Summers End

Well summer is done so all the home summer projects are either done or postponed until next year..

Before I did take a break I did finish the two Parlour guitars so they are now up for sale.. The long scale Tenor guitar is almost ready for final polish and buff. and I'm preping for the next builds.

Coming up will be a nylon sting crossover model in Mexican Cypress and Western Red Cedar.

After that one is started I think I'll be working on a new Ukulele design similar to those of Jay Lichty, https://lichtyguitars.com/ukuleles/ Jay has been kind enough to publish his basic design for a larger bodied long scale Ukulele. So I think I'll give a slightly modified version of that a try.

There will also be another L-0 bodied guitar coming as I think that is a great size that fits between the Parlour and OM sizes.

I've also been designing some changes to the basic way I build guitars. For several years now I've done a completely bolt on neck where the fingerboard extension is not glued down to the body and that works but the next logical extension of the is the raised fretboard guitar which will allow future changes to increase the vibrating area of the top> So I'll be doing that on upcoming guitars.

Also I've been looking at arm bevels and scooped cutaways and looking for a way to do them on most of not all guitars with out over complicating things. So to that end I'm going to try some modeled after a version used by Ontario luthier Ted Woodford http://www.woodfordinstruments.com/home.

So That should keep me busy for awhile..

Here are some photos of the completed Parlours

Multi Scale
Rosewood & Spruce 

Claro Walnut &
Torrified Red
(Adirondack) Spruce

 

Carving Necks

I spent the last day or two carving the necks for the 3 L-0 style guitars, all came out pretty good, still need final sanding but I can get started on finishing next week.

Always fun carving necks one of the more enjoyable parts of building a guitar.

Off to the La Conner Guitar festival this weekend.

Body for this one is off at the finishers, back in a couple of weeks I hope...

Necks & Fretboards

The necks are now fitted to the bodies and the fretboards are complete and ready to be glued on the necks.. Once the fretboards and peghead overlays are glued up I can get on with carving the necks.

L-0 Guitars

Moving on to working on the necks for a bit, don't feel like doing a bunch of sanding on the boddies right now. Matching necks to bodies.

Matching Necks to Bodies

Oak, walnut & koa

Progress on L-0 Style Guitars

Things are going good with these three.. Same body shapes different backs and sides and different bracing patters but all Sitka tops.

One of the goals of this build set is to refine and update a few procedures to work better with the space and equipment I have.. One thing that is very useful in building that I don't really have room to leave set up is a go-bar deck. So trying out using a vacuum bag and radius-ed work board to glue on top and back braces.

L-0 "H" bracing in a vacuum bag

Start of a double "X" brave in the bag

Bending sides

Completed double "X" glued to it's sides

Closing boxes

In the Pipe

I'm working on applying the finish to the Cello guitar and Tenor ukulele. Always a bit of a slow process and while that is going on I am starting on the next projects. in this case 3 guitars, based on the Gibson L-0 6 string.

All 3 will have Sitka tops but that is about where the similarity stops.. The closest to a classic L-0 will have my view of the Gibson H bracing with a White Oak back and sides and Spanish Cedar neck. The next will have a pretty standard Martin influenced X brace with Walnut back and sides and a Mahogany neck and the last will have a double X brace with Koa back and sides and a Mahogany neck.

It will be interesting to see how they all sound.. The double X brace design will I think become what I use going forward.

Designing a Mandocello

One of my summer projects is to finalize the design for the Mandocello I plan to build this fall. I'm certainly not an instrument designer but I am trying to come up with a design that is both aesthetically pleasing and playable. I also have a certain skill level in building that I want to match.. So for now those requirements rule out a caved arch of the A or F style classic Gibson's.

Mandocellos are a bit of an enigma as far as instruments go, although some would say they are enjoying a comeback after years in obscurity they are still what I guess you fringe instrument. Most people have still never heard of one let alone thought of playing one. Designs of modern Mandocellos are all over the map. Ranging from those that closely resemble the classic Gibson'
s to guitar body shapes and beyond.

Historic Gibson K1

Also the tuning of what some people are calling Mandocellos varies some tuned more like an Irish Bouzouki and a Mandocello. I think of a Mandoceloo as still the Cello part of a Mandolin orchestra so still CGDA Exactly the same a bowed Cello.

So my plan is to build a Mandocello that is tuned to the standard tuning CGDA and use a guitar shape with an induced arch top and back. Now there are a lot of other parameters to consider, things like scale length, body size, depth and arch.

One of the big decisions with a Mandocello, at least for me is scale length, A bowed Cello is about a 27" scale length but for me anyway that is too long to play comfortably. The problem is the shorter you go with scale length the harder it is to the the low C string to have enough tension.. A good scale length for my hand size would be 24.25" but that is getting really short for a Mandocello. I will most likely use a 24.75" scale length which is the same as the old Gibson A style Mandocellos.

A modern Ovation Mandocello

You also need to consider the body size, and although I am using an Gibson A style scale length I think the A style body does not have quite enough internal volume for the lower register.. So I am going to use a Gibson L-0 bidy shape.

Next the stress on the body, since I am not using a carved body plates I need to account to the increased string tension of a Mandocello over what a 6 string guitar's String tension would be. The tension on a Mandocello is almost double a 6 string guitar.. I will be reworking the bracing pattern to mimic what would be a 12 string guitar X brace design.. perhaps with carbon fibre  Over the summer I'll be finalizing that design as well.

Gibson L-0 6 String Guitar

Also the neck has to withstand these forces as well so I am planning a Narra neck with a double acting truss rod and I am debating carbon fibre reinforcement.

Lastly aesthetics  Mostly because the last few instruments I've built have been darker tone I'll be going a bit lighter looking for this one.. I'm planning a Oregon Myrtle Back & Sides with a Sitka Spruce top (Sitka will help in withstanding the string tension) The trim on the instrument is planned for Indian Rosewood, I'm still deciding how I am going to do the rosette but it will be some form of segmented wood rosette I think.

So there is the process thus far.. Of course you can follow this Mandocello as I build it.