I’ve just began a new set of triplets, and the first on the list is a transitional J-45-inspired slope-shouldered dreadnought for Devin. It will feature a beautifully figured Tasmanian blackwood (Acacia melanoxylon) back and sides set and a primo red spruce top from Old Standard Wood. After letting the woods adapt to my shop environment (the back and sides came from an Australian tonewood company), I’ve joined the top and back plates and selected a Honduran Mahogany neck blank from my collection of seasoned neck wood. The next jobs will be bending the woods for the rosette, routing and installing the rosette, and then my favorite task: thicknessing the top and back plates and bracing them.
Joined and sanded to a uniform thickness, the Tasmanian blackwood guitar set is going to be a stunner.
Figured Acacia melanoxyon (Tasmanian blackwood) is structurally and visually similar to its close relative Koa.
The top from Old Standard wood is a lovely example of some of the best red spruce being cut today.
This top has some subtle figuring that will look great when dye is applied.
Inspired by the Tasmanian blackwood back and sides, I chose several wood species that would work well for the fingerboard and bridge material. From left to right: a stripey granadillo fingerboard, a purple and chocolate-colored East Indian rosewood fingerboard, and a Katalox fingerboard with almost a bee’s wing shimmer.
Top left to bottom right: granadillo, East Indian rosewood, and Katalox.
I glue top and back plates together in a simple jig that keeps the plate flat and applies closing pressure via wedges.
After gluing down the cross-grain seam reinforcer, it has to be planed down before sanding it to shape.
Fitting the back braces into the reinforcement strip.
Bending up the thin wood strips for use in the rosette.
Before gluing the rosette into place, the individual circles need to be cut to length.
Gluing on the top bracing using hot hide glue in a go-bar deck.
I use a small handplane to rough out the back braces.
All of the top and back plate bracing is glued in place and roughly shaped.
This J45 will sport a solid-wood multiline rosette.
This new model is a friendly homage to the great banner-era J45s.
I never planned to build a guitar this large, but 2020 was a pretty strange year all around, including in my wood shop. When the right person asked if I’d build a J45-like guitar (and convinced me that it would be a blast to play), I caved.
I’ve played and repaired many slope-shouldered dreadnoughts over the years, and based this new model on the best one I’ve ever played, a maple-bodied banner-era J45. It belongs to Jim Nelson, a terrific old-time fiddle accompanist from the St. Louis area. What makes that guitar so great is that it has a dry, fast sound with a touch of a devil-may-care edge to it, while avoiding the trap of tubbiness so common in this shape of guitar. It’s a terrific specimen of the git-r-done aesthetic of the war-era J45s.
The most sought-after examples of J45s were built during the war years (World War Two) with pretty much whatever materials were available, and on a budget for cash-strapped players. They built a reputation as a blue-collar guitar that was never intended to be too sophisticated or elegant, but was ready to play when you were. I respect the come-as-you-are aesthetic of these instruments, and tried to hew close to the original unfussy, make-it-work ethos, in part by using sustainable domestic woods. Continue reading “No 27 – Adirondack Spruce and Red Maple”→
This guitar was a real joy to design and build. My college academic advisor got in touch to request a guitar that would play jazz chords with clarity and aplomb and look imaginative yet crisp and classy. My advisor is a fine arts professor, a printmaker who had a tremendous impact on my development as a visual artist–I was thrilled to collaborate with him to design a guitar that looks as good as it sounds. We selected an Adirondack spruce top with sugar maple back and sides for fat, clear trebles paired with African blackwood appointments to increase the visual contrast. We chose a dyed color scheme that resonated with the deep purples of African blackwood. Finally, this guitar got a one-of-a-kind twelfth-fret inlay, designed by the customer, that is the perfect exclamation point.
The J45 (underneath) is the largest guitar I’ve ever built. The soundboard on top is for a grand concert, which is not exactly a small guitar.
I’m currently building a pair of commissioned guitars and having a great time because the two instruments have such different goals.
The first is a jazz machine: I’m shooting for the strong, independent voicings and fat, certain trebles I’ve seen in several of my previous builds. This one is a Grand Concert size 12-fret with a red spruce top over a double-wall sugar maple rim and back, one of my all-time favorite combinations.
The other is a street fighter, with plenty of confidence and swagger, lots of low-end thump and a devil-may-care attitude about clean trebles. It is inspired by the best J45 I have ever played, a maple-or-maybe-birch-backed “Banner era” belonging to one of the best old-time guitarists around. My build is a red spruce top over a red maple rim and back.
Serial Number 26, a grand concert in sugar maple
The rosette features African blackwood and sugar maple.
This guitar uses the fan/X hybrid bracing that I’ve found produces a very balanced sounding guitar.
Using this style of bracing makes it easier to control the pitch of the back.
The red spruce bracing material I use is very stiff and requires a light touch.
Laminated braces add a great deal of stiffness to the rim.
Number 26 uses a laminated rim with laminated solid linings. The neck will be adjustable.
Maple sides, basswood linings and a red spruce top make a striking set.
I use go-bars to glue the plates to the rim.
Serial Number 27, a J45-style guitar in red maple
The rosette features Honduran rosewood and red maple.
I used a pretty traditional X brace with belly bars on this guitar, to get more of that characteristic J45 sound.
I chose to brace the back like my other guitars because it gives me more control over the end result.
Number 27 uses a single-ply rim with laminated solid linings. The neck will be adjustable.
In addition to being stiff, laminated solid linings look quite elegant.
Here I’m gluing the top on, though the visible pressure is on the back, which is up.
