Official Luthiers Forum!

I promised you guys more pics of my first guitar, and here they are.

First, the good

I like the way the rosette looks with the copper wire bordering the abalone. It almost gives it a stained-glass window look.



This was done because I didn't realize that my old dremel had some run-out and the channel ended up a tad wider than I wanted. I was scrounging in the workshop for something to stuff in there and came up with this. I think it was a nice "save".

I went with copper wire for the side dots too. I thought this also looked good. Time will tell if the copper will turn green, but I'm hoping that it won't under the shellac.



Here's where I learned about how much heat it takes to scorch the wood when bending sides. I was using an electric charcoal starter in a copper pipe. Running it wide open wasn't the way to go. In retrospect, I should have bent the inside curves first... but I added a router speed control and was able to finish up without any other issue. The scorching was so deep, though, that I couldn't get it all off without making the side too thin.



All in all, I'm happy with the end result.



With the lessons I've learned on this one, I should be able to do better on the next one.

Okay, it's back to lurkin' and learnin' now. Thanks for the bandwidth.

RonRonWeaver38851.519849537

Good work, Ron. I know of people who use sterling silver wire for side dots. Don't have to worry about color change over time.

Is that your daughter holding the guitar? Is she a player? She's got the pose right!

Ron, unfortunately most of the times thats the way the learning curve goes!! Mess up a couple of times and learn from it!
But I agree with you...all in all you did a great job! It's your first anyway

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

I used brass wire for dots once & the lacquer fell off in perfect little discs after a year or so. After the lacquer came off, the green went away... looked fine.
I use aluminum welding rod now. It looks great & the finish sticks well. It also sands at the same rate as Ebony, making it easy to get flush.
Cool head shape! How's she sound???

Ron, you look shorter and younger than I expected. And your hair is longer than I expected too.

Nice first effort! I like the copper wire thing.   

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

Looks nice, Ron.
That learning curve likes to show up at just the right times, doesn`t it? On the bright side, the scorch marks are on the down side while playing...
Let us know how the copper works out over time.

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Give me 50 cents worth of regular.
Check my oil too, if you don`t mind,,,

I have an idea that would make your sides look intentionally burned{save} - take the guitar, study the burned part for a while - then figure out a nice woodburning picture you could make around?{incorporate the side burns in with} and either strip the finish and burn it yourself or have a pro woodburner do it for you - Of course this would look much better if the burn was on the topside, while playing, more so than the bottom,
How about that - I mean thats a good save isnt it>? If everyone agrees that would be 2 tubs o lard in one day!
Cheers
Charliewood
All in all I think you should be very proud though, your daughter looks like she enjoys it and bringing happiness into the picture is what its all about!

Carlton, yes, that's my daughter. She plays the piano, though. Maybe someday... Her twin sister loves to hang around in the workshop. A budding luthier, I suspect.

The headstock shape was due to a router slip. (Did I foget to mention that??? Oh gee...) I cut the end of the fretboard to match near the soundhole - it's hard to see in the pic. I didn't think I had even a remote chance of getting the end of the fretboard to line up with the soundhole if it was circular.

I also ended up slanting the tuning machines slightly because I measured and drilled the holes with the machines upside down. I decided I'd rather do that than try to remember to turn the keys "backwards" to tune it.

(All you other 1st build guys - are you hearing this? The screwups happen - don't let them paralyze you.)

I didn't think about turning the scorch marks into art, but it did occur to me that they're on the bottom, so I wasn't going to sweat it. I'd vote for the tub o' lard, though, Charlie. If only I could see Jesus in the burn, I'd be able to sell this for a lot of money on eBay.

The back and sides are EIR. Bubinga binding. Spruce top.

Ron

PS, If my picture was there instead of Megan's, I would have made the subject for the thread "Good, Bad and Ugly." Hahaha.

Its sort of reminds me of fishscales, finish the fish, Jesus is represented by a fish,
its all about marketing you see.
cheers
Charliewood

Love that rosette Ron,Very good save indeed.So how does it sound? And whats your plans for your 2nd geetar?
Good Job

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Anderson Guitars
Clearwater,Fl. 33755

Congrats on your guitar Ron. I think you made a wonderful recovery on the rosette and headstock/fingerboard shape. That just shows that your on your way and can adapt to make good things out of bad. My first will never been shown. Looking forward to seeing pictures of your next build.    

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Don Atwood
Arlington, VA

Thanks for the encouragement, guys. The sound is good, though I don't have anything to compare it to really - just a 30 y.o. Yamaha. I like it better than that one, though, and that was all I asked for going in.

I'm going to take a stab at a parlor next. My wife would like to play, but she has trouble handling a dread-sized guitar. I'm also going to do an OM around the same time. Then an electric, then an archtop... oh, man, this is going to be fun!

I tried this on the mold, and it didn't seem to have any downside (that I could find) so I thought I'd share. It's an MDF/styrofoam/MDF sandwich. Seemed to work okay and the molds are reasonably light. FWIW.



Ron

Ron,

Great job! Nothing like a good save, eh?

Plus, look at all the stuff on your guitar that went RIGHT!! Looks like quite a bit!

Congratulations.

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now known around here as Pat Foster
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http://www.patfosterguitars.com

Good 1st guitar...you're braver than I...

I'm in the midst of my 1st build...but...its mostly a partial kit...I did have to bend my side and do the rosette (shell, of course).

I have had a few "uh-ohs" as my 2 yr old would say...but...so far I have been able to recover. You got a really nice looking dread there...hopefully...I'll be posting some pics of my finished #1 by mid summer.

Oh yeah...GREAT idea on the mold...MDF is nice and straight made even better by a high density foam core...heck its simple and strong...they use this technique on aircraft...I'm not sure why I didn't think it...very clever...

Keep up the building...
JP

I usually climb cut- moving the router with the rotation direction of the bit, first. Then go back and cut conventional. If you climb, the cutter pulls away from the needed dimension. If you conventional, inversely the bit pulls in.

   Also, clearancing the center of the cut, away from the edge helps minimize bit pull too. This is a good thing to remember if bearings are gone, or getting there.

Ron, I love learning about "how not to do something". Like your charcoal lighter experience, but I don't like seeing the results. I thank you for being honest and showing this so we all can learn.

THAT SAID!!! I really like the metal inlay!! It is giving me ideas(that's normally dangerous, but not this time). Could you tell us what you used for a glue in the copper channel? Not only is that a great fix, but a good thing to do intentionally, IMHO! I was thinking, if the copper turns green, is that a bad thing?

Your headstock has kind of a gumby shape. I think it's tasteful, I like it. Nice work!!!

Billy DeanBilly T38851.8722106482

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Billy Dean Thomas
Covina, CA

"Multi famam, conscientiam, pauci verentur."
(Many fear their reputation, few their conscience)

KUDOS Ron Weaver, I know you are proud of that instrument. Tell your daughter she's pretty as a picture. Thanks for sharing. The wood has a story to tell doesn't it.

Congratulations. Now a question for you?

What's in the trays with the PVC pipe sticking out? Never seen that before....http://www.earthbox.com/Bruce Dickey38852.9597453704

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http://www.dickeyguitars.com

Nice nice work - my first wasn't anything as good s that. It's amazing how many nice appointments are the result of our mistakes.... I've certainly done my share.

The hardest thing I had to learn to do was to *not* show people all the little mistakes

Kevin Thomas
Quail Rock Guitars
Austin, Texas

Really nice first one Ron, be proud, otherwise, i'm gonna show you my first!

Love that rosette and headstock also, we think alike when it comes to mistakes not paralyzing you!

Congrats!

Serge