Official Luthiers Forum!

Hey all,

I've been reading this forum for a few months now and I'm almost finished with my first guitar - a J200 style jumbo. It's always interesting to see pictures of other's work so I thought I'd return the favor. I still need to finish the neck and make a trussrod cover.. playing it and starting my 2nd guitar has gotten in the way of that :) Hope you enjoy.

-Karl

Oh, Here are the specs:
top: sitka
back/sides: curly maple
bracing: red spruce
bindings/headplate/endgraft: koa
rosette: paua abalone
neck: maple/granadillo/curly maple
fretboard and bridge: macassar ebony
finish: KTM-9

Nice! Bet she's got a nice booming sound!

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http://www.presnallguitars.com

Looks great! I just repair guitars in NYC but all you builders are blowing me away! I wish the big guys (who shall be nameless) had as much pride and attention to detail in their work.
Keep it up
Evan

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http://www.NewYorkGuitarRepair.com

Karl..Beautiful guitar, good attention to detail and very nice work. I like your choice of wood combinations and your bridge design. Those J200's have a lot of sound...full, deep and rich. Just a bear to hold.

Very nice! Nice choice of woods. Your work looks very clean too. BTW, what is the chunk of wood in the background?

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Dave Rector
Rector Guitars

Karl:

Very Nice! Clean work, beautiful wood! Love the bridge design.


-Mark
Mark Tripp38735.3887384259

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Pullman, WA

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

trippguitars.com
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Beautiful work!! I also like your bridge design and headstock.

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Anderson Guitars
Clearwater,Fl. 33755

Absolutely wonderful guitar.

I couldn't help notice the big chunk of cocobolo or other wood in the background, is that Brazilian?

You did that to tantalize us didn't you? I am.

thank you for the kind words.. as for the sound, it has a really pronounced bass, but is starting to even out a little since being strung up. It is also very loud! I learned a lot from this guitar and it is full of little mistakes everywhere, but I'm still very happy with it. I'm sure I would never have finished it without all the information on this forum!

yes that is cocobolo in the background, thought it would make a nice backdrop for my picture :) I went to the lumber yard one day and they had about 10 slabs of the stuff all cut from the same log - it was really an impulse buy. I actually bought the wood thinking I would make a coffee table out of it, but I've since changed my thinking and will probably slice it up for backs and sides. This piece is probably the best looking cocobolo I've ever seen and it's actually got some kind of ray-fleck figure to it which you can't see in the picture. I have another slab also which is longer and narrower with sapwood on both edges. Only problem is I can't resaw it with my 14" bandsaw and the guy at my lumber yard won't touch the stuff!    

Looks great. Congratulations...of course now that you have finished it everyone of your friends and family will want you to build them one so you are now on the hook...

I love the shape of the J200, it is just too big for me to hold.

The cocobolo looks nice...depending on where you live you might get a woodworking shop near you to resaw it for an hourly fee...cabinet shops would not have a bandsaw with resaw capacity but if you look for a shop that does architectural millwork they would probably have a big enough bandsaw.

Karl,
Looks great! Welcome to the OLF. What do you have planned for #2?

Very nice. I like the bridge desing as well. Can't wait to see numero deux....

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

Good looking guitar! Congratulations on a successful first. I wish first had looked that good!

John

Karl, just lookin' at your guitar makes me want to hold it and start playing! Awesome guitar, great combination of wood which inspires me for future choices! I envy your woodworking skills! Welcome here bro.!

Serge

Karl, thanks for sharing! Great looking guitar! And a fantastic job!

Well done!

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Lance@LuthiersForum.com

Very nice work. Man how I love the look of Maple.
Welcome to the OLF!

I've only just finished mine also, so I know what your feeling right now . It's a nice build. You should be proud.
Your sound hole looks to be a little undersized .Particularly for this big instrument.If your bass becomes too dominent , I'd look at enlarging the hole to raise the box frequency.Even an extra 1/16 " diameter equates to a substantial increase in soundhole area. You must be a big fella to be able to hold on to this one ! What's the reasoning with the very upper bout braces ? ?
Nice work Karl. Congrats.

Regards, KiwiCraig..."Lord OF The Strings"

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CRAIG LAWRENCE of AUSTRALIA
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Niiice...I'm gearing up to build my first jumbo. and this is certainly inspiring!

Thanks for the advice. Actually I used the J200 plans from LMI, so the soundhole and bracing are basically the same as what's on the plans. Maybe I'll try enlarging the soundhole on the next one I build.

I can't believe I've already closed up the box on my 2nd.. a bubinga/englemann OM. Things go so much faster the second time around!

Good for you, Karl, it's a beauty!

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

Lovely guitar. And that curly maple is the bees knees!
Not enough of that stuff being used.
Good for you!

Oh yes--welcome aboard!

Steve

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From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

Nice job. I like the laminated neck.
-j.

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“If God dwells inside us like some people say, I sure hope He likes enchiladas, because that's what He's getting”
-jack handy

Boy Karl, between you and Kiwi your not leaving much room for the rest of us noobs to impress, fantastic first mate. I can understand you not finding the time to do the truss rod cover cause if it was mine, every time I went near it to work, I would just pick it up and start play'in

Well done

Cheers all

Kim