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This one is as done as its going to get!

Posted: Sat May 07, 2011 11:31 pm
by Kevin Sjostrand
Hi Gang,
I finally got the #4 for my son-in-laws brother finished today. He is coming this Thursday and will receive it then. I thought it was done last Saturday, but discovered that my headstock was a wee bit too thick for the tuning machines, so I had to take an 1/8" off the backside, and then respray this past week. I finished it off today and strung it up. It is quite loud and extremely resonate...it rings forever; I hope that is a good thing.
Out of the chute, it is not as chimey when finger picked with fingertips, but I expect it will open up. I learned alot more on this one about what mistakes I don't want to make as I build #5. You all know I struggled with the bindings on this one. I would say the finish overall is the best I've managed thus far.
Okay, so here are the specs. The pictures really show the glitches and the dust! This is my first cutaway.

Macauaba B & S
Bloodwood bindings on body and fretboard
AA Sitka spruce top
Standard spruce bracing on the top, minor scalloping
Mahogany back bracing
Macauaba/bwb purflings rosette
Bloodwood bridge
Bloodwood headstock veneer
Headstock inlay made by De'Paule
One piece sapele neck
EIR fretboard
Gold frets, tuning machines, and strap buttons
Ernie Ball Earthwood light strings
JJB Electronics Artist passive pickup installed (3 under bridge piezos)
The finish is Behlens Stringed Instrument Lacquer sprayed over their vinyl sealer; 13 coats in all. The finish before sanding and polishing was .009" thick. I figure I ended up with around .005 or .006".
Wet sanded 600, 800, 1000, 1500 grits, then buffed out using Surbuf pads on my RO sander; 3M rubbing compound, and Novus #2 fine polish.

Enjoy the pics. All positive comments are welcome, and all critiques are also welcome!!

Re: This one is as done as its going to get!

Posted: Sat May 07, 2011 11:33 pm
by Kevin Sjostrand
and some more pics

Re: This one is as done as its going to get!

Posted: Sat May 07, 2011 11:34 pm
by Kevin Sjostrand
and just one more, thanks for looking.

Kevin

Re: This one is as done as its going to get!

Posted: Sat May 07, 2011 11:52 pm
by David L
Nice Kevin, very nice, he's going to love it. Is the end wedge the same as the bindings?

David L

Re: This one is as done as its going to get!

Posted: Sun May 08, 2011 12:01 am
by Kevin Sjostrand
Thanks David,
The end wedge is actually also the Macauaba, just cut from the darker red area like in the center of the back. It is however very close in color and look to the bloodwood.

Kevin

Re: This one is as done as its going to get!

Posted: Sun May 08, 2011 12:51 am
by Ken Hundley
She's gorgeous, Kevin! BEautiful job! Can you record? how does she sound?

Re: This one is as done as its going to get!

Posted: Sun May 08, 2011 6:16 am
by David L
It does look a lot like the bloodwood, nicely done!!!

David L

Re: This one is as done as its going to get!

Posted: Sun May 08, 2011 7:50 am
by johnnparchem
Kevin, this is a great looking guitar. Every detail you show in the picture is really clean and does show off your great finish work. I am really excited to see this guitar complete as I decided to go with bloodwood binding on the parlor guitar I am building now. Great recovery on the headstock; in the close up I could not see that it was sanded down and refinished in the last week or so. Also there is no sign of the cracks on the top of the head stock. Thanks, for posting the progress on this guitar as you built it. I have really learned a lot from following your work.

Re: This one is as done as its going to get!

Posted: Sun May 08, 2011 9:32 am
by tippie53
nice
If it gets and doner it will be finished

Re: This one is as done as its going to get!

Posted: Sun May 08, 2011 9:42 am
by darren
Very nice Kevin. The finish looks great! Since you asked for it... my only critique would be to either add a 21st fret or end the fretboard at the 21st fret location - there is a little too much empty fretboard there in my opinion. Just my opinion though!

The garden looks great too - can't beat the growing season in the valley! We are just getting green up here.