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After becoming a French Polish convert, even for my steel strings, today's job seems so retro - a little rattlecan nitro job!



Another guitar is getting it's finish too - something a little closer to my present norm



This flamenco has been really dragging. It was supposed to be done less than a month after my classical #2 this summer, but here we are polishing at end of September - bridge still getting shaped too. Too busy at work!

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Jim Kirby
kirby@udel.edu

nice!
is that yellow cedar on that "blanca"?

Yes, yellow cedar, ebony bindings. It has a carpathian spruce top, BRW headplate and bridge. Wish I had done BRW bindings to match. Next batch!

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Jim Kirby
kirby@udel.edu

do you know of any yellow cedar suppliers in the U.S other than LMI?

I got mine from Kevin Hall (timberline@webhart.net) in Ontario, Canada. He has been really good to deal with, and I'm going to try to buy a big batch from him soon. I don't know of any other suppliers in the US. I'd like to find a good source for cosmetic seconds to use for laminated sides.

Have you had any dealings with Akustikwoods near Istanbul?

Jim

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Jim Kirby
kirby@udel.edu

Wow, Jim, those both look great.  Got any more pictures?

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

Waddy - Not too many - here's one of the Tele with it's Z-poxy fill on the ash back, which is going to be natural. The cover for the cavity was sawn from a slice taken off the main body, and matches the rest of the back pretty seamlessly. I don't hav a better picture of the top - it's flamed myrtle that I cut from a board I got at a local supplier. I have 4 back and side sets from the same board waiting.



For the Reyes-style flamenco - here is a pic during he glue up that shows the bracing. It's been fun building these (I have two in progress) - they are light as feathers and it is easy to see how they get their quick attack and quick fade - the bodies are really loose feeling and I'm sure very lossy. I can't wait to string one up and see.

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Jim Kirby
kirby@udel.edu

Those are great Jim, thanks for sharing them with us.  What clean work.     

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

Hi Jim,

Your work is such a beauty.
Hopefully I can achieve that someday.
Just curious what is the little traverse fingers near the end block for?
It looks interesting.


Sen

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Sen CL Goh
http://senguitar.blogspot.com

Jim,
i have no experience with akustikwood in turkey, but if what you're looking for is Mediterranean Cypress then PM me.
i have logs of that stuff just waiting to be split and cut, and i aint in it for the money.


also, how do you like that Reyes bracing?
have you used any of the other famous makers' bracing layouts?

Udi.

Sen - I'm not sure why the little fillets in between the ends of the fans are included. It's some sort of partial closing brace, which a lot of flamencos don't have - it may have been put there on the particular guitar being copied in response to properties of that particular top. I don't know if Reyes uses them all the time or not. (and I don't know enough yet to tell whether to include that sort of thing or leave it out.)

Udi - This will be my first finished blanca, and so I don't know if I like it or not! My first two finished classicals were based on a Miguel Rodriguez Jr guitar (Blackshear again). This design seems to be easy for a beginner to build - it produces a pretty well balanced instrument even though the body is very large.

My next batch are going to be based on the 1973 Romanillos of Bream's, although I'm building several (to test material combinations) and one is going to have a pretty standard Torres pattern. I hope at that point that I'm beginning to get a sense of what is going on.
One of these is for a customer, who wants a cedar top, but the others are going to all be Shane's Lutz.

I'd be glad to try some of your cypress sometime. Thanks!

Jim

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Jim Kirby
kirby@udel.edu