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Post by vikingblues on Oct 11, 2014 16:17:21 GMT
Continuing the run of single words .... Classy!  Mark |
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Post by alexkirtley on Oct 11, 2014 18:29:19 GMT
Single words??.... sexy?  |
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alig
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Post by alig on Oct 12, 2014 10:52:24 GMT
My goodness.
Absolutely beautiful.
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colins
Luthier / Guitar Maker
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Post by colins on Oct 13, 2014 18:51:23 GMT
I've started to put together the blank that will form the neck. This is going to be laminated neck using curly sycamore as the main wood with laminates of black and pear wood to match the purfling on the body. First job is to prepare and glue together the nine slices of wood that will form the lamination, all glued together with fish glue.  Next day, when the glue has dried, the scarf joint is marked onto the neck and cut on the bandsaw.   The two pieces are stacked then the surface trued and flattened with my old pre-war Record #4.  When I'm happy that the surface is true in all directions, then the two pieces are glued together, again using fish glue, and clamped together taking care to perfectly align the laminations.  When dry I carefully plane the top surface flat using a low angle block plane this time due to the grain angle, taking care to keep the break of angle perfectly square to the neck shaft.  End result one 15deg angled scarf jointed neck blank.  Time for a cup of tea. Colin |
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ocarolan
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Post by ocarolan on Oct 13, 2014 22:26:00 GMT
...and a biscuit...or three.
Keith
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leoroberts
C.O.G.
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My main instrument is: probably needing new strings
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Post by leoroberts on Oct 14, 2014 7:24:50 GMT
...and a biscuit...or three. Indeed! I think Jaffa Cakes are in order  |
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colins
Luthier / Guitar Maker
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Post by colins on Oct 14, 2014 8:39:11 GMT
No biscuits allowed on a Monday, if you saw the number of roast potatoes I eat on a Sunday, you'd know why!
Colin
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Phil Taylor
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Post by Phil Taylor on Oct 14, 2014 9:42:02 GMT
Still here in a Spanish bar enjoying a coffee and reading this - what a gorgeous guitar this is going to be. Spookily I have been reading a book in which Greg and later Alicia harvested this redwood tree and split it into usable pieces. - cant remember their full names and what LS original stood for at the mo (somthing split) but is it the same Colin?
Great stuff indeed!!
Buenos Dias
Felipe
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Phil Taylor
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Post by Phil Taylor on Oct 14, 2014 9:57:15 GMT
Still here in a Spanish bar enjoying a coffee and reading this - what a gorgeous guitar this is going to be. Spookily I have been reading a book in which Greg and later Alicia harvested this redwood tree and split it into usable pieces. - cant remember their full names and what LS original stood for at the mo (somthing split) but is it the same Colin? Great stuff indeed!! Buenos Dias Felipe Just answered my own question. Re read your original announcement post. Cheers Phil |
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Post by bobcarter on Oct 14, 2014 15:25:58 GMT
Looks amazing - it's all so far above the level of my own woodworking (or general handyman) abilities that I feel like a caveman trying to follow a lecture on quantum physics, but it's fascinating to watch, anyway!
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colins
Luthier / Guitar Maker
Posts: 2,397
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Post by colins on Oct 15, 2014 18:11:16 GMT
Next step is to install the internal neck 'furniture', the truss rod and carbon fibre rods. First I rout a channel for the truss rod on my basic router table. This is a two way truss rod, from Allied Lutherie, their design is probably the current custom builders standard. The rod goes from about the first fret to the heel block, here it's just placed in the slot to check fit.  Next I rout narrower slots for two 3mm x 9mm carbon fibre rods. As you can see these go just past the break of angle.  I glue the carbon rods in first using epoxy.  Then add the truss rod and glue in a pear wood filler strip over it.  Finally when all the glue is dry I plane and scrape back the filler strip level with the face of the neck.  The truss rod will be adjustable from the sound hole. I'm always loath to give the owner a truss rod adjustment key, as they'll only fiddle with the adjustment to try and 'improve it', once set my necks don't move and of course I will have set up the relief perfectly (which is all the trust rod does) so I don't want anyone fiddling with it. Too many players think that the truss rod can be used to adjust the action, it can't, so leave it alone! This is of course not a criticism of anyone here!  Ho hum Colin |
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Post by earwighoney on Oct 15, 2014 21:00:28 GMT
Great pictures as ever. Many people find the back of a guitar the most visually exciting part of the guitar, but I find the neck and bracing to be the most exciting!
Colin, do you ever make steel string necks without a truss rod? Is there any particular reasons to using sycamore instead of mahogany/Spanish Cedar? I've heard/read that different woods have different tonal properties, I can't remember if it's right but heavier woods add sustain? Also, do you think a laminate neck is more stable than a one piece neck? Also, have you ever built a steel string guitar without a truss rod? Do you use CF rods for the neck of a classical?
(sorry for the overload of questions!)
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colins
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Post by colins on Oct 15, 2014 22:03:04 GMT
Great pictures as ever. Many people find the back of a guitar the most visually exciting part of the guitar, but I find the neck and bracing to be the most exciting! Colin, do you ever make steel string necks without a truss rod? Is there any particular reasons to using sycamore instead of mahogany/Spanish Cedar? I've heard/read that different woods have different tonal properties, I can't remember if it's right but heavier woods add sustain? Also, do you think a laminate neck is more stable than a one piece neck? Also, have you ever built a steel string guitar without a truss rod? Do you use CF rods for the neck of a classical? (sorry for the overload of questions!) Yes I have made steel strings without a truss rod, I made a few copies of the old Stella ladder braced guitars some time ago with no rod. I use a variety of wood for guitar necks, for classicals it is always Spanish Cedar, but for steel strings I probably use Honduran Mahogany most, but I also like Sycamore, cherry and ash. I also build in both laminated and solid configuration, it's usually just a design choice based on aesthetics though, using properly selected wood, a homogeneous neck is just as stable as a laminated. It's not the mass of the wood but it's stiffness that can help with sustain (that's what the CF helps with), and don't forget that the string is attached to both the bridge and the neck, so a very flexible neck will dampen string vibration killing sustain. My classical guitars follow the Torres model very closely, that is what I am known for, so no I don't use either CF or truss rods in my classicals, don't forget that with a classical guitar you are dealing with a much lower tension instrument with different geometry and ways of achieving the desired action. There are classical builders who build with CF, usually a single rod, in their necks and even some who use truss rods, and adjustable necks, but it's not for me, Torres guitars are still the greatest ever made, and most of my classicals go to Spain where that is important. Colin |
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Post by earwighoney on Oct 17, 2014 9:47:17 GMT
Hello Colin, thanks for the reply and the info about neck woods. Interesting info that a homogenous neck and a laminate one is equal in stability (if the wood is properly selected). I have a toe in the nylon string side of things of sorts, well flamenco guitar and I've noticed a few builders have been introducing CF rods and even truss rods; I've not come across a nylon string with a truss rod to date but I imagine it'd make the neck really heavy. Out of curiousity, how have with the ladder braced worked out? I came across a video of the new Collings Waterloo L-00 type guitars with X-bracing/Ladder bracing and it was an interesting comparison between the two; I'd say the ladder braced guitar had a more specialist sound, especially in the midrange than it's X braced counterpart.
I've seen many to say the Torres guitar design is exceptional and it's why it's been so revered for the century and more since it's inception (a similar thing with the Santos Hernandez design in flamenco guitars). I don't know much about the differences between designs and bracing patterns of classical guitars guitars.
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colins
Luthier / Guitar Maker
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Post by colins on Oct 17, 2014 12:12:04 GMT
I wish I could make more ladder braced guitars, they are really underrated, and for the blues in my opinion can't be beaten. I know Dave has also made ladder braced guitars and is a fan. Here's a couple of tunes on one of my ladder braced OO size guitars, they do have a sound of their own. Sorry about the cliched Freight Train, but it was one of the standards we all learned back in the 60s when learning Travis picking! app.box.com/s/yvpphenj8jc2dt5mykbx Freight Train app.box.com/s/vanv97yqe3mzn9uhkmsx Dying Bed Colin |
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Jo whoever he is.
