Black Locust and Sitka 000

[Stray Feathers]

I had read some intriguing reports about Black Locust as tonewood so when a set appeared at one of my suppliers I quickly bought it. I was supposed to work on it last winter, to be ready for spraying outdoors by this time. But backtracking on two "completed" guitars delayed that. Progress is picking up now though, and time to report. I was inspired and intrigued by Skarsaune's build, and use of ammonia to fume the locust, but in the end decided to leave the wood natural, and use black and white accents. The spruce is from an inexpensive bridge-log billet I bought in Haida Gwaii, not premium wood but stiff and a pretty good tap. Bracing is tapered and parabolic rather than scalloped, to see how that works. Rosette is from Australian Luthier Supplies. Neck is Sweet Cherry (Prunus avium) from Europe which was in our yard and had to go. I know cherry is not hard as hardwoods go, but I found this really tough to carve, much harder than Black Walnut. I've had lots of issues with bindings and there are some repairs but it now looks pretty good. Bindings are quilty Bigleaf Maple with head veneer to match, and a black accent line beneath, and an ebony fretboard and bridge. I have a set of black tuners for it. In the body photo I am sanding to improve the body geometry under the fretboard extension area. I used a long block with sandpaper under one end, but also just wrapped sandpaper around that end. The strip on the lower bout helps me to sand it flat, and not crown the upper bout when sanding. I need all the help I can get . . . Bruce W.

[Skarsaune]

Looking good so far!

[Stray Feathers]

People have been complimentary about the volute I carved on another guitar (Australian Blackwood dreadnought) and I appreciate those comments. But I have to keep things honest. I have been working on this guitar at the same time, and built up the two necks at the same time, from materials of the same dimensions (although this neck is Sweet Cherry). This volute was looking quite good also. I had just finished thinning the neck some more, when I noticed a dent on the peak of the volute. It was not minor, it was not hide-able, it was a DENT - argh! I tried to steam it out, to no avail. One option was to carve the volute off entirely. But I decided to patch it as best I could. So I sliced out the offending dent, and cut a patch I hoped would not be too noticeable. In the end, the patch fits pretty well, but the grain is not a great match, So, my point here is, maybe you win some, and you lose some. And when you win more than you lose, maybe that's a sign that you're becoming a better builder. As a result of the mishap (I still have no idea how or when it happened) I am trying little protective pads on my volutes to try to prevent this from happening again. On a more positive note, the fretboard is radiused and the neck near ready to glue on. Better get the bridge ready . . . Bruce W.

[Skarsaune]

That's one of those things that if you don't point it out to others, they won't see it.

Good save.

Becoming a better builder indeed.

[banjopicks]

Good save for sure but I think you'll tire of those pads and the funny looks you'll get from your jam buddies :-)

[krrtlr1]

Beautiful work on the volute. You saved it!

[MaineGeezer]

Master luthiers never seem to make mistakes because they are extremely skilled at repair and coverup -- and keep quiet about it.

[Stray Feathers]

The other approach that has been mentioned here a number of times is correcting a mistake by incorporating a "design element". This discussion has led me to wonder, for example, if I should have used a little piece of mother of pearl, or maybe ebony, like the fretboard, to cap the volute, which might actually protect the volute some. In another area, I have difficulty bringing the two bindings together perfectly below the heel of the neck, and I am thinking of ways to finish that joint with a small wedge, like a miniature end flash, which could be the same as the bindings, or some other wood, or shell.

[Stray Feathers]

Finally strung this one up. I had hoped to have it finished for a guitar show in October, and almost made it, but ran into some finish flaws. I ended up doing a fair bit of sanding and sprayed a bunch more coats in the flawed area (below the bridge), so it had to wait a few weeks to be finished. There are still some spots to be drop filled but I wanted to hear what the Black Locust sounded like. The good news is, it's quite loud for an OM-style guitar, and has more bass presence than other OMs I have made. It's still a bit brash but not bad. I don't know why it sounds better than others - the bracing is not scalloped, the top is not outstanding (you can see some grain hiccups if you look closely) so maybe it is the Black Locust. I will definitely keep my eyes open for another set. Bruce W.

[Stray Feathers]

Here are a few detail shots - not always a good idea to look too closely, but I'm pretty happy with the way different elements came together: