Roland's Pair Completed

Firstly, Amanda and I would like to wish you all a very healthy, happy and prosperous 2016.

The last few weeks of 2015 saw the completion and delivery of Roland’s guitar and mandolin. I was very, very pleased with both instruments and of course more importantly so is Roland!  It was also a delight to finally meet Roland in person and hear him play them both. The mandolin is one of my Standard Plus designs and the guitar….well, I think it’s fair to say is unique.  Based on my parlour guitar, it has four nylon strings DGBE and a cutaway. Below are a number of photos of the pair.

Roland’s Cutaway

Cutaways add an extra layer of complication (and interest!) to the construction of a guitar's rim. I like my cutaways to blend seamlessly into the neck; as it all takes a wee bit of planning, I thought that you'd like to see the process.

All of the various rulers represent the centre line, position of saddle, edge of the fretboard etc.

The mould is then modified……

....and the sides bent.

There are three Honduras cedar blocks that hold the sides together; each carefully shaped and glued in place.

Once the blocks have been glued in place, the double thickness solid linings go on (easier said than done); there were photos of that part of the process in the previous post.

The sharp end of the cutaway has a “point” fitted to it; this protects the end grain of the sides from being accidentally chipped. A piece of English walnut is glued on and shaped so that it blends into the cutaway.

Meanwhile, down at the blunt end, the end graft is fitted and at this stage it’s also easier to drill the hole for the end pin.

And here is the completed rim with its top and back edges sanded to fit the soundboard and back, housing joints cut to take the end of the braces, and a couple of side braces in case of any accidental impact to the sides which could cause a split.