The heart and engine of this guitar is a lovely red spruce soundboard from Old Standard Wood.
The commissioner of No 28 got in touch with me after seeing number 27, the first slope-shouldered dread I built. He was sure that was interested in a J45-like guitar, but it needed to work well for strumming and fingerstyle playing. I knew that the Adirondack spruce tops I buy from Old Standard Wood would produce a crisp, articulate sound great for fingerstyle, and we decided on Tasmanian blackwood for the body wood. Sourced halfway around the globe from Australian Tonewoods, this acacia species is a relative of Koa, and has a mass similar to Honduran mahogany but a harder surface. The result is a sound that has many of the desirable qualities of a mahogany guitar (dry, woody tone and a relatively quick decay) with increased definition and crispness. The acacia worked beautifully with my water-based dye sunburst technique, and looks very deep and shimmery under the sunburst and waterborne lacquer finish.
The top is an absolute powerhouse. When I first played it, I was instantly aware of how “awake” the neck is, with plenty of tactile feedback for the player. It has the powerful, beefy bass desired in this size of guitar, but the mid-range and higher treble notes have dimension and interest far exceeding what I would expect from a guitar this large. All of the purflings, bindings and rosette are crafted from real wood, and Taylor Mullins (Holter Pickguards) made a custom celluloid pickguard that looks perfect. I’ve used an adjustable neck joint inspired by Mike Doolin, though I keep tinkering with the joint design. This guitar is electrified via a K&K Pure Mini.
Overall, number 28 is a beaut, and a thrill to play; I hope it provides many decades of thumping excitement and rich sound.
This is my take on the classic J45 guitar, but with transparent coloring.
The heart and engine of this guitar is a lovely red spruce soundboard from Old Standard Wood.
The Honduran mahogany neck pairs well with the acacia body.
Tasmanian blackwood is a close relative of Koa, and it’s quite evident in the way the wood takes dye and glows under finish.
The commissioner requested a custom headstock inlay made up of many small pieces of gorgeous pearl.
We used Gotoh SXN-510V tuners with ivoroid buttons on this guitar, which marry modern threaded bushings with classic open-backed gear assemblies for smooth operation and good looks.
The Tasmanian blackwood shimmers under the dye and finish, especially on the curved sides.
Here is a sound sample played using a Clayton “Raven” pick.
I know I’m nearing completion when it’s time to make guitar bridges. Number 28 (Tasmanian blackwood sides & back) is close now. I am sanding out its finish, which means that the bridge will probably go on in the next week or so. I roughed out four bridges for upcoming guitars: African blackwood (a nearly black rosewood), granadillo (the golden brown bridge pictured below), and two East Indian rosewood (the brown purple blanks which will be used on the slope-shouldered dread siblings.)
Once the blanks are square and trimmed to dimension, I read the grain to choose the saddle and pin hole locations.
I cut the pin holes and slot the saddle using a jig that mounts to the drill press table.
Once the holes and slot are cut, then it’s time to cut the blanks to the final length.
For these bridges, they get a simple scoop wing, which I shape using a small drum sander.
I’ve put just about as much finish as I want to on these bodies. Meanwhile, I’ve pushed the neck blank toward being a neck, complete with frets, color and finish. I still need to apply some final finish top coats to both the body and the neck, then, while the finish has a chance to cure up, I’ll make the bridge, saddle, and nut. Because of the adjustable neck joint I use, once everything is cured, the guitar will go together pretty quickly. So far I’m happy with the looks, feel and sound of everything, so stringing this one up will be fun!
To make the neck profile, I start by gouging and rasping the neck to the curve I want near the first and tenth frets (or so).
I check the profile using templates cut from mat board.
Once the curves are close at those two points, then it’s time to connect them using a spokeshave.
After the spokeshave, I switch to a card scraper, rasps and files to finish the profile.
After marking the peghead shape, I cut the waste away with a saw then use a file to get close to the final shape.
Once I’m happy with the neck side profile, I prep the fingerboard surface, leaving some relief for string vibration.
Getting closer to the final peghead shape.
I use a homemade guide to accurately drill the tuner post locations.
Once the final sanding is completed, I use water-based dye to raise the grain.
More sanding! So much sanding!
Mahogany necks have plenty of pores that need to be filled, so here I’ve smeared Timber Mate pore filler over the entire neck.
Yep, you have to sand the pore filler back to wood.
The headstock face is pore filled, also.
Sanding back to wood on the headstock face. Almost there!
The pores are filled, and now it’s ready to take color.
I’ve applied the color, sealer shellac and the bodying coats.
The next task is to flat-sand the neck so I can apply final top coats of finish.
The sunburst color is sealed in place with shellac, and I can remove the resist and start cleaning up the bindings.
Scraping the liquid frisket from the rosette.
The carefully scraped top looks pretty crisp!
Removing the masking tape from the back and finding more cleanup work to do.
The bindings are scraped back to their natural maple color.
Now I can round the bindings over so that the body has eased corners.
Step back and admire the cleaned edges on two sunburst bodies.
Once the guitar is sealed with shellac, I add body coats of a water-borne acrylic lacquer for toughness.
Here I’m sanding the water-borne lacquer coats flat before applying the very thin final coats.
