the USA and all of them used the same method of shaping the edge of the sides so that they match the arch of the back. They sand the edges against a large sanding disc that has been shaped the same arch as the back. I’ve recently made myself one of these jigs and “Hey Presto!” perfect fitting backs in much less time. Hopefully the sequence of photos below illustrates the process and you can see the arch that I’m aiming for.

2007-04-24T19:12:00.000+01:00

Alhambra!!

We’ve just had a family holiday in Spain; we stayed in the Alpujarras Mountains, just south of Granada. One of the highlights should have been a visit to the Alhambra, but unfortunately we couldn’t get in. We had heard that you had to buy tickets in advance, so a week or so be before went, we tried to book on-line, but no tickets were available for the days we could go. A moral there for anyone intending to visit!
The Islamic art work of the Alhambra is often cited by luthiers as inspiration for their rosettes, so it would have been nice to have seen it. But, I’m quite happy with the traditional Hauser style motif that I’m currently using; anyway I hate these big flowery things that look like your Grandma’s embroidered it!
Having read the book “Duende” (about an English guy absorbing himself in flamenco culture, recommended!), I knew that there we a few luthiers based in the roads leading up to the Alhambra, so we had a nose around them! One luthier told me that there were too many guitar makers in Granada: so there goes that relocation idea!
It was interesting to see in their workshops, piles of fronts, backs and necks ready to go. They must batch produce their instruments rather than making one-offs. This of course makes perfect sense if you know that your next dozen guitars are going to be the same.

Classical Guitar Update
You may recall that Andy has been playing in my spruce top classical which I built as a demonstrator. He has also shown a number of players, including his teacher Ray Burley, and all have made favourable comments. Having played the guitar for a few weeks, Andy has fallen for it and wants to buy it from me: who am I to argue! Andy is a victim of gas (guitar acquisition syndrome) and I guess I’m a bit naughty to tempt him with all that lovely rosewood!

The cedar top classical guitar is now on sale at Barry Mason’s Spanish Guitar Centre in London’s West End. I was very pleased that Barry wanted to take it as he and his centre are very well-respected in classical guitar circles. No mater how good your guitars are they need to be seen and played. It would be a great leap of faith for someone to order a guitar from a luthier without having tried one of his instruments first. Having an instrument at a dealer’s, gives those players, who haven’t had the opportunity, a chance to try mine.

Current Projects
I have not spent as much time in the workshop as I should have: it’s been one of those periods of time when everything else catches up with you. However, you can see some of the things that I’ve been up to below.

This 12 string electric guitar is my son’s. I made it for him a few years ago, but its original body was far too heavy, so I cut the sides off and have replaced the original body with a much lighter version. I’ve finally completed all the woodwork and I’m now finishing it. I don’t make many electric guitars, I do not find them a particular challenge to construct and feel that you’re to reliant on bought-in hardware, what do enjoy though is the shaping, sculpting, of a large piece of wood.

I thought that I would French polish this guitar as many luthiers are now doing this and it would be a good opportunity for a trial. I’ve never been convinced that for acoustic instruments this type of shellac based finish is better (define better!!), however, if customers demand it…….
Interestingly, I’ve just been reading “Things about the Guitar” a collection of essays written by Jose Ramirez III. He clearly has no-time for “inferior” shellac based finishes, preferring heavier varnishes and citing the oil varnish of Stradivari as evidence. The book’s a good read for anyone interested in classical guitar construction. It’s probably down to poor translation, but he comes across as a real grumpy old man, which is quite amusing. However, his struggle for perfection is something that I empathise with and respect.

I’ve made the mould for Andy’s carved top guitar and I also intend using this shape for my future steel-string acoustics. I need to rationalise the number of shapes that I offer. I use an external mould and the initial construction of the body in done inside this. Andy’s guitar will have a cutaway, which is always fun to do.

The mandolin that I’m making has progressed a little; you can see that I’ve reinforced its neck with carbon-fibre: this material is so light and strong that it’s ideal in this application.

As it’s a speculative build, the mandolin might go on the back burner for a while. It looks like I will be without a classical guitar again, so I shall be starting another soon, well staring two in fact. I’m going to have a spruce and a cedar version on the go together. The first thing that I need to do is to prepare the rosettes. There’s a fair bit about my rosettes in the blog’s first entry, so I won’t bore you again.

In his book, Ramirez extols the virtues of Western Red Cedar as a tonewood. It sounds, from the comments that makes as though he was one of the first luthiers to use it. One criticism of cedar is that whilst it plays in quickly, it doesn’t last. Ramirez refutes this with the evidence of his early cedar guitars. I do like good old Jose!!

I’ve been listening to Narcisco Yepes whilst working lately, damn he’s good! Anyone want to order a 10 string?………….

2007-03-25T16:52:00.000+01:00

The cedar classical is completed
The cedar classical is completed and I am very pleased with it. As you can see from the photos, it’s a beautiful instrument and once played in, it will give someone much enjoyment.
As an experiment, it will be offered for sale via my website. I get lots of hits on my “for sale” page, but as yet I haven’t had anything to sell! Ideally I want to sell it to someone who is willing to come and try it out first: I want all of my customers to be 100% satisfied with their new guitars.

Each guitar varies a little from its predecessor; the new feature on this one is the double drilled bridge. This method has turned out to be a real success; it allows the strings’ break angle over the saddle, to be controlled by the luthier rather than be at the mercy of whoever ties the strings. This is something that I will adopt for all of my future classicals. In the photos below, I have tried to compare the two methods for you.

Fame at last?
This weekend I was interviewed by Classical Guitar magazine for one of their “Luthier Profiles.” A nice guy, Oliver McGhie, did the interview and it will be interesting to see what he makes of my ramblings! It will also be interesting to see if this kind of publicity has any bearing on my order book??

New shape mandolin
Whilst the finishing the classical, I’ve been doing some work on the mandolin and you can see that most of the preparation is done.

I strongly believe that in order to be a good luthier (I hate the pretentious title of “Master Luthier” that some makers bestow upon themselves!), you have to constantly evaluate your work and seek ways to improve. Already, with this mandolin I’m thinking of the construction of the next one. It occurs to me that with the extra reinforcement blocks at the points and the way that the sides blend into the neck block, I would be better off using an internal mould for the construction of the sides, in a similar way to method that violin makers use. That said this is still going to be a beauty!

2007-03-11T18:14:00.000+01:00

Beginning and Ending part 2

Whilst the varnish on the Cedar classical is fully drying, I’ve been making its bridge. I’ve decided to double drill this one. That means there are two sets of holes per string.

This is meant to make tying the string easier and more importantly allows a better break angle as the knot isn’t pulling the string up. It seems a good idea and many luthiers are now using this method, I don’t know who did it first. You can see in one of the photos below how the bridge in carefully fitted to soundboard, a bit tricky as my soundboards are built with a slight arch.

I’ve bent the sides of the new shape mandolin, this quilted “big leaf” maple bends really easy, which is fortunate as the curves around the point are quite tight! In order to protect the points from accidental damage, I’ve tipped them in ebony. I plan on binding the whole body in ebony too.

Back to the workshop………………..