Guitar #2 1/2 White Spruce/Cherry (Start Over)

[Diane Kauffmds]

The guitar that has tortured me until the last minute is finally finished! As most of you know, I had to scrap my first attempt for various reasons. But it paid off. Even with all of it's warts, it plays surprisingly beautifully. You can feel it vibrate through you and the sustain is the longest of any guitar I've ever played. I'll try to make a decent recording to add to this post.

The inlay turned out well. I took elements that I didn't use for the fretboard and designed the simple motif for the headstock.

It took some searching, but I found a paper on the history of lumber sizing in the US. In 1956, the industry was standardized to 3/4" thick, by law. Downsizing from 1" stared in 1940, in preparation for WWII. The cherry that I used for this guitar, was a scant 1" thick, even after initial planing on both sides. The back is from a billet that was a full 12" x 1", which was not in the inventory of the lumber company, so hey charged me for 8" cherry. I have no doubt that the cherry used in this guitar is at least 60 years old, probably older. It was in a forgotten area in the rafters of the lumber yard. It had a great tap tone, even before I cut it; it's probably the reason for the richness and long sustain.

The specs are:


00-12 fret, short scale 24.9"
4 1/8" deep body
forward shifted X-bracing (engelmann spruce bracing)
White Spruce top
Cherry back and sides
ebony fretboard
ebony bridge
bone nut, saddle, and bridge pins
pommel mahogany wedge
pommel mahogany rosette
curly sapele binding

[Diane Kauffmds]

More photos:

[Chuck73]

Great job!

[Phil]

Very nice!

[John J]

Looks very nice. Love the figure in that cherry.

[jbutler]

Very Nice! I love the Cherry. You don't see it very often on guitars and it turned out beautiful! Please share a sound clip!
John

[Diane Kauffmds]

Very Nice! I love the Cherry. You don't see it very often on guitars and it turned out beautiful! Please share a sound clip!
John

It's rare to find planks of cherry of this caliber, esp. with the great tape tonal quality. My husband has suggested that we go back to the rafters of the lumber company, to find more wood.

I made a recording, but I made it outside (you can hear the crickets, lol), and the strings were new, so they were still stretching. I hesitate putting it on here, because the first soundbite heard sticks with everyone. I'll try to get a better recording.

[RnB]

Those woods are rich looking. Nice....!

[johnnparchem]

Wow, congratulations that is a sweet looking guitar. Great inlay work, I also love the woods you used and the look of the finish.

[John J]

Diane, how did you treat the pitch pockets in the cherry? I have a few on the sides of my current build. Also did you do any pore filling on the cherry? I may try French polish on this one.