Official Luthiers Forum!

Hello everyone,

A little more than a year ago my wonderful wife helped make a dream of mine come true. I have always aspired to build a high quality acoustic guitar but lacked the knowledge, tools and experience to undertake such a monumental task. She gave me the raw materials and most importantly her support and encouragement. A year has passed and the instrument is finished.

I wanted to send out a big "THANK YOU" to all of you who have generously shared your tips and techniques on this wonderful forum. I could not have done this without your help. When ever I was unsure of how to proceed I was always able to find expert advice here.

I’d really like to insure this guitar on my Home Owner's policy as it is truly priceless to me. In order to do this I need to get an official appraisal. I contacted Mandolin Brothers but they are unable to help me because I'm an unknown, which I completely understand. How do you folks obtain appraisals for your instruments?

Here are some pics of finished guitar.





















Thanks for looking,

- Ric

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Ric Hollander
Kings Park, NY
http://www.hollanderguitars.com

Man, that is a fine looking guitar, Ric.  Outstanding work there.

It's Mother's day - don't you think your wife would love a nice set of Zoot to build a #2 with her name in it?

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

Great looking first!! WOW!
Unfortynately I have no idea where to go to get an appraisal....

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Peter M.
Cornerstone Guitars
http://www.cornerstoneukes.com

Wow Ric,
Thats really raising the bar for us first time builders there my man!! Superb - truly...
I can see why you are so attached to this piece.
I cant help with the insurance query, except to say simply take it everywhere you go and when your not playing it, gaze upon it with affection, then no-one will get thier hands on it...
Cheers
Charliewood

You might post the region you live in and see if there is a "pro" luthier here that would take a look at the instrument, evaluate it's construction/sound/materials and provide you with a written estimate based on his/her
assessments.
Coming from a luthier that is in business, written on a letterhead, ought to give you a place to start talking with your insurance carrier.
If you are close to me (Northern California) I'd be happy to give it a review.

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Hank Mauel

Speachless

                     Red

Sensational guitar, without a doubt. You have talent big guy...please don't let this be your last guitar.

PS: Consider insuring that CASE, too...wow, I don't think I've ever seen a case like that.

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Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.

Beautiful!

beautiful !

I would second the suggestion to take it to a local luthier for an appraisal. You could also print out the price sheets for some of the luthiers web sites on this forum to get an idea on it's value. Be sure to include the price of the case...... alligator skin case.... now thats different !

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Reguards,

Ken H

If I had the money... A Million Dollars (USD) would be peanuts so spend for such a lovingly crafted guitar. that is my appraisal, for what it is (the appraisal) is worth!

Wow!!!

Wow, I'm truly speechless by all your kind words about my first guitar! Thanks so much! Now so more than ever, I'm motivated to build number 2. For now though I'm enjoying playing this one.

I'm blown away by the sound of this thing. It's very responsive with a wide dynamic range. The low end is powerful, the mids are nice and tight and the high end is crystal clear without being harsh. It responds well to a delicate touch but also fills the room if you dig in. The sound quality is by far a happy accident as I do not yet have enough of an understanding about tuning the top. That seems like a very mysterious process to me and a critically important one as well.

Hesh, Hodges_Guitars,
Thanks for the advice. That sounds like a smart way to go and I'll give that a try.

Hank,
I live on Long Island but if I was closer I would certainly take you up on your offer to have a look at the guitar. John Monteleone lives a few miles away from me and I'll see if I can get up the nerve to give him a call.

Robbie,
A special thanks to you! Your videos (building and finishing) were incredibly helpful.

Robert,
LOL! I don't think I could afford the premiums!

By the way, the case (which is more like a sarcophagus) is a custom Cedar Creek 900 Series. It's really solid (5 ply-plywood I think) and very well made. I'm also using a Small Dog case cover and have one of those on all my guitars.

This guitar has a "Pick-up the World" model #54 stereo pickup installed on the bridge plate. I've got a preamp on order which is coming tomorrow so I'll report back on how it sounds if anyone's interested.

Thanks again guys,

- Ric

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Ric Hollander
Kings Park, NY
http://www.hollanderguitars.com

Ric, that is really a beautiful guitar! I like everything about it.

I've never seen bridge pins that look like yours though. Can you enlighten me on that?

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Dave Rector
Rector Guitars

[QUOTE=Dave Rector]I've never seen bridge pins that look like yours though. Can you enlighten me on that?[/QUOTE]

Hi Dave,

Thanks so much!

They're called "Carrico's EZ Pegs". They're made of brass and come in a variety of inlay choices for the center. I choose abalone to match the soundhole rosette. I've been using them for several years on a variety of guitars and I really like them. There's no need to cut a channel in the bridge for the string at the break angle when you use them either.



You can get an idea of how they work by looking at the drawing above. You thread the strings through a hole in the pin and there's a channel for the string to rest in. The bottom line is it holds the strings down nice and tight (no popping up pins), has a distinctive look and never wears out.

Here's a link to the site where you can get them if your interested:

http://www.stevesmusiccenter.com/EZPeg.html

- Ric

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Ric Hollander
Kings Park, NY
http://www.hollanderguitars.com

Pretty cool! Thanks Ric!

Do those pins have any taper? They look like a straight cylinder.

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Dave Rector
Rector Guitars

[QUOTE=Dave Rector] Pretty cool! Thanks Ric!

Do those pins have any taper? They look like a straight cylinder.[/QUOTE]

I'm 99.9% sure they're straight, i.e. not tapered. Next time I change the strings I'll double check. I angled the holes in the bridge to accomodate standard wood pins and then just tweaked them a bit so that the E-Z Pegs would fit. Another benefit (for me anyway) is that you don't need a bridge pin puller to get the pins out when you change strings. One trick I've learned when removing them is to push the string back down into the bridge so that the ball is below the bridge plate. The pins come out much easier that way.

- Ric

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Ric Hollander
Kings Park, NY
http://www.hollanderguitars.com

Thanks for the info Ric!!!

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Dave Rector
Rector Guitars