Official Luthiers Forum!

Well, #4 is done, and (surprise!) It's another Dread! This one is a pretty traditional Herringbone, with a few embellishments, including a new logo designed by Dwight Knowlton,and CNC'd by our own Mr. John Watkins.

EIR B/S
Carpathian Top
Bois D' Rose Fretboard and bridge
Paua Abalone Rosette
Curly Maple Binding
Waverly Tuners
FP Finish

This one is destined for my good friend Ron in Reno NV.

Thanks for looking!

-Mark

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Pullman, WA

The more I know, the more I know I don't know.

trippguitars.com
OR
Find me on Facebook

Wow. Really REALLY nice dread, Mark! Very tasteful, well-executed. You
should be proud! Bracing? How's the sound?

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

It’s just plain gorgeous! The maple binding with rose wood is my favourite. Breathless…

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Michael Lloyd

“I was born to ignorance, yes, and lesser poverties ...
I was born to privilege that I did not see ... I didn’t know it, but my way was paved” – John Gorka

Beautiful work, I love that contrast betwen the dark EIR and the maple, great work

Mike

Mark
#4 looks excellent! Bravo! It is great you have built
a number of the same body style, good way to understand
how they work. I bet it sounds great.

Tom

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http://www.moriciguitar.com

Very nice! I have to make a dread one of these days...

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin

Great job Mark. Very very nice guitar. I'm sure your friend is gonna love it.

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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

Great Work. A nice classic look

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Andy Z.
http://www.lazydogguitars.com

Mark, this is a jaw-droppingly beautiful instrument. Not only is your friend gonna be proud of it, I'm sure you already are. The execution of a traditional design is made so beautiful by your excellent choice of materials and fine work. Wow.

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http://www.dickeyguitars.com

I love it Mark! Lovely combo and excellent craftmanship

The Carpathian spruce looks really nice, clean and tight grained, how does it compare with adi or other spruces?

Did you use dye for the neck Mark?

Stunning! WOW!

Super Clean Mark!
Very nice workmanship there!

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Lance@LuthiersForum.com

I like it too Mark, very elegant looking!

Cheers,
Greg

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Gwaltney Guitars

She's a real looker! I'd be proud to own that git.

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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."

Well that's it...that's what I long to become proficient at. That's what I want to build, right there: repetitively, efficiently and consistently good. If I could accomplish that, I'd feel successful.

What a beautiful guitar. Where I live, in the circles I run in, playing the heavy bluegrass...people would fight you over that guitar. Awesome instrument. Stellar work.

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Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.

Super Drednaught Mark. I to like the contrast with the bindings and RW. Cool logo too!
Scalloped bracing ?
Congratulations, your friend is going to love it!

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Anderson Guitars
Clearwater,Fl. 33755

Very classy look. Kudos!!!

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"Building guitars looks hard, but it's actually much harder than it looks." Tom Buck

Thanks gang!

I AM pretty proud of this one! The fit and finish is several orders of magnitude above the first. I hope that trend continues! Tonally, as I've noticed with Carpathian, it is very crisp and balanced, and since it is a dread, it of course has plenty of low end.

Pat: Bracing is liberally scalloped, with braces shifted forward ala prewar dreads.

Serge: I don't think I can make a comparison yet as far as how the Carpathian sounds compared to other spruces - I've built four, and used Carp on three of them, and sitka on #1, which had maple back and sides. The next two will be pretty much identical, with different top woods, so perhaps I can make a more informed observation after those two. Yes I did stain the neck - used analine dye then Z-poxyed over it. Had to touch up a bit after sanding back the Z-poxy, but it worked pretty good.

Bill: That's my goal too. I'm a bluegrass player, and I want to build the best dang dreads I can...

Thanks again guys - time to start #5!

-Mark

_________________
Pullman, WA

The more I know, the more I know I don't know.

trippguitars.com
OR
Find me on Facebook

Very nice Mark. Clean and very professional looking.

I wonder if you could give just a little more detail on the product and application you used to dye the neck? I have a build where I want quite a red looking neck as well. Was it mahogany to start?

Thanks, and another thanks for sharing those pice of such a nice guitar.

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Thank You and Best To All

Larry:

I used an alcohol soluble aniline dye that Luthiers Merc carries, because that was what I had on hand. I tested the color on scrap - Yes the neck is Hondo Mahogany - until I got the shade I was looking for. I made several applications of the dye in order to get the darkness I was trying to achieve. After letting dry for several hours, just to be sure, I applied Z-poxy as a filler. I did several light coats of this, sanding back a little in between coats, being careful to disturb the dye as little as possible. When the neck was filled and sanded smooth, I did several more coats of dye to blend in any spots where I might have sanded into the dye. The neck is French polished, and for my first coats, I poured some of the dye into a small amount of shellac, and essentially did several wash coats of this. Then I French polished as usual with my normal shellac.

It sounds more involved than it actually was, but my guess is there is an easier way to do it!

-Mark

_________________
Pullman, WA

The more I know, the more I know I don't know.

trippguitars.com
OR
Find me on Facebook

Thanks for the explanations on how to use dye and clarif on carpathian Mark!

As for tops, if you ever try LUTZ, i'd be curious to know what you think of it when you do!

Beautiful guitar, Mark. Congratulations.

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John Watkins
CNC Guitar Parts

Mark, that looks fantastic!!! Keep up the great work!

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I'd like to be able to prove, just for once, that money wouldn't make me happy...

[QUOTE=Mark Tripp] Larry:

I used an alcohol soluble aniline dye that Luthiers Merc carries, because that was what I had on hand. I tested the color on scrap - Yes the neck is Hondo Mahogany - until I got the shade I was looking for. I made several applications of the dye in order to get the darkness I was trying to achieve. After letting dry for several hours, just to be sure, I applied Z-poxy as a filler. I did several light coats of this, sanding back a little in between coats, being careful to disturb the dye as little as possible. When the neck was filled and sanded smooth, I did several more coats of dye to blend in any spots where I might have sanded into the dye. The neck is French polished, and for my first coats, I poured some of the dye into a small amount of shellac, and essentially did several wash coats of this. Then I French polished as usual with my normal shellac.

It sounds more involved than it actually was, but my guess is there is an easier way to do it!

-Mark[/QUOTE]

REALLY appreciate the explanation. Us rookies can use all the help we can get.

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Thank You and Best To All

Ron in Reno is one lucky dude!

Well done Mark -- I like how you matched up the neck with the body...well actually I like everything about it.

So do tell ... do have problems parting with them once done?