Making guitar no. 62

 

Guitar Building Fall 2019

Here is the inside view of my two latest guitars, #56 and #57, one a "Concierto" model and the other "Homenaje a Torres" model.

The "Concierto" is a full size guitar with 650 mm scale, laminated sides and slightly elevated fingerboard. In this case the bracing is a 5 fan open harmonic bar system. Back and sides are of a medium light density wood from East Asia called black limba. It is similar to walnut or Spanish cedar in density. The sides are laminated with Alaska yellow cedar, and the top is European spruce. On both guitars I'm gluing the top on last onto solid laminated linings.

On the "Homenaje a Torres" guitar I'm trying to follow the what I see as the Torres design and method as closely as possible. The sides are about 1 mm thick, The braces are glued in the guitar before the back. The braces are not scalloped on the ends and have a tapered profile, the top is very thin and the back is a little thicker. The soundbox is shallower and about 5/16" or 8 mm narrower. This particular guitar is made with walnut back and sides.

Guitar making Spring 2019

Here are some things I've been working on these last months.

Balsa doubletop: basically a laminated top with a pocket taken out and substituted with thin balsa sticks. The whole thing is glued up using hide glue. Very powerful sound but not nomexy or doubletoppy, rich sound, great clarity.

Laminated sides: a stiffer, more massive side is made up by gluing two 2 mm thick bent sides. Inner side in this case is redcedar.

Laminated back: a little harder to explain, but can be done if the back is a very unstable material  such as some hardwoods, also changes the way the back vibrates depending on the thicknesses of the laminations.

Brass tornavoz: a conical tube placed in the soundhole. Lowers resonance of soundbox. I'm using copper tape to close them so they can be easily removed.

Open harmonic bars: both the upper and lower harmonic bars are left open to the sides of soundhole. Very rich and colorful sound.

5 fan bracing: lighter bracing pattern. Quicker sound production.

Solid laminated linings back and top: very solid coupling of top and back membranes to the sides.

Closing the box top last: top is glued to the sides last when the structure is solid and ready to receive top...

Balsa doubletop concert guitar: 

Modified Torres FE-17 style:

Making guitar #48 "Homenaje a Torres"

This particular instrument I'm calling “Homenaje a Torres” as it is not an exact copy of any particular Antonio de Torres guitar but instead, my own design infused with many of the concepts and details from the instruments of Torres’ First Epoch.

Some of the Torres influence found in this guitar include thinner than normal sides, an open lower harmonic bar, a brass tornavoz, the classic First Epoch head and bridge design, and a rosette and top purfling design taken off of a specific instrument from 1863. Where it diverges from Torres are in the fingerboard width of 52mm, a slightly larger pantilla (which is actually his own reduced about 5 mm), and continuous linings that are not kerfed, but solid and laminated.

One especially unique feature of this guitar is the removable tornavoz which he implemented to make the instrument accessible for repairs and to give players a choice whether to use it or not. To achieve this I used “high quality copper shielding tape” instead of solder. 

Making guitars #49,50

These guitars were commissioned by a single client who had in mind making 2 guitars using the very best materials and fancy aesthetic. He even wanted MOP monogram inlays in the heel cap. I was reluctant about this at first because of the time and patience involved in cutting intricate designs in pearl but I found an inlay supplier that could make the pearl inlays for me on a CNC machine so the result was a perfectly clean and precise piece to inlay in the guitar. When a client wants to have his initials inlaid in the guitar it means he is making a total commitment with you. After many emails we decided on the following specs:

Guitar # 49:

master grade spruce top

premium ziricote back and sides

Spanish cedar neck

ziricote with sapwood head veneer with B/W flechas center

spalted maple rosette with B/W flechas

B/W flechas around perimeter

ebony binding

B/W purfling on back and sides

Brazilian rosewood bridge with spalted maple inlaid tieblock

MOP monogram inlaid in heel cap

Guitar #50

master grade redcedar top

premium cocobolo back and sides

mahogany neck

camphor burl head veneer

signature rosette 

flechas around perimeter

Brazilian rosewood binding

special purfling on back and sides

Brazilian rosewood bridge with flechas inlaid tieblock

MOP monogram inlaid in heel cap