Bill's Box is Sanded Flush

While browsing my website Bill came across my friend Dave's Grand Concert and liked the look of it, but had some unique ideas for his own Custom Axe. His main target tuning is (low to high) CGCGCF. This preferentially lowers the bass strings a bit, so we came up with a multi-scale design that will provide excellent string tension, punch and sustain on all six strings. We decided on the baritone body size (16" lower bout) in order to provide good resonance for the low bass notes. For ergonomic comfort, Bill chose to include the Manzer wedge and the Ryan bevel. The side soundport is a great design feature that really enhances the tone of the instrument dramatically for the player.

Yeah...I do feel lucky!

Yeah, I do feel lucky! :) Just look at what I'm doing. Bill's guitar is going to have a moderately steep multiscale design with a two inch difference of scale lengths. The treble edge of the fingerboard will be at 25.5" and the bass edge will be at 27.5". This means that the bridge will have a significant slant to it. When I lay out the bracing pattern for I always use the same approach in that the x-braces catch the corners of the bridge in a similar way. With this consistent approach as a starting point in the bracing layout, everything else falls into place from there, with some interesting results. You can see here that the bracing is very asymmetrical. I also went very light with the bracing on this top because the koa is a bit stronger than other more common top woods.

Real Pretty Baritone On the Way

Bill's Koa and Macassar Ebony Baritone is off to a great start this week. Ordinarily with a spruce-top baritone, my pre-assembly thickness for the top is about .098 to .102 thousands of an inch. This koa's a little bit stiffer, so I went down to .092". You need a flexible top to resonate those low frequencies of a baritone, and this beauty ain't just for lookin' at! Still, I'm looking forward to seeing what a bloodwood armrest bevel is going to look like next to those beautiful ebony sides. Under lacquer I always think the Macassar ebony looks like a cup of coffee just after you've poured the cream in. Okay, I admit it...I like lookin' at pretty guitars. :)

Dave Hilyard's Baritone is Ready for Lacquer

Over the last week I've built the neck of Dave Hilyard's Baritone Guitar and just this morning I've completed the last little bit of careful detailing and finish-sanding. On Monday I'll be brining it across town to Addam Stark for his fine work with the lacquer. Dave likes a big neck. He asked for a 1&7/8" nut and 2&3/8" string spacing at the bridge. Each of those is 1/8" wider than the most common dimensions. I'm going to bring this to the gig I'm playing tomorrow (Nov 4) in Santa Clara. Maybe some of the people there would enjoy seeing an instrument before it's been lacquered.

A Gig Tomorrow Night!

Any of y'all know Doug Young? He's a real fine fingerstyle player out here in the SF Bay Area who puts together a monthly coffeehouse gig in Santa Clara. Tomorrow my friend Victor Tsaran and I will be joining Doug on the stage. I've been having fun practicing my set and will be hooking up with Victor ahead of time tomorrow afternoon to put together a duet we've each been practicing separately this week. Looking for something to do? Look no further! :)