Lughnasa Fiúntach Curadhi

Profiling can be good (think 'Cracker' or 'Tony Hill') or it can be bad (think 'racial' and 'Metropolitan Police')

It is also something which happens to guitars or, at least the rim-sets.

When I was at school getting a wedgie was definitely something to be avoided. I could've gone commando, of course, but that might have caused a stir in the gym so I suffered along with the rest. But it appears that a Manzer Wedge is a good thing. It allows the player to see the strings a bit better whilst still wearing underclothes but, and this is important, the back of the rim set needs to be profiled to allow it to happen... along with profiling for the back curvature and for the reduction in height from the tail-block to neck-block. Then the Mahogany back linings are glued in using fish glue.



And, as if that wasn't enough already, the top of the rim-set must also profiled for the top curvature and the Mahogany top linings glued in using fish glue.



Yes, you read that correctly, more piscine glue. I'm not a big fan of fish so am not in the least bit concerned that seemingly many, many, small fish (or a lower number of medium sized fish or one chuffing mahoosive fish) have been sacrificed in order to give me something on which I can play my three chords.

Great looking guitar - nice davewhite and very entertaining commentary leoroberts.
Lovely!

Again, thanks for the entertainment Dave and Leo.

If you want to get ahead, get a hat. That's what they say. Well, they don't say it anymore, but they definitely used to. It was probably an advert or something.

My guitar wants to get ahead, but not too far. It decided against a hat and opted for a cap instead. A Coyote Wood cap that would sit over the X-Braces. It will take a strong wind to knock it off but, in case I'm playing it after a decent curry, Dave glued it on just to make sure.



And that, more or less, is the back sorted. Well, after Dave works his magic and the braces are carved and the back “voiced”. There's trimming and stuff to do - hence the outline. But that is for another day.

Of course, at the moment, it's still something of an 'open sandwich... these are the worst of sandwiches, almost impossible to eat. Makers try to compensate for the lack of a second slice of bread by piling up the filling. Of course, because of the aforementioned lack of a second slice, it's not some much a filling as a topping. A topping that refuses to be stay where it is supposed to be and goes everywhere as soon as you raise the 'sandwich' towards your mouth.

Guitars are very different from sandwiches - we don't eat them for a start. But they DO require a top. This not only hides much of the gubbins inside but also adds some rigidity and, often, a pleasing aesthetic.

davewhite has signed, dated and braced the top although not, as yet, 'closed the butty' - but all the bits are there, ready to so do. Logic suggests hammer and nails - which is how two bits of wood are normally joined - but careful readers will have noted Dave's proclivity for an animal-based adhesive, so I suspect that's what he'll go with.





In case the wording is unclear in the photograph, it says "Created in Liverpool, evolved in Europe, made in Hughenden - YNWA"

Did you sneak a pencil scribble on the underside of the top, Rob? Something like "Everton rools, OK!"

Keith

Along with being a top-class luthier, davewhite is also a time-traveller. I bet you didn't know that. He's kept it a secret for many years - thousands of years if you include his numerous 'temporal jumps'. And I now have proof, which I am prepared to share with you. Yes, you are blessed.

You'll notice that my last 'progress report' included the finished top. Well, Dave has just sent me the photos of the top's construction which, if he were not a timelord (perhaps he's Doctor 'Huh') MUST have happened before the top was finished. And yet it didn't. It's a conundrum, alright.

So, second things first.

I am not a happy camper. If God had meant me to spend nights under canvas he wouldn't have created hotels. That's a given. The only tent I can appreciate is the tent method used to join the pieces for the back or, in this case, top of a guitar. After they've been 'thicknessed', of course. My spellchecker is daring to suggest that 'thicknessed' is not a word. But we all know that it is. The process probably involves a plane and lots of sandpaper. Or maybe Dave just licks the wood down to the right thickness. If he had a cat he could get the cat to do it. But he doesn't so he can't. It's European Spruce if anyone is interested. Not the Europen Cup - it'd have to be a 6 piece top if it was.



Because it's an acoustic instrument it's bound to have a soundhole. And the soundhole is itself bound - with Coyote Wood with an inner white Maple edge. And then a Maple soundhole patch is glued on the inside of the top using HHG. That *could* mean 'Hermetically Harmonious Gyroscope' but, chances are, it refers to hot hide glue.



I'm not a pony, nor a pony rider nor, when all is said to done, have I any connection with equine competitions at all. I won a silver medal for music when I was at school and have my gold, silver and bronze lifesaver's badges (so, if you know of any rubber bricks that need rescuing from the bottom of swimming pools: I'm your man - as long as I'm wearing pyjamas). What I'm trying to say is that the only rosettes I have ever owned have come in the form of guitar decoration. This requires a channel being cut in the top down to the Maple soundhole patch.



And then the Coyote Wood rosette ring and Maple/ Coyote Wood outer purflings are test fitted and glued in using white PVA glue. My kids used PVA glue at school, I think. It's the white stuff, isn't it? Consistency of snot. As long as it works...



Quick quiz for you: What's the difference between Dave and a London bus?

One is a Routemaster and the other is a router master. 

This is useful as next a step is routed in the inner edge of the rosette and then the soundhole is routed out. This gives the look of a totally bound soundhole and the fingerboard edge will finish at the beginning of the step to give a complete Coyote Wood ring with a Maple ring around the inner edge of the soundhole.



And, roughly cut to shape, this is what the end result of all that work will look like sometime in the past. Or the future. I'm confused now.