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Thought I might post a couple pics of what I'm doing. Most of these are going to Healdsburg with me in August. The shots on the go deck are a little jumbo cutaway made from some of BobC's moonscape sapele with snakewood trim.

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Tickle your guitar daily, and it'll tickle you back.

Hi John,
Nice looking guitars!!!
Are you taking all 4 to Heraldsburg for Sale??
walterK

Really nice, John! Is that some of Ed Dick's unique cedar on the guitar on the left?
BruceH

Looking good John. Is one of them that mahogany guitar you were building? Send my an instant message. I want to know how you made out.

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Beautiful and unusual tone woods at a reasonable price.
http://www.rctonewoods.com/RCT_Store
The Zootman
1109 Military Rd.
Kenmore, NY 14217
(716) 874-1498

Beautiful, John! what a nice variety of tonewoods. The Zootman should be proud that you're raising his babies well. I'm looking forward to seeing (and hearing) them in Healdsburg.

You always seem to get more done in a weekend than I am able to do in a month.

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JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

Thanks guys.
Walter - They will probably all go to healdsburg unless somebody gets one first.

Bruce - That is indeed Ed's unique cedar, cool stuff huh. The back is figured imbuia.

JJ - I been working these for months actually. By the way I sold that koa guitar, I just have to make a neck for it which is almost done and have cedar creek make a custom case.

Bob - That is the mahogany 000, Not much progress on it lately but as soon as all these are ready I go into finish mode. The weather here is shaaping up real nice now too.

Thanks, guys

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Tickle your guitar daily, and it'll tickle you back.

John,

Fantastic work! Wow, enough to make a guy jealous.

What kind of binding are you using on the Zootmans sapele?

Jeff

Snakewood!!!!

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Tickle your guitar daily, and it'll tickle you back.

very nice work John.

Matt

Beautiful looking guitars John. I'd love to play one of yours someday.

John,
I thought that I recognized that cedar. Neat stuff. I'm glad it went to someone who could put it to good use. Of course we'll want a full report when you are finished
BruceH

I have a 00 guitar I am making with BobC's sapele and am wondering what to use for binding. I really want to see what your snakewood binding looks like when you get it glued on.

What is that center strip on the back? It looks very nice with the sapele.

I was thinking about Brazilian binding but may change my mind based on your results.

John

John,
Your work is always inspiring. This time, it's to get off the old posterior. Thanks for the pix.

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From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

That center strip is Snakewood as well. I'll try to get a close-up of it. When I bent the bindings I got them pretty hot since everybody I talked to said snakewood is really hard to bend. Anyway I think I cooked some of the snakes spots off. Hopefully when I sand them they will come back.

That nice sapelle bobC had is a tough bend I'll tell ya. I cracked the first set as I tried to bend it into a venetian cutaway. I threw the set up on the top shelf and pulled out another and bent it into a florentine cut away. I'll get back to the 1st set one of these days and see what I can do with it.

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Tickle your guitar daily, and it'll tickle you back.

John
   I just finished bending one of those sapele sets into a venetian cutaway. HEAT is the answer. All the same I thinned that upper bout section to 1/16 inch before bending and after it was bent laminated that section with a thin veneer of cuban mahogany (good color match) on the inside. It WORKED (always a surprise) and the inside does not show obvious evidence of lamination in that area. I terminate the lamination area into a vertical side brace to hide the joint.
   Also, don't throw away that set of sides with the crack. This wood will glue back together pretty easily and if done well, the cracks disappear. One of the advantages of a busy grain.

John K

John-- you are doing some great work, For what its worth, I expect most builders to do clean competent work, what I find inspiring from you, is your sense of design, your use of appointments, and choice of woods. Good work my friend!

Thanks for sharing.
L

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Lance@LuthiersForum.com

Thanks Lance, That's always something I struggle with because I don't think I have a good sense of visual taste. Lots of times I think I use too great a contrast in my choice of guitar trim so in the case of this latest guitar I am trying to keep things sutble. Bob's great wood makes that easy because the wood itself "shines" so I don't really have to flash it up.

John, I kept the side that I cracked but after a day or two it started pulling apart so I'm not really sure I'm gonna be able to bring it together. I'll give it a try though.

One thing I thought about trying on this really figured wood is maybe putting it in the bender with a peice of iron on patch matierial behind it on the inside. Let it attach itself to the wood and just stay there as reinforcment. Did you use much water when you bent this wood? I didn't because it has been my experience with figured wood that a lot of water causes the fibers to let go easier. Generally if I wet the wood I'll only wet the inside of the bend.

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Tickle your guitar daily, and it'll tickle you back.

John
   Not much water at all. I have a spray bottle and I just spritz the sides before they go into the bending form.
   I did the cutaway by hand over a hot pipe and sprayed occasionally but nearly always let it dry out during the bending process. Water really conducts the heat rapidly through the wood so I use it for that purpose, to avoid scorching the surface in an attempt to get the fibers on the opposite side hot.

When your bending on the hot pipe, do you sue any kind of support on the back side. Sometimes I use a small piece of sheetmetal similar to what you would use in the side bender except lighter gauge to support the outside. This one I bent in the bender and I guess I just didn't have it supported tightly enough at the bend.

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I use a piece of sheet brass, pretty thin, to back up the work. It really helps to hold the heat in on the outside of the bend and of course it lends support as well. I am almost of the opinion that the evenness of the heat penetration afforded by the metal backing is as important as the support.