The LS Redwood/Yew Competition Guitar Build

Kind of important that isn't it! When I commissioned my new guitar I knew I wanted something different from the 'Martin' type sound. I added Adrian Lucas to my list of luthiers in no small part because I saw his guitars described as 'European' sounding. Like you, he makes guitars that sound right to him. It is nice to play one of the guitars in advance and it is lovely when a luthier's idea of tone corresponds with your own!

<sigh>

It's really about how the frets are installed and the processes used to make sure they are level.  A lot of builders tend to follow the factory route of installing the frets and then leveling them afterwards with a large file, which then means re-crowning the frets again.  I believe that if the previous work is done properly, level the neck, level and flatten the fingerboard, then if the frets are carefully installed and checked for level as you go, the need to run a big file over the top of them to get them level is removed.  I know Dave and a number of the other builders I talk to work the same way as me. When I went on the Romanillos course, he would have had apoplexy if any of his students had needed to file their frets after installation, as it simply shows sloppy workmanship in an earlier part of the process.

A lot of the problem comes from the early guitar building books, which probably quite rightly did not assume that everyone would be as accurate in their wood work, so adopted the factory process of fret leveling after installation.  With a bit of experience a good custom builder should never need to take a file to the fret crown which the manufacturer has taken a great deal of care to make smooth and even. So, to many it is the received wisdom that frets need leveling after installation.  No they don't if the job was done properly in the first place!  See I said I can be argumentative!

The BRW board came from an early 19th century dining table leg.  It's the old growth straight grain BRW that is simply not available any more.  The bridge will be made from the same wood.

In my lab some years ago I ran a lot of tests on different type of woods to test them for their ability to transmit wave functions.  Their were a number of woods that dampened this transmission especially at the higher frequencies, most notable among these was ebony, now this can be useful if a guitar is built with a stiff top which favours the trebles, using an ebony bridge may re-balance the guitar, but at a reduced overall level.  The best among the woods used were the Brazilian and Madagascan rosewoods, Macassar ebony and EIR, with ziricote and some of the other rosewoods also proving OK.  You'll find that on most classical guitars that BRW or EIR is the bridge material of choice, it is even more important on a classical guitar than a steel string as they are much lower energy systems, If I'm building a classical guitar for a UK or European user, then I'll always use BRW, for the USA I use EIR.  Steel strings will normally have a bridge wood matching the FB, BRW, Madagascan rosewood or Ziricote, never ebony.  So yes the bridge wood can have a great influence on the tone of the guitar, more particularly on it's balance.  

Colin

They are stunningly beautiful!

I have a Gordon Smith LP Jr. Something like that is about the only thing that would replace it!

If taken to the correct thickness and braced accordingly Adirondack is good top wood not over stiff but with good headroom. No, the main guitars that may need their over bright trebles tamed a little with an ebony bridge are those where the dictates of the guarantee and the in-house lawyers and accountants rule. Don't forget that 99.9% of guitars do not have their tops individually tuned, they are produced from a set of standardised top thickness and bracing, so most tend to be over engineered, giving a stiffer than needed top, but less likely to come back under guarantee. These may then benefit from an ebony bridge to balance the guitar. What I and the other custom builders try and do is to get as much information through from the strings as possible, so we do tune tops and try and achieve a natural balance, so you'll never see me use an ebony bridge.

When I did the tests I already knew that BRW produced the result that I wanted, the problem of course is that BRW is CITIES 1 listed, so is virtually impossible to buy as timber with the right paperwork, I was looking to see what woods performed as closely to BRW as possible, and Madagascan (also heading down the CITIES path), EIR, Macassar and EIR came closest. Then we were lucky and the bottom dropped out of the brown furniture market, and some old BRW furniture could be found at a reasonable price. The larger parts are usually veneered, but things like legs and carcass parts are often solid wood, so the crisis was averted. But if making a guitar for overseas, which I do, then no BRW.

And don't get me started on some of the 'science' being applied to guitars!

The electric I make is based on the CS336 (8) rather than the 339, they are the same shape, but the 339 is built as a smaller version of the 335, with laminated top and back glued to ribs with a central spine. The 336 is built using a solid mahogany body which is then routed out and a solid carved top glued on. Gibson call then 'tonally carved' this is the inside of one of my 336s and I think you'll see what I mean.



The 336 gives a more 'rocky' tone, one of my players says it has the sweetness of the 335, the growl of a Les Paul and the edge of a Telecaster. With some good PAFs, my favourite electric by far.

Colin