Official Luthiers Forum!

    I have received all of the components for the body of the guitar with the exception of the back and side wood. Don Williams just let me know that his beautiful laminated neck blank is enroute to my shop for cutting and shaping so I'll be biting at the bit and doing my best to perform a miracle in getting this guitar completed in time as soon as the back and sides arrive.

   Here's an updated or refreshed list of those who have contributed so far:

1. Don Williams - 5 piece laminated neck blank
2. Steve Saville - Bubinga binding, Centerstrip and butt wedge material
3. Bob Cefalu - Gently Figred Ebony Fingerboard and Bridge Blanks
4. Bill Green - Italian Spruce Top
5. Peter Marreiros - Gold Schaller Tuners with Ebony Buttons
6. Don Atwood and Bruce Dickey - K&K Trinity Pickup System
7. Shane Neifer - Ebony Bridge Pins and Paua Abalone Rosette inlay

    
I'm looking forward to getting started and have worked some of the components as much as possible pending the arrival of and their interface with the back and sides.

   I'm taking photos of each step of the process and will post them as I get farther along.

Thanks again for all of your support. This will be a great project for us all to be a part of together. I feel humbled that my time and the balance of the parts will be all that I am contributing...oh...and the case when all is done.

All the best,
Kevin Gallagher/Omega Guitars

   
Kevin Gallagher38778.0123842593

Kevin, hey we even like pictures of piles of materials. Document this if you can, it would be fun to visit a site showing the progress. Go Kevin Go, these kiddos need you!   

_________________
http://www.dickeyguitars.com

Africa African, you type like me.....

_________________
http://www.dickeyguitars.com

what else you need Kevin?

About 200 shop hours.... Tippie

_________________
http://www.dickeyguitars.com

[QUOTE=Bruce Dickey] About 200 shop hours.... Tippie[/QUOTE]

After 500 or 600 guitars I bet he's closer to 50 shop hours

Kevin?

_________________
http://www.dickeyguitars.com

   I'm getting close to 500 guitars and have built many in or around 60 shop hours, but with a standard set of appointments and options. Like most luthiers, I don;t hurry while building.

    This guitar will have a florentine cutaway and mitered bindings and purflings throughout and a bit of custom inlay so it will probably fall at about 100 to 110 hours of actual work time in it. Mind you, I still bend my sides by hand(and by choice) and am quite fond of using alot my old hand tools for nothing more than the charm of them...well I like the results that I get with them, too. I could build faster and turn thngs around more quickly and have on rare occasions, but just haven't been able to convince myself that time is the paramount priority in this business...or at least in my small shop. I still like the romantic notion that we are artists and really do work under a certain level of inspiration and that our customers appreciate that.

   I'm also tossing around the idea of it having a custom body shape to make it unique. It will be in the Grand Concert realm meaning that it will have a lower bout of about 15 inches wide or so. If time permits me doing this, the mold and initial shape design will add a few hours to the overall build time. I've been drawing a few ideas for some time that have a different upper/lower bout proportion scheme than my typical GC model and may come to terms with one of them for this guitar. Prototypes of brace mass and placement have been nice and I've refined them since my last efforts there.

   We'll see how much I'll be able to deviate from my normal course of action or protocol when I have back and side wood in hand and am ready to go.

   I would love to be able to still go with a set of Blackwood, but some changes are being considered due to circumstances beyond our control.

Regards,
Kevin Gallagher/Omega Guitars
Kevin Gallagher38779.0383912037

    I received the laminated neck blank from Don Williams today and it is beautiful in appearance and beautifully laminated and prepared for me to work off of nicely joined and squared surfaces.

   Thanks Don and nice work. Very tasteful selection of woods to use in it, too.


With much appreciation,
Kevin Gallagher/Omega GuitarsKevin Gallagher38780.8329398148

Pics?

_________________
http://www.dickeyguitars.com

    I'll be shootng some pics of the woods and parts later today or possibly tomorrow. We have a house full of young ladies(35 of them to be exact)to celebrate my daighter's 12th birthday today so I'm not sure if I'll be able to sneak away to snap them.

Thanks,
Kevin Gallagher/Omega Guitars

[QUOTE=Kevin Gallagher]     I received the laminated neck blank from Don Williams today and it is beautiful in appearance and beautifully laminated and prepared fpr me to work off of nicely joined and squared surfaces.
   Thanks Don and nice work. Very tasteful selection of woods to use in it, too.
[/QUOTE]

Glad I could be a part of the project... it was kind of fun making something from woods all from the same continent, specifically Africa.

_________________
"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."

[QUOTE=Kevin Gallagher] We have a house full of young ladies(35 of them to be exact)to celebrate my daighter's 12th birthday today [/QUOTE]

Wow, that's what I call a birthday party. I have a thirteen year old son. The Mrs. and the rest of the youth group just got back from two days in Little Rock. Kids hanging from the rafters kind of deal. Making memories. Okay, we'll let you slide a couple days on thos pics Kevin....   

_________________
http://www.dickeyguitars.com