Right. Hopefully I'll wrap up the 'almost done' projects in the next few weeks, get them ready for finishing (Strat, Tele, Baritone Acoustic), and be able to get a start on the acoustics I want to build next year. The one that's giving me the most of a 'headache' is the medium-jumbo I'm building for a friend of mine.
Basic specs are these: Walnut b/s, walnut/wenge/maple/wenge/walnut neck, ebony headplate+backstrap, WRC top, flamed maple binding all 'round with b/maple/b purfling. Right now I'm dithering about whether the appointments I've chosen will work well.
Here's the thing: being kind of 'country', the guitar he showed me when he said 'want one of those!' was a blingy, moustache-bridge J-200. Which doesn't really work for me, aesthetically. So I sort of took that, took a Ryan Grand Cathedral, reimagined the whole thing, and came up with the following shape, give or take (although this pic is a bit mor accurate):
Inlay's going to be in abalone (lighter stuff for the vine, darker for the leaves), white MOP and touches of black MOP on a black ebony board. Closeup inlay shot:
My idea was for most of the 'stem' to be green abalone, 'flowery' leafy bits white MOP, the stamens black MOP. Bridge has a mirrored design. Fine lines, thin pieces, not too heavy. Thoughts on the design, balance, material choice?
The guitar's also getting a wedged body, and a smallish sound port in the upper bass bout, which I was thinking of doing in a patterned cutout to 'mirror' some aspect of the inlay, but which I haven't designed yet.
Where things get a little tricky: rosette and top purfling. I'm pretty committed to maple all 'round for binding, and the guy and I are both quite enamoured of spalted maple rosettes. He's chosen this one (that's the WRC on top, btw, for colour):
I'm thinkin what I've got there is just a hair too wide, be better thinner, and will be framed by bwb purfling lines.
I guess what I'm really worried about is that, on balance, the top/rosette will be too 'woody', and the bridge+fingerboard+headstock will be too 'shelly'. I'm not crazy about abalone in 'wild' wood rosettes, and I'm worried even two thin rings (one inner, one outer) would be a bit overpowering. And for me, the stronger/wider rosette has a kind of visual impact I think works well with my body shapes. At the same time, I'm quite seriously considering (thin! but what's a good thickness?) abalone purfling around the top.
I'm trying to walk the fine line between making a fairly ornate, inalid acoustic, yet still maintaining a modicum of class in the overall design.
Comments and thoughts are much appreciated. I can't guarantee they'll affect much of anything, though ;-)
Who knows maybe I am mellowing with age.
