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Great info. Thanks for the quick response!

I don’t want to start a new thread right now, but I do want to show off the MadRose in my latest guitar, a fully asymmetrical 13 fret to the body OM sized MultiScale (Jatoba binding) that went into finish yesterday. Here it is with Zinnser SealCoat just prior to its first coat of oil varnish:

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Bruce Sexauer, luthier
http://mojoluthier.com

That looks just like my current build minus the many flaws Bruce. Thanks for the lessons.

I am my own worst critic, which is how I got to where a I am. I have learned to not point out the discrepancies, mostly.

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Bruce Sexauer, luthier
http://mojoluthier.com

I enjoyed watching this video of one of Bruce's guitars that Dream Guitars posted yesterday:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EyfAVda3HEE[/youtube]

And they have great detail shots on their site. I was there scoping out the finish.

https://www.dreamguitars.com/shop/index.php/catalog/product/view/id/20042/s/2019-sexauer-ft-16-c-penngrove-panama-rosewood-adirondack-spruce-2931219/

Man I’ve got a looong way to go. Hearing something that sounds like that makes me waver between trying harder and giving up! Actually, after 25 guitars, I’ve accepted the fact that I can build nice ones but will never achieve that quality of sound. Good thing this is just a hobby for me. Hats off to Bruce who can execute rare tone like that. And thanks for posting this and other build threads.

Sounds like you are walking the edge of the abyss. This is familiar territory for me. One foot in front of the other, move forward, do not concern yourself with futility. Making musical instruments is not evil, not even slightly.

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Bruce Sexauer, luthier
http://mojoluthier.com

Today I blocked and buffed CN#2.

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Bruce Sexauer, luthier
http://mojoluthier.com

The guitar in the Dream Guitars video you can really hear the balance of it. The bass is not in your face and the trebles are crystal clear. I like that fan fret too, I've not ever tried one of those.

Thank you for commenting.

The MultiScale on the aforementioned guitar is only 1/4” longer in the bass than in the treble, and it continues to amaze me how much difference this can make. The difference between an OM and a 000 is 1/2”, and the two guitar have a wide gulf between them tonally. I started doing MultiScale guitars with the intention of having OM bass and 000 treble on the same instrument, and then found that angling the bridge countered much of the advantage gained in string length disparity. So now I am favoring 1/4” disparity and a normal bridge. A 1/4” twist at the nut is subtle enough that no technique adjustment is required by the player.

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Bruce Sexauer, luthier
http://mojoluthier.com

I'm just finishing up my second 13 fret 000 (OM sized body) - my goal was similar. That guitar does sound really good and I think I'll try this next, if you don't mind me shamelessly copying your idea. It has a high cool factor and I've never done a fan fret. Who knows maybe I can make it sound 1/4 as good

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

The MultiScale concept is not my intellectual property. Nor is it any one else’s. I know a guy who succeeded in patenting it somehow, but I among others in history implemented the idea before he pulled that off. It is expired at this point, so go for it

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Bruce Sexauer, luthier
http://mojoluthier.com

Yeah with the normal bridge it doesn't look funny

Hey Bruce, another question on the multi scale if I may. The specs on the Dream site list scale length treble = 25.25" and scale length = 25.4". From your comments above and looking closely at the photos I would think the bass scale length should be 25.5". Is the correct bass scale length 25.4" or 25.5"? Thanks.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Multiscale has been around for a long time.
This is an orpharion from 1617.

That's a cool looking instrument. I know multiscale is nothing new but I always like to ask before I copy what someone else has done.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

I went to check the guitar’s page on my website, because I certainly don’t remember. And to my surprise, I did not record it there. What is certain is that the difference is 1/4”, within a few thousandths. The system I use for creating the fret slots is infinitely variable between about 24 1/2” and 25 1/2” on the treble side, and the longer it is the more the difference between the two lengths. But only by a few thousandths. At 25.15 x 25.4 it should be pretty close to exactly 1/4” as that is how it was built.

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Bruce Sexauer, luthier
http://mojoluthier.com

Thanks for clarifying that. The idea intrigues me enough that I'm going to go ahead and cut a fretboard and start building one.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

I strung up CN#2 today. I made a page for it on my website which is http://www.sexauerluthier.com/CN%232.html. Also, a couple of the pics from the page for you here:

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Bruce Sexauer, luthier
http://mojoluthier.com

Thought I’d drop in to say: After not quite two weeks of being strung, this particular guitar has blossomed into one of the nicest guitars I’ve made. I thought it a bit hollow tonally at first, and oddly, a bit bassy. No longer hollow, and just wonderful to play. A testament to everything I believe a guitar is supposed to be in an ideal world.

Interestingly, the guy who bought CN#1, the Snakewood guitar preceding this one, says much the same about it. Quite satisfying stuff, for me.

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Bruce Sexauer, luthier
http://mojoluthier.com

Always a treat when someone let's you know how much they like your work. I think it looks like a sweet guitar.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

I am a bit shy about playing my guitar for anyone these day, but I refuse to let my consideration control me. Here is CN#2 doing what it was made to do, Couch Noodling! This is Vimeo video.

In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning https://vimeo.com/422535987

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Bruce Sexauer, luthier
http://mojoluthier.com

It's got a nice chime to it. How wide is it at the nut? It looks almost classical sized but could just be the angle.

Sounds very nice and it looks like a comfortable guitar to play. Playing guitar late at night for one's own enjoyment is a nice way to end the day.

The nut on this, and most of my guitars, is 1 99/128", more or less.

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Bruce Sexauer, luthier
http://mojoluthier.com