Official Luthiers Forum!

Lovely design, tasteful appointments! Really digging the body shape. Is that an OM-ish size? 15" across the lower bout or so?

Wow, you don't seem to have had as many problems with the finish as I did on my first. Nice shape too.

Feels good, huh?

I give up, Bob,

What exactly is a "Boby" shape?

I shudder to think!

Steve Brown

A very pretty guitar! I have some very old air-dried walnut given me by a friend of the family. I've been wondering what to do with it. Now I think I may have it re-sawed. I'm impressed!

Steve Brown

Thanks again, Guys. Remember that this is my first guitar, but I built an F-style mandolin last year. I took a lot of lumps on that one, especially in the finish department.

Steve Kinnaird - "And then some of us still keep trying" You're not fooling anybody.    I've seen pics of your work. My goal is to someday build a guitar as nice as the stuff that comes from the Kinnaird boys.   

Mattia - The lower bout is 15.750" across. Depth at the tail is 4.875 and 3.875 at the neck.

PaulB - It does feel good to get the first one under my belt. How are you enjoying yours? Is is opening up like you anticipated?
About the finish - I did have quite a few problems with the finish, but I just kept at it. I tried to buff once but couldn't with the equipment I had so I built a big buffer. Then I refinished and tried again. I had it looking great, then I put a few scratches in the top while glueing on the bridge, so I removed the bridge, stripped the top, sanded to bare wood, and tried again. It's still got a few blemishes, but I was afraid to try again because the top may be getting too thin. My next will be better

Steve Brown - Definitely use that walnut. Its great wood to work with also.

BTW, guys - has anyone noticed that this is a four-piece back? This was my first experience with hide glue and I'm really pleased with how it makes a tight joint.

Thanks again,
BruceH

Bruce,

I have never built an all walnut guitar. It sounds like a good idea though, doesn't it?

Bruce, Yeah, I think mine is opening up, it was a little hard to tell 'cause I kept changing strings til I found some I liked. But it does sound better than the first day I played it, and I was pretty happy with it then.

Wooooohooooie Bruce! Very impressive. It sure look s a LOT better than the last time I saw it. Does your son approve of the set up In a few weeks you will have 3 whole months so plan accordingly, we want to see more!

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tim...
http://www.mcknightguitars.com

dude that is like 1 billion times better than my first guitar.. (which MAY
have rivaled an esteban) Good job dude! Rock on!

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John Mayes
http://www.mayesluthier.com

Bruce, that is a great looking guitar.    I really do like the shape.

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Don Atwood
Arlington, VA

Very cool shape & excellent workmanship. Lovely walnut too. Very nice finish job, it's so shiney! I just got some walnut from the Zootman that's oh so pretty ... seeing your walnut beauty makes me want to get started soon.

Skip

Tim - Thanks for your help with this guitar. I shaved the braces quite a bit based your input. My son has barely touched it. He's been lured to to dark side (discovered women) and has very little time for guitars    I'm hoping to start a couple more this summer, but I've got a bunch of jobs around the house that I've been putting off while building this one.

John - This winter I got a call from a relative's friend who had a guitar that needed repaired. They couldn't remember what brand it was, but they did know that it was a nice "hand-built" guitar. Yep, you guessed it - it was an Esteban. What a piece of work. Marketing rules....

Don A. - Your tapes were a big help. Thanks! PM your address to me an I'll get them on their way. How are you coming on your projects?

BruceH

Beautiful work Bruce! I too have found getting a good finish the most frustrating part of my first projects. I really like the fact that you used your own wood.

Ok, I admit I never heard of Esteban, so I had to check it out. Well, I now know how they can sell such a great instrument at such a low price; it's made by aliens! Check out the listing of the package contents:

Esteban Guitar

"Your Esteban Guitar Package Includes: ... Extra strings, picks, straps and alien key."TomS38488.2713773148