Official Luthiers Forum!

Hi everyone-

I am new here and enjoy lurking around. I guess it's about time I became more active - I took a building class in August 2005 from Kent Everett and am finally building my first guitar - on my kitchen table. It will be a Lutz spruce and Cuban mahogany 17" jumbo steel-string.

My second guitar will be a classical for my sister who has been bugging me to build her a guitar for a while. I bought this cocobolo set from Grant Goltz, another OLF member. I just wanted to show off the wood for this classical - it was the prettiest cocobolo I've seen and the price was right. It was from a small tree that was air dried. Anyway, I just wanted to introduce myself, say hi and show off what will hopefully make a nice guitar for my baby sister.      

Later-
John Lewis

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John Lewis
Wannabe builder owned by 2 crazy dachshunds

Hey John
I hear Kent does a good school. And, that is a pretty piece of cocobolo. Seldom see it with such contrast in the grain.   Good luck on your projects and don't forget to post some pictures.

John K

Very sweet - I would be trying to squeeze in those 4 eyes at the right end though !!!! Cool.

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Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"

Nice lookin' wood John! Good luck with the build and welcome to the OLF!

Shane

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Canada

I agree with Tony !

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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."

Hey John,

Welcome to the OLF. Building a 17" jumbo? Will it be like a Larson Bros Prairie State or Gibson jumbo?

Hi John
Good to see you posting here. Pretty set of cocobolo. Should make your sister very happy.

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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

Man that is some nice Cocobolo

Hey guys-

Thanks for all the replies and for making me feel so welcome here. It's kind of cool - I recognize a lot of names from other forums, tonewoods sellers that I've bought from and I think John Kinnaird lives about an hour east of me. It's a small world with the internet.

John - I loved the 4 day class that Kent Everett held last August - it was a blast. It was only watching him build from a kit but it was my first real experience with building and I'm hooked now. I'll make sure and post pictures of my completed guitars as soon as they are done.

Bruce - I am building something similar to the Larson Bros. Prairie State jumbo - I have called John Greven a few times to pick his brain and he was nice enough to tell me anything I wanted to know. He gave me some tips on how to get a good sound from this body style.

Tony - the classical pattern is a tight fit and I don't think I can move the upper bout any higher than it is. I do agree with you, those eyes are pretty cool. Is there a way to keep these eyes in the pattern that you know of - maybe grafting some of the offcut material on the lower bouts?   

Bob - it's great to hear from you. I'm glad you are a OLF member. I'm sure my sister will like the guitar - although she has been eyeing that set of EI rosewood you sent me last week. I think she wants that on her next "free" guitar - an OM. She has informed me that she can have a family discount on the first few guitars I build for her, since she had to put up with me as a brother. I guess I can't argue with her logic - I used to drive her nuts.

Doug, Don and Shane - thanks for the comments about the wood and for welcoming me here.

Later guys-

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John Lewis
Wannabe builder owned by 2 crazy dachshunds

Good luck on your first build John, with all that positiveness and willingness, you seem to be on your way for great achievements.

Welcome here friend!

John, I think that set is almost the last of that log. Think I have two backs left, one I am going to be building with and maybe one more. Got that log about 4 years ago, and except for the smell, I would have sworn that it was Brazilian when I sliced it open.

Looking forward to seeing you transform this into a beautiful instrument.

Grant

You could use those other eyes to make a matching peghead overlay, or work them into a rosette.

Ron

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OLD MAN formerly (and formally) known as:

Ron Wisdom

Somewhere in the middle of Arkansas......

I see another old friend here
You're welcome John.

Luigi

What are you going to do for a back strip - glue it in full thickness as opposed to inlaying it - you can get an extra 1/4 to 5/16 easy that way, or take a strip from further up the piece if its long enough and do a small 3 pc back with the strip as the centre. Or as you mention, if you can get the grain to line up OK, slip a piece back to give the required lower bout. I would look at all of those options for sure.
I jstu went back up and looked at the piece again - slipping looks like it would work. You could almost get a jumbo out of that IMO.

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Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"

   Howdy John! Nice Cocobolo! Welcome aboard the best place for builders on earth, nay, the Universe!!!

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

Hi John,

Nice to see you here. Now, you and I had better get back to our workshops and/or kitchen tables and make some sawdust!

That is some pretty Cocobolo!

Take care,

Dennis

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Dennis Leahy
Duluth, MN, USA
7th Sense Multimedia