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Heshtone Black Topped Dreadn*ught... (Pics)
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Author:  Hesh [ Tue Feb 23, 2010 7:26 am ]
Post subject:  Heshtone Black Topped Dreadn*ught... (Pics)
I completed this guitar this past weekend and since we had a foot of snow dumped on us yesterday it doesn't look like I will have any opportunity to take photos outdoors with flowery backgrounds like I usually do.... :cry: So my shop will have to be the back drop for this one until the weather improves...

This is a dreadn*ught with my stealth binding treatment where it is bound in real wood (Sapele and ebony) but I do my best to hide the bindings by not contrasting them with the back or top. The idea is to make the black top with ebony bindings look a bit like a drop top.

What's new for me on this one is that it's built for mediums and to be used for bluegrass if one wanted to do that. The upper transverse brace is beefed up a bit with a CF lamination and this is the first dread that I have ever built with my own bracing which is not scalloped but tapered.

The guitar weighs in at around 4.5 pounds which is the heaviest guitar that I have built in 4 years.

Because of all of the set-ups that I have been doing in my apprenticeship this one is set-up great and plays like a dream if I do say so myself... idunno It sounds great too with tight, loud bass, better mids than my other dreads have had, and nice sparkling trebles.

So far my only complaint is that the black top shows every fingerprint, piece of dust etc but I knew that going into this.

CREDITS:

Top: Lutz from Shane
Back and sides: I have no clue where these came from but they are sapele...
neck: Watkins CNCed neck
tuners: Grover sta-tight
finish: Cat Poly by Joe White who BTW does black too... :D

Take a look:

Every time I look at this guitar on a stand it reminds me of the black monolith in the film 2001 with a bunch of monkeys with bones in their hands dancing around it....

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Thanks for looking! :)
Author:  Rene [ Tue Feb 23, 2010 7:34 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Heshtone Black Topped Dreadn*ught... (Pics)
Great job Hesh,
Looks like a 20 lb. dumbell, I mean under the bench of course. :lol:
Author:  TonyKarol [ Tue Feb 23, 2010 7:38 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Heshtone Black Topped Dreadn*ught... (Pics)
That looks very cool .. except for the black and dread parts beehive

Well done ...
Author:  Haans [ Tue Feb 23, 2010 7:42 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Heshtone Black Topped Dreadn*ught... (Pics)
Is that a speck of dust on the peghead?
Lovely instrument, except as Tony says, the black and the ught... [clap]
Author:  Hesh [ Tue Feb 23, 2010 7:44 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Heshtone Black Topped Dreadn*ught... (Pics)
TonyKarol wrote:
That looks very cool .. except for the black and dread parts beehive

Well done ...


Yeah well.... Coach Tony I'll have to try harder next time to nix the black and dread parts.... :lol: :D

Rene that 20lb dumbell is super handy for glue-ups.... but a bit too much for deflection testing.... :D
Author:  cwood8656 [ Tue Feb 23, 2010 7:50 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Heshtone Black Topped Dreadn*ught... (Pics)
Hesh, that's a beauty. Was the quilted Sapele hard to bend at all?

Chris.
Author:  Colin North [ Tue Feb 23, 2010 8:10 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Heshtone Black Topped Dreadn*ught... (Pics)
B & S are stunning, beauty all round. Top's, well, different... [:Y:] [clap] [:Y:] [clap]
A plus may be it'll get polished a lot with those fingerprints showing so much. :P
Author:  WudWerkr [ Tue Feb 23, 2010 8:15 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Heshtone Black Topped Dreadn*ught... (Pics)
Absolutely stunning my friend . I like the black by the way .

Ohh and did i see a little sawdust on the floor by the bandsaw there ?? laughing6-hehe

Quote:
What's new for me on this one is that it's built for mediums and to be used for bluegrass if one wanted to do that
.

Could you explain that quote a little for the dumb newbie here please duh
Author:  Ken C [ Tue Feb 23, 2010 8:31 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Heshtone Black Topped Dreadn*ught... (Pics)
Hesh, you do know how to build a guitar! Well done and congrats on getting her done.

Ken
Author:  Mark Groza [ Tue Feb 23, 2010 8:37 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Heshtone Black Topped Dreadn*ught... (Pics)
She's a real beauty for sure! Love that quilted figure. [:Y:]
Author:  Hesh [ Tue Feb 23, 2010 8:49 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Heshtone Black Topped Dreadn*ught... (Pics)
Thanks folks! :)

James my friend what I mean by she was built for mediums is that I braced this top slightly heavier than I usually do and for me that means slightly taller braces on the X, tone bars etc. and a slightly thicker top.

Chris buddy I knew in advance that the quilted Sapele might be a bit tougher to bend and have more spring back so I bent it hotter, less water (just a misting), and after the first bend I cooked it again 1.5 hours later leaving it in the bender and then I left it in the bender overnight. The sides came out with very little spring-back.

Haans my friend I had just hit the guitar with a feather duster before the photos were taken but as you can see every speck of dust shows.... gaah Solution = keep it in it's case and out of site.... :D
Author:  jaguarguy [ Tue Feb 23, 2010 8:53 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Heshtone Black Topped Dreadn*ught... (Pics)
I've seen the guitar in person and it is stunning - great job Hesh! [clap]

When you coming over to play some electric guitars 8-)
Author:  Chuck [ Tue Feb 23, 2010 9:01 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Heshtone Black Topped Dreadn*ught... (Pics)
That is one sweet looking guitar. I bet it sounds great too.
Chuck
Author:  Dave Stewart [ Tue Feb 23, 2010 9:19 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Heshtone Black Topped Dreadn*ught... (Pics)
Very nice Hesh. I like the "stealth binding" treatment

Hesh wrote:
.....I'll have to try harder next time to nix the black and dread parts....


(...keep the black, loose the dread... :D )
Author:  Hesh [ Tue Feb 23, 2010 9:37 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Heshtone Black Topped Dreadn*ught... (Pics)
Thanks guys! :)

This reminds me of when I posted my first and only burst and it was a bit polarizing in as much as people either liked it or hated it and there was seemingly nothing and no one in the middle.... idunno :D

Mike bro call me and I would love to come over to your place and check out your collection!!! [:Y:]
Author:  WudWerkr [ Tue Feb 23, 2010 9:49 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Heshtone Black Topped Dreadn*ught... (Pics)
Quote:
James my friend what I mean by she was built for mediums is that I braced this top slightly heavier than I usually do and for me that means slightly taller braces on the X, tone bars etc. and a slightly thicker top.


So then because of that the "tones" will be in the more medium range than trble side or bass side ?

Am I following you here ?
Author:  Hesh [ Tue Feb 23, 2010 9:54 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Heshtone Black Topped Dreadn*ught... (Pics)
No and sorry James if I am not explaining correctly. I am simply bracing heavier than usual anticipating that this guitar will be used for blue grass music where a loud, in-your-face guitar is desirable. As such medium strings are more the norm and this means that the string forces will be greater than with light strings - hence the heavier bracing.

Make sense? :)

It's not unlike how a 12 string is braced heavier too - more string pull requires more structure to tame it.
Author:  Randolph [ Tue Feb 23, 2010 10:11 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Heshtone Black Topped Dreadn*ught... (Pics)
Wow, Hesh, that is one seriously fabulous guitar. All I can say is "I'd love to play it" !!
Author:  SteveCourtright [ Tue Feb 23, 2010 10:18 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Heshtone Black Topped Dreadn*ught... (Pics)
Very classy Hesh - very nicely executed and lovely woods. So.... when do I get to play it?
Author:  LanceK [ Tue Feb 23, 2010 10:26 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Heshtone Black Topped Dreadn*ught... (Pics)
Blisteringly sweeet!
Author:  WudWerkr [ Tue Feb 23, 2010 10:43 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Heshtone Black Topped Dreadn*ught... (Pics)
Hesh wrote:
No and sorry James if I am not explaining correctly. I am simply bracing heavier than usual anticipating that this guitar will be used for blue grass music where a loud, in-your-face guitar is desirable. As such medium strings are more the norm and this means that the string forces will be greater than with light strings - hence the heavier bracing.

Make sense? :)

It's not unlike how a 12 string is braced heavier too - more string pull requires more structure to tame it.


Got it my friend . Remember , I am a "wudwerkr" . As a " Musician" I can play a few chords , and maybe a lil rythm at best . So there is alot that escapes me at times . You explained it right , I am just uneducated at alot of the "tonal " aspects of this craft ! Still learning , and will probably never master it idunno
Author:  MaxBishop [ Tue Feb 23, 2010 11:08 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Heshtone Black Topped Dreadn*ught... (Pics)
Heshie,

You outdun yourself this time. It is an awesome lookin' axe. I'm just hopin' I get to hear you play "Smoke on the Water" on it some day.

Regards,
Max
Author:  Lars Stahl [ Tue Feb 23, 2010 11:27 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Heshtone Black Topped Dreadn*ught... (Pics)
[:Y:] [:Y:] [:Y:] really cool guitar Hesh. [clap] [clap]

Lars
Author:  LuthierSupplier [ Tue Feb 23, 2010 11:45 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Heshtone Black Topped Dreadn*ught... (Pics)
Beautiful Dread Nut Hesh! Very cool! Wish I could play it!
Author:  Darrin D Oilar [ Tue Feb 23, 2010 12:00 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Heshtone Black Topped Dreadn*ught... (Pics)
Love the contrast of the black top with the side wood and the rosette. Don't touch it though, from the looks of it, that finish is so deep it would swallow your arm to the elbow. Beautiful.

Darrin
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