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Alain,

I too am working on my first and seeing your first gives me some hope. I
hope I acheive half of what you've done.

blessings,

Ross

WOW! My 1st never looked that good. Great Job!

Ahhhhhh! To bask in the beauty......!

Well done Alain, I hope to see AND HEAR! it in a couple of weeks when I am out your way!

Shane

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Canada

Very nice clean look, the purfling just adds enough ornamentation. Lovely finish by the way. Well done. Have a gold star!

ColinColin S38811.3758564815

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

Alain,

That's a very elegant looking guitar youve built, a very nice piece of work.

Cheers Martin

Congrats on a very nice first effort!

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin

Very nice - sure beats my first by a mile. How did you settle on cherry for the first, and how do you like it tone-wise?

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Jim Kirby
kirby@udel.edu

Very Nice Alain, I like it.

Great Job

Congratulations, Alain! Very nice looking guitar. And it sounds like you pushed through some tough challenges to make it come together.   

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Todd Rose
Ithaca, NY

https://www.dreamingrosesecobnb.com/todds-art-music

https://www.facebook.com/ToddRoseGuitars/

Alain that is one superb looking guitar. Very well executed. I love curly cherry and that is one fine set of curly cherry. I am really amazed at the first builds I see here. One talented group of builders on the OLF.

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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

Great job Alain, I love the bridge and binding too.
Evan

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http://www.NewYorkGuitarRepair.com

Man that looks really good for it being your first! And it was done free form at that.

So how may other ones do you now have on the go?

Josh

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Josh House

Canadian Luthier Supply
http://www.canadianluthiersupply.com
https://www.facebook.com/canadianluthiersupply?ref=hl
House Guitars - Custom Built Acoustic Instruments.
http://www.houseguitars.com

Congratulations Alain. I know it is going to sound great (and get even better ). An enormous effort !

Love that Cherry also . You'll have a smile on your face everytime you pick it up !

Well done mate,

Regards KiwiCraig

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CRAIG LAWRENCE of AUSTRALIA
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   Thank you all for your encouragement guys. I noticed that everything started going a bit easier once I had joined the OLF. There is so much knowlege and wisdom on this forum that the learning curve is shortened quite a bit...

   Serge, thanks for your compliments my good friend. You're an accomplished picker yourself. I didn't expect such a voice on a growly bear !!!

   Jim, price was the deciding factor for the cherry. I got that set for very cheap from Colonial. Had I known about the difficulties of working light colored curly woods, I would of spent the extra money for a set of mahogany or EIR.

   Shane, I'm looking forward to finally meeting you...

   Josh, I have at least two others on the go and many on the drawing board....

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

Opps, sorry I'm late.

Alain, that is one sweet looking guitar! I particularly like your bridge and headstock design. Wish I could hear her sing.

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Dave Rector
Rector Guitars

Gorgeous!!!!!!!!!!

Good job, Alain
I really like that cherry. My first was cherry and I am now building a matched pair from Steve's cherry, looks just like your b/s. I'm trimming in ebony and ebony FB and bridge, gold schallers with ebony buttons.

What kind of wood are you using on your 2nd?

Ron

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OLD MAN formerly (and formally) known as:

Ron Wisdom

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

   Thanks Ron! That was my second choice of trim for my first, ebony. That should look awesome. I just followed Cumpiano's advice to use binding that contrasts with the body wood. I think I went with EIR since it was a touch cheaper, miser that I am...

   Number two is going to be Master Grade EIR with an Adi. top, Koa rosette with Macassar Ebony bridge, FB and headstock. All the trim (FB, body and end-graft) will be in flamed Koa. Gold Gotoh 510's and black horn bridge pins...

   I build some forms for a new shape I've drawn since I've received dishes from Shane and I want to use them at their fullest potential. Cheers.

Alain

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

Alain, very nicely done. And it is most impressive that it was done free-hand, so to speak.
I'm pretty sure I couldn't do that. Well, and achieve symmetry!

Steve

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From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

[QUOTE=Alain Desforges]   Number two is going to be Master Grade EIR with an Adi. top, Koa rosette with Macassar Ebony bridge, FB and headstock. All the trim (FB, body and end-graft) will be in flamed Koa. Gold Gotoh 510's and black horn bridge pins... [/QUOTE]
Getting bold, are we?

So, seeing your first photos, I thought, "Well, the back and sides look good, but he's not showing us the top and headstock, so he must have messed those up completely." No such luck. It looks really good!

Very cool!

WOW, this guitar is beautiful.

Looks great...the cherry is a great choice. Not only does it look different than the "guitar store" guitars people are used to seeing but has the added benefit of being a wood that ages really nicely in that it will continue to get deeper and richer looking the longer you have it. When you show it to people they will first see the differences from what they are used to seeing and then look closer to see the additional details.

Cherry is a wood that Martin has started to use and one that is in good supply.

I also think the MadRose fingerboard and bridge as a really nice complement to the cherry.

No matter what went right or wrong with your first guitar, the is nothing as great as the sense of accomplishment from completing the first...I think that the things that went wrong/lessons learned are a critical part of the experience. Without those things that others might not notice but you know are there, the would not be something pushing you to out do it next time.

I also think that bending on a pipe is an important part of the overall learning process. There are so many times when heating on a pipe comes in handy for things like touchup and bending tight radiuses. Understanding what hand bending is about is something that helps as you bend on a form with or without a blanket. Because with hand bending you know just how much you can push the wood, when you go to bend on a form you know just how much give the wood has and will have less problems bending more difficult woods.

Congratulations and enjoy

outstanding!!