Joel's Allegro Classical is Under Way

Joel's made some very fine choices for the woods we'll use on his Allegro Classical. For the top we're using Engelmann spruce. It's a great choice for a lattice braced guitar because it is very flexible. For the back and sides we are using Honduran rosewood, a type of wood that is just ideally suited for musical instruments. It has an excellent ring to it. No wonder it's the top wood of first choice for use in the making of marimba bars. Joel lives right here in Santa Cruz and has been coming by often to check on progress and just to see what's going on in the shop. He's thinking of maybe making a few guitars of his own some day. It's extra fun to make an instrument for someone when you can make a real life personal connection like that. Joel's got a regular gig at Mr. Toots coffee house here in town. I haven't been able to get to one of his performances yet but I'm looking forward to it. :)

Happy Birthday, Juston's European Spruce and Brazilian Rosewood Arena OM!

I've just completed Juston's Arena OM and I like it! It's so fun when I've finally got the bridge glued on, the tuners installed, a prelminary setup on the nut and saddle, and at last I'm putting brand new strings on a brand new baby guitar! As I wind the sixth string up to tension I'm trying to get a hint about the bass response, then the same with the other strings. Once I've finallly got it tuned I take the instrument off the bench and give it that first strum. Ahhhh, I feel like this guitar really exemplifies the tonal tendencies of Brazilian rosewood. It's got a deep, rich, warm sound with a nice focused bottom end, as well as excellent clarity, volume, and sustain in the trebles. Juston's instrument incorporates many of the custom features that I offer, the Ryan armrest bevel for extra comfort and mobility of the right arm, multi-scale geometry for increased string tension and clarity in the bass, the side soundport for a more dramatic aural experience for the player, and a cutaway for easier access to the higher frets. It's another Happy Birthday! :)

Mark's Sitka Spruce and Brazilian Rosewood 8-String is Ready for Lacquer

Last week I made the neck and bridge for Mark's 8-String Guitar/Bass and completed a final round of finish sanding and surface preparation for lacquering. As you can see, the fingerboard is enormous! I was quite careful here to create a very slim and shallow neck profile to make the neck as comfortable as possible. With 8 strings on the bridge I felt there was not much room for the traditional thinned "wings" on each end of the bridge, so I changed the height profile of the bridge and I'm very happy with the look and feel of the final result. It has me thinking about this aspect of design on my conventional steel string instruments. A couple of weeks ago Mark came down from Berkeley to Santa Cruz with his two kids to enjoy the beach and they stopped by the shop to check on progress. Fortunately they were just in time to pick out a headplate for the instrument and Mark was happy to delegate this to his very young daughter, who took quite interest an interest in the matter, much to my delight. CUTE! Well Mark, she made a fine choice...don't you think?

Rune Mandelid's Amazing Artistry

Two years ago I built a twin set of nylon and steel string 7-string instruments for a remarkable Norwegian composer, jazz musician and fingerstyle soloist, Rune Mandelid. I was delighted to get an email from him this week letting me know that he has put together an extensive website presenting his works. Rune's music is so original and lush and so beautiful, so I was absolutely thrilled to see all the videos of his performances on the instruments I've made for him. Please, dear reader, take the next ten minutes to find out about a truly gifted and inspired musician.

Mark's 8-String Guitar Bass Soundbox is Complete

This week I've made a great deal of progress on Mark's 8-String Guitar Bass. I'm calling it a guitar/bass because it will cover the range of both instruments. Mark's main target tuning will be the familiar DADGAD, with the addition of two extra bass strings proving a low A, and a lower-still D one octave below the 6th string. The scale length along the treble edge of the fingerboard will be 26.75" and on the bass edge it will be 29". I've braced the top and back, assembled them to the rim, and installed the curly koa binding and veneer for the Ryan armrest bevel. As you can see, the bridge plate is dramatically slanted, and the two x-braces are assymetrically skewed, so as to meet the corners of the bridge in a familiar configuration. Because of this, the rest of the top bracing needs to be re-imagined. This is a really fun and creative process that involves experience and intuition for how the top will flex and what sort of bracing patterns will efficiently reinforce different areas of the soundboard. Notably, on the right side of the bridge plate you can see that there is a large area that was left wide open by the assymetry of the x-braces. My strategy here was to reinforce the area in front of the bridge with a few flat patches and one strong brace running vertically, and to minimally reinforce the area horizontally with just one small brace off to the side. The braces below the bridge plate are a little smaller and lighter than what I might do because I want the top to offer good flexibility for some of the very low bass notes. Next I'll start work on the neck. More soon, Mark! :)