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Mary Chapin Carpenter's old guitars

Really? Wow, Todd, that sounds rewarding.

No Pics? You're falling down on the job.

Text messages are short one thousand words....

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http://www.dickeyguitars.com

Well, I actually did get some guitar related things done in the new shop, wohooo! Joined a coco back, thicknessed the sides and bent the first one... It is going to take a while getting used to working in there ('where the heck did I put the sanding blocks?' 'where's the aluminum foil?' etc) Then I was disciplined enough to continue working a little on the shop too, but still not done.

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin

Threw my back out, but it will be OK.

Just finished putting a go-bar deck together. I used 3/4 pipe and flanges with two layers of 3/4 MDF. I'm not worried about it deflecting under load. I groaned when I lifted it up onto an old TV stand. I'll build a higher stand for it next weekend.

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Aoibeann

Todd - spraying nitro eh...did you get a buzz

Arnt I feel sorry for you banging about in your big shop....sounds like you are back on the build program.

This weekend was a rare one spent in the shop, here's what I did:
- made a lifetime supply of Koa binding;
- laminated in a black/maple/black/maple sandwich for a sound port support;
- fine tune fit a quilted maple armrest block (what was I thinking... sure is a PITA to sand to fit)

I was able to flatten the top of an old bench I picked up from a widow a few weeks ago at a fair price. It needed a bit of work (and still does) but having a flat hardwood surface is nice. After planing it, I ran some 80 grit and gave it a few coats of a Maloof's.

I dabbled into the dark side of electric guitars this again...a new carved top LP type named "Emily" that I actually started 4 years ago. Another one of Joe Whit's magic finishes that I picked up last week. Still wiring up the electronics and setting up the nut, action and intonation.

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JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

I was able to get my back braces cut and radiused. I also built a new shelf for my workshop. Oh yeah - I saw Paul Geremia play on Friday night - spectacular.

Glenn

Finished cleaning the sawdust out the corners after slicing a bunch of Engelmann tops for a friend yesterday.
Took apart my latest Weissenborne rim set & trimmed 3/32" off one side to fix an alignment problem. (Get it right the second time...)
Glued the kerfed linings into a Brz rosewood parlour guitar. (First time with HHG... Worked soooo nice!)
Radius sanded the rim set & made a go bar caul for gluing down the top & back.
Back to the shop later to stick the back on. Maybe I'll get brave & try the hide glue again. It's quite the production... I have a warming tray for the back to sit on & a heat gun suspended over the rim set to give me some extra working time. Feels like I need an assistant named Igor!

All in all, a good day. Wife's day off from housework... I'm off to make dinner now.
Cheers, Y'all

Well me and the grandson bent our first cutaway side. Some nice coco picked up at Zootman's last month. Went much easier than expected after fooling around for a while. Actually played with some practice sides to see if we could do it by hand but then decided to go with the John Hall jig - much easier and more predictible results. Heated wood to around 350 and the coco side (sanded to .075) bent like butter. Or at least it felt that way, will see when we take it out of the form tomorrow.

I made a mold for the hollowbody electric I've been wanting to start for the last 6 months. Felt good to finally get going!

I am trying to clean up the garage so I can finally claim my own corner of it for my own workshop. So I spent a little bit of time finishing up a table for my router table to sit on. It was nice, especially with the wonderful weather that Michigan has been having.

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-Rob Eckert
Ann Arbor, Michigan

I got halfway through making the mold for my harp guitar project (Dyer Model 6)

Mike

I received (as a birthday present [waHOO--another year older... ] ) the Benedetto archtop plans. One of the sheets, which are quite large, was framed so we spent a good bit of time making room for it on a shop wall. It looks beautiful hanging there, adds a real touch of class to the place...in fact it's starting to look like a museum up there. Which of course forced a major clean up of things, which of course means I can't find anything now.

But I'm not complaining.

Steve

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From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

Made two more cam clamps and finished carving and gluing in the second block for the upper bout in my fiddle. Glued the top on, put in the soundpost and strung 'er up. Sounds louder now when I drag the bow across it. Sawed out a few tunes and couldn't wait to get back on the OLF.

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"After forty-nine years of violin building, I have decided that the search for a varnish is similar to the fox hunt. The fun is in the hunt."
Jack Batts Maker and Repairer of Fine Violins

Turned this:


Into this:


With help from them:


While under the watchful eye of these supervisors


Shane

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Canada

I played with lacquer and pearl pigments for some painted electrics. Been awhile (1975/76) since working with pearl type pigment additives, Was great fun!! Man the new stuff available is REALLY COOL!. The color shifters are awesome! I see Ghost flames as well as old school patterns, fish scales, lace and many other retro applications in a new way. Way to cool!!
MK

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I'm outside looking in, just farther from the window than most.

I've had some kind of stupid stomach virus since last Wednesday, and didn't get any shop time in, but I did get something of a sound clip done of my first build. I posted it in another thread. It was harder than I thought, and not as good as I'd hoped. Oh well. Times like this I wish I was building in a bathroom.

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

Wow! You have all been busy! Shane, that looks like a lot of work, but the payoff will be worth it
Waddy, hope you feel better. Always great to see what others are up to. I joined a top and then installed a few rosettes. I also finished a shop mallet with woods I had laying around going to waste. Turned out pretty good.

Another one that is ready to be thicknessed.

And finally the mallet...

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Tracy
http://www.luthiersuppliers.com

Cool Mallet.

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

Thanks Waddy! I forgot to mention that the woods are flamed maple and koa. The handle is just birch ply. I wish I had some cherry or walnut laying around that was thick enough. Oh well, when the handle breaks, I'll just drill it out and recarve a new one. I think the hardest part was making the walnut plugs for the 3 holes. The holes are filled with epoxied metal rod to give it some heft in the right location.

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Tracy
http://www.luthiersuppliers.com

Working on another flamenco guitar - leveled the fretboard, finished the shaping of the neck and headstock and started the final sanding process.

Also started working on a mosaic design for my own rosette. A big step, and I don't yet have a real vision of what it's supposed to really look like. I glued up a slab of layered veneers - these are supposed to get cut into triangles which are then reassembled into a square, like making Arts and Crafts table legs with 4 Q-sawn faces showing. I'll post pics of the assembled log in a few days if I like how it comes out.

Finally, I took my most recent guitar (back home for repair) back to it's owner in Baltimore. The main reason for the trip was to go see Manuel Barrueco play at the Peabody Institute. That was nice, although I think he was a little too buried under the sound of the string quartet he was playing with.
Before the concert, I had a chance to listen to 3 people have a go at the guitar - all very competent players, one very accomplished. Everyone liked it! I was trying to get the real dirt, but the most I could get was the pro's comment that it wasn't set up the way he would normally like it. (Come'on guys - the worst anyone can do is say they don't like the strings and the low E 12th fret action?)
Anyway, one of the guys is a Spaniard who is visiting Baltimore for the next six months. He is very effusive with his musical descriptions, and I hope he'll give me a real review after he hears the guitar played in over that time.

It's nice to have your 3d finished classical guitar be so well received, but I feel like the success is accidental at this point - I don't have a sense that I can make the next one better (as opposed to worse) in a controllable way. I'm thankful for all the pointers and lessons I've gotten here - maybe some of it is getting internalized.

Jim

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Jim Kirby
kirby@udel.edu

Todd I have a 1977 Guild D-25 and it is still in excellent condition. I like these guitars a great deal.

My week end was spent packing for the move and this is NO fun at all....... I am very entrenched where I am so it seems that every thing that I have to pack is difficult, wired in place, part of something else, etc.......

Yesterday afternoon I was sweeping my garage and heard a terrible crash and then the sounds of something coming apart for several seconds. About 200 feet from me at the corner had been a terrible accident and one car rolled over several times before coming to a rest on the lawn..... I got to see the roll, part of it airborne....

I was the first one there, at the car that rolled window and found an elderly woman who had no vital signs...... The other car had both occupants out and walking, swearing, and what I would call very angry too. These two women were not hurt, air bags deployed and left shrouds of Turin images of their over done make-up on the air bags. They were on their way shopping.

I called 911 and did not attempt to move the elderly woman because there was no immediate visible danger of any fire and who knew the extent of her injuries. Beside she was already dead...... I suspect that she had a heart attack prior to the accident.

When the police came they left her in the car too. The intersection was closed for over 3 hours with lots of investigating, measuring, speaking to witnesses happening. I guess when someone dies the expectation is that it may become a federal case.

Anyway my day was certainly better then this woman's who died but it sure bummed me out thinking about her family and loved ones. I have no idea who she is/was but it was a sight, staring at someone who just passed, that I won't soon forget. I have had experiences like this one prior but this one got to me for some reason and I am still thinking about it the next day.

Sorry to be long winded.

i for once, had a great weekend as far as guitar making goes!
its been a long weekend since i had friday till sunday off due to passover.
so i managed to go from around zero to a closed box!
its a ziricote/redwood parlor based on the Larrivee P model.
this guitar was half done over a month ago but a sudden drop in humidity(below 8%) and me being away while that happened, forced me to take the back off the guitar, and remove all braces from the top and back, so basically all i had was a pair of bent sides with end/neck blocks glued to them.