Official Luthiers Forum!

Building your 'dream' guitar':
If you could choose materials (cost irrelevent)to build your ONE AND Only guitar,
What woods would yoou choose?
What other materials?
Body style?

Now, same questions except you cannot use BRW or Af. Blackwood for B/S

OM INdian Rosewood or Koa, Red spruce top. Simple abalone single rosette and a tkl case, extra set of strings 80 20's. Couple of pics, that ought to do it. Schaller minis or Grovers it doesn't matter.

I'm heading down to the shop now and get started. Everyone else will have to wait....

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http://www.dickeyguitars.com

Aw, c'mon, you can't expect me to single it down to ONE guitar, can you?!??

Honestly, I can think of three, but one is difficult.

Mine would be a myrtle/swiss oval hole selmer copy with some satinwood crows foot purfling on the top and the full 24 fret ziricote fingerboard. In a perfect world it would weight 2 pounds and the tone would cut straight into people's brains, but that might be more dream than reality.

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Burton
http://www.legeytinstruments.com
Brookline, MA.

I'm with Sam....

It's hard to nail down just one.
I'd like a great bluegrass dread, but I also love a really good brazilian/adi OM-45. And there's the SJ-ish curly mahogany with cedar or redwood top. Maybe some red heart around that redwood top too. Mmmm....nice.

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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 I built my dream OM many years ago. IRW BS with a Curly KOA top. However as my luthier skill have developed over the years I think I will do it again some time with a little different binding and appointments.

We all SHOULD build our dream guitar.

For mine I'm going to do a classical with a tornavoz. A 4-piece Cypress back, p. orientalis soundboard. Not sure if I'll keep it simple or do some cool inlays on her yet. Especially since I won't have time to make her for a long time yet. Trying to earn some time by workign day and night!

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Instagram: @jfrenchluthier
Web: https://www.jfrenchguitars.com/

why a 4 piece back?
also, have you built using p.orientalis before? whats your impression of it? ive built two classicals and one flamenco with it and i love it!

as for my dream guitar, ill allow myself the freedom to have a dream steel string and a dream nylon string...
so steel string, i'd like a small jumbo, made of cuban mahagony B&S and a figured redwood top...oh wait! i'm building that one right now!

over at the nylon string department, i'd really like to make an as accurate as possible copy of Mareclo Barbero's famous '51 flamenca blanca...maybe just use some locally grown maditarenean cypress which was given to me by Boaz Elkayam.

My dream guitar would be a Cypress/Euro Spanish guitar with, classy but restrained ornamentation and Rodgers tuners, oh and I'd get Joshua to build it!

Colin

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

[QUOTE=vachterm] why a 4 piece back?
also, have you built using p.orientalis before? whats your impression of it? ive built two classicals and one flamenco with it and i love it!

as for my dream guitar, ill allow myself the freedom to have a dream steel string and a dream nylon string...
so steel string, i'd like a small jumbo, made of cuban mahagony B&S and a figured redwood top...oh wait! i'm building that one right now!

over at the nylon string department, i'd really like to make an as accurate as possible copy of Mareclo Barbero's famous '51 flamenca blanca...maybe just use some locally grown maditarenean cypress which was given to me by Boaz Elkayam.[/QUOTE]

Four piece back mainly for aesthetics - I like the look of the old multi-piece backs on Torres' guitars (in his case usually 3, for cypress).

Actually, if I were doing EXACTLY what I wanted, I'd have mismatched cheap Spanish cypress and make the best of what I have like Torres had to. Then I'd make a three or four piece top out of mis-matched Spruce of very high quality.

I have a great admiration for the way the old makers could make magnificient instruments despite being limited in their wood supply. A part of me believes there is a deeper soul and a beautiful simplicity to a guitar made in that manner, as though the materials are inconsequential and the only thing that matters is what you make of it.

Of course for my own guitar, one which I finally will not sell (!!), I can't use a three of four piece top since I already have the soundboard picked out. Colin S. sent me a p. orientalis soundboard he got from David Hume who keeps a stock of them for use in restoring old violins and possibly new builds (if I understand or remember correctly).

When I mkae that guitar it will be my first build with it. Its very impressive stuff with an enormous potential to make a great guitar.

Where did you get your p. orientalis? Also, how does your locally grown Cypress compare to the stuff from Italy and thereabouts?

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Instagram: @jfrenchluthier
Web: https://www.jfrenchguitars.com/

Sticking to Spanish/classical I'm currently building a Mad Rose/P.orientalis Torres copy, which I'm hoping may turn out to be my own build dream guitar. It's certainly the guitar I've been most excited about for some years.

I'm not going to get the guitar finished until I have mastered a particular piece of music that it is being specifically built to play. My music teacher says that might take 20 years!

Colin

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

Colin, when I make that I'll loan it to you for a while! I've got a trip to England in the back of my mind for next year anyhow.

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Instagram: @jfrenchluthier
Web: https://www.jfrenchguitars.com/

[QUOTE=Colin S] Sticking to Spanish/classical I'm currently building a Mad Rose/P.orientalis Torres copy, which I'm hoping may turn out to be my own build dream guitar. It's certainly the guitar I've been most excited about for some years.

I'm not going to get the guitar finished until I have mastered a particular piece of music that it is being specifically built to play. My music teacher says that might take 20 years!

Colin[/QUOTE]

Colin, I think its going to turn out to be a helluva guitar. You better have that finished if I'm able to buy you a drink during my travels next year.

Thats great its gotten you inspired. Do you have the Waldner/Grondona book mentioned in another thread? Its a must.

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Instagram: @jfrenchluthier
Web: https://www.jfrenchguitars.com/

I don't have the book myself, but I have access to two copies in the college libraries. I think I may have to buy it though.

Colin

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

Just e-mailed Luca.

Colin

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

Joshua,
there was a company in turkey who used to cut some p.orientalis for musical instruments.
i forgot their name.
Steve-O from colonialtonewoods used to carry it and i got my share of that stuff.
Martin Guhl, who is a german based wood supplier(among many other things) has some really nice p.orientalis tops too.

i have never had the chance to work any of the spain/italy grown cypress so i cant compare it to the local stuff.

Vachterm, I have a few sets of old grown P.orientalis, that I was given, I had them mainly for lute tops. Many of the historic instruments in Europe were made with this wood as it wasn't differentiated from P abies by the shippers, it was just 'pine'. I do some restoration work on historic instruments and this wood is ideal as it is thought to give a more matured sound early in its life.

I sent a set to Joshua as I want to hear what a true world class builder can achieve with it. Plus, I owe him big time for his help, knowledge and inspiration.

Colin

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

 As we are all aware, the market dictate is that the appearance of the wood is paramount. Forget the cut, aging factors etc. etc.

I'm sure you have all had the experience of showing one of your instruments to someone as they flip it over and survey the back and side wood to see how fancy it is and exclaim "wow! look at that wood!" this is before they've looked at your design, craftsmanship, aesthetic etc. and certainly before they have listened to the sound.

I found Jose Romanillos' attitude on this quite refreshing in that he cared little what the market thought was best as compared to what he believed was best. Of course he has the luxury now of doing so, but it was a good reminder to me that we should all do the same. 

 

[QUOTE=DP LaPlante] \

I found Jose Romanillos' attitude on this quite refreshing in that he cared little what the market thought was best as compared to what he believed was best. Of course he has the luxury now of doing so, but it was a good reminder to me that we should all do the same. 

 

[/QUOTE]

David that completely sums it up!

Udi thanks for the info on the p. orientalis. I'm actually really excited to build a guitar with it.

Thanks Colin for sending me that soundboard! I wasn't joking, I'll lend you the guitar for a little while at some point after I make it. I don't play anyways. You can use it to practice Capriccio Arabe on.

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Instagram: @jfrenchluthier
Web: https://www.jfrenchguitars.com/

i love Tarrega's "Capricio Arabe"!!!!!!!!
a beautiful piece!

Someday I'd love an Omega with a bearclaw Italian top with dark koa back
and sides.

[QUOTE=vachterm] i love Tarrega's "Capricio Arabe"!!!!!!!!
a beautiful piece![/QUOTE]

So do I that's why I'm making my dream guitar with Joshua's help.

Technical it's not a frighteningly difficult piece to play, but musically, well that's another story. To capture that warmth of the Spanish sun on your back, and the cooling fountains of a Moorish garden in one piece of music, is something that I only hear flashes of at the moment in my playing, but I will get there (I hope) for even a 'dream guitar' is of limited use until it's sound lifts the heart.

Tarrega, what the guitar was invented for!

Colin

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

Isn't that the truth.  Even his studies are wonderful.  Nothing sounds the same.  Not that I could prove it with my playing, though. 

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Waddy

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