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I just shipped out my latest effort this morning. I sure hope he likes it.
Model - FP-Grand, Honduran RW from BobC, Carpathian Spruce from BobC, Mad RW bridge, fingerboard, headstock and bindings, 25.4" scale, finish oil varnish.




John How38978.5809606481

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

Looks great John!   

What is your take on that Honduran RW, I have a set or two and its very similar to some of the BRW I have, Heavy and glassy.

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Lance@LuthiersForum.com

I'm sure he'll love it!

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

Nice, John...

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Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com

Thanks guys
Lance, This is my second guitar of Honduran RW, I like it a lot and will be looking for more soon. It is hard and glassy and pretty heavy so I thinned it to about .070" for the back and sides.
Brock, Thanks. This guitar is on it's way to your neighborhood, Marysville in fact.

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

Very very nice John. If he doesn't like it, you can tell him to send it to me

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"There's really no wrong way, as long as the results are what's desired." Charles Fox

"We have to constantly remind ourselves what we're doing....No Luthier is putting a man on the moon!" Harry Fleishman

"Generosity is always different in the eye of the person who didn't receive anything, but who wanted some." Waddy Thomson

Hey, looks like you've gone to a different volute style on this one. Don't you normally do the smiley volute?

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"There's really no wrong way, as long as the results are what's desired." Charles Fox

"We have to constantly remind ourselves what we're doing....No Luthier is putting a man on the moon!" Harry Fleishman

"Generosity is always different in the eye of the person who didn't receive anything, but who wanted some." Waddy Thomson

John, that's stunning...
The finish is fantastic, or at least looks like it is from the pics. Did you use some color/toner on the neck? It's gorgeous...

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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."

That looks really nice John

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Jim Watts
http://jameswattsguitars.com

Really nice guitar, John! The colors of the woods work well together. Thanks for sharing!

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

John,

Very beautiful! I love the subtle tones of the Mad RW bindings on the Honduras RW body.

What did you do on the edges of the port? Is there a second layer of wood strengthening the port?

Dennis

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Dennis Leahy
Duluth, MN, USA
7th Sense Multimedia

Pretty! Makes the furniture look bad! Good work!

(not that I'm trying to "dis" the furniture it's just the guitar jumps right out)

Billy DeanBilly T38979.1186226852

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Billy Dean Thomas
Covina, CA

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

What a beautiful beautiful guitar...wonderful craftsmanship!!!

Being an artist, I can fully appreciate the aesthetic design features in this guitar...everything is well balanced and complimentary..from the rounded shape of the body to the unique bridge that looks like it just GREW out of the guitar, to the woods you have chosen, giving it a warm, inviting "PLAY with me!!" appearance. Even the natural stripe in the wood on the back is completmented by the lam strip in the neck...

I am sure your customer will be very pleased with this. A real GAS curer.Sam Price38978.6633449074

I always chime in too late to sound original!!

Great work, I doubt you have any thing to worry about on customer satisfaction. Is your sound hole "standard size"? It looks a little larger. Just wondering.
DonovanD Stewart38978.6722916667

Beautiful one, what am i saying? IT'S GORGEOUS WORK!

I love the finish on it John, what did you use to pore fill on this one please? TIA

Serge

Very elegant, John!

Is the varnish your normal finish, or was this requested by the player?

Thanks again guys

Rod, yes I am carving a diamond but smaller thaan typical Martin style and the neck shaft is flat up to a small step to the headstock where the diamond starts.

Thank you Don, The finish is Behlins Rockhard and there is no stain or darkening on the mahogany but this varnish adds quite a bit of amber to the wood. I'm not sure I'm sold on the varnish yet though as it requires quite a bit if care to keep the witness lines at bay.

Dennis, I just added a thin layer of maple and another thicker layer of Honduran RW on the inside of the port for added reinforcement in the area of the port. It seems to be pretty stable.

Donovan, the sound hole is 3 7/8" I think and I actually reduced it from 4" due to the added sound port on the side.

Serge, I've been trying several different pore fillers recently and to tell the truth, I'm not sure what I used but I think it was just z-poxy. I know that guitars I an building right now I used a behlin water based filler. This is a process that seems could be improved with the right product but I haven't found it yet. It seems that no mater how thorough I think I have been, after the first coats of finish are on I can see all that I have missed and have to catch up but drop filling.

Kelby, I have been experimenting with finishes over the last couple years and thought I found what I wanted in this varnish but I'm still not sure. Sonically I really like it but it is much more time consuming than lacquer and I'm not sure if the extra time is worth it.

My client in this case, wanted a OM sized guitar in long scale and a 13 fret neck joint. So I enlarged another of my models, the FP which worked perfectly for the 13 fret neck joint. He wanted a guitar that was well balanced and responsive to a light finger style, and not overly bassy like a dread. We chose the honduran RW for a tight and clean low end and the stiff carpathian so that it could be build extremely light. I think the top thickness is right about .105" and the .025" braces are tapered bottom to top and scalloped, about 9/16" tall at the x. When I first strung it up and started playing it I couldn't hear the sound from the port and I thought I'd hear it really well but as soon as I covered it up I could sure tell it was gone. I think I did a good job of getting the tone my client wanted so time will tell. I am going to build myself one of these guitars some day with a curly mahogany back & side set and cedar or redwood top.John How38978.7223148148

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

That's a really nice guitar, you must be pleased.

How long did it take you to get the hang of the oil-varnish finish - it looks great.

Are soundports a standard of yours or was it the customer request?

I really love the effect of one like you have on that guitar. It works for small and big guitars (great on a baritone) and also on a guitar-cittern I just finished and if players can get over the "non-traditional" view they just love the sound effect. Plus you get amazingly cool views of the guitar's interior - a place of aesthetic beauty often overlooked.

Congrats again.

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Dave White
De Faoite Stringed Instruments
". . . the one thing a machine just can't do is give you character and personalities and sometimes that comes with flaws, but it always comes with humanity" Monty Don talking about hand weaving, "Mastercrafts", Weaving, BBC March 2010

I love that finish! THe lines of the guitar is stunning, as soon as you just look at the guitar you can see world class workmanship. How long were your sides, they look longer than usual. Maybe 34"? Clinton

Beautiful work John!

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Joe Breault
Merrimack, NH
Perpetual novice

Thanks much John!

And How! Verrry nice work! In the unlikely event of customer dissatisfaction (sorry, I've been on an airplane for 13 hours, the cabin brief's still in my head )...send that thing my way! Seriously, your customer will LOVE it!

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http://www.presnallguitars.com

WOW JOHN HOW. Very beautiful work my friend. Really awesome looking guitar. The HRW looks great under that varnish. Lots of work on a varnish finish but it imparts a glow that you just can't achieve with laquer.

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