My daughter is a blues player in Brooklyn and she plays a '37 National Duolian. I asked her if she ever wanted a nice wooden guitar (she has a Regal and a couple of Kalamazoo's) and she said she always wanted a nice parlor size guitar to play on stage. We both thought about it and came up with the same instrument - a Nick Lucas Special.
Well I finished it yesterday - 2 weeks late for the challenge. It is my 3rd guitar. I put together a slide show for my family and here it is:
http://tinyurl.com/mmxolxb
or
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ruby1638/s ... 130471994/
Ed Minch
Nick Lucas Special
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- Location: Chestertown Maryland
Nick Lucas Special
Last edited by ruby@magpage.com on Tue Nov 19, 2013 11:34 am, edited 2 times in total.
Ed M
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Re: Nick Lucas Special
Nice photo documentation
John Hall
Blues Creek Guitars Inc
Authorized CF Martin Repair Center
president of Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans
http://www.bluescreekguitars.com
Blues Creek Guitars Inc
Authorized CF Martin Repair Center
president of Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans
http://www.bluescreekguitars.com
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- Posts: 3
- Joined: Sat Jan 04, 2014 2:36 pm
Re: Nick Lucas Special
Awesome guitar!!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ruby1638/9 ... 5130471994
This picture one is 12th fret and other is 14th, right?
I always think the prettier of this line was the L3, with the 13th fret neck joint... not so vintage like the NL, not so modern like the 14th fret...
But the smaller sound hole fits this body way better!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ruby1638/9 ... 5130471994
This picture one is 12th fret and other is 14th, right?
I always think the prettier of this line was the L3, with the 13th fret neck joint... not so vintage like the NL, not so modern like the 14th fret...

But the smaller sound hole fits this body way better!

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- Posts: 1564
- Joined: Thu May 24, 2012 8:03 am
- Location: Chestertown Maryland
Re: Nick Lucas Special
Fernando
Thanks - quite a challenge and quite a bit of fun
I am no Gibson expert, but in I have learned this. All Gibson guitars had a carved archtop and back until about 1925 when they made their first flat top, they changed the L-1. In fact this L-1 shape had a flat top and a carved back for a year or so before they also flattened the back. At the same time, the 14 fret idea was just starting. Of course the bridge location is determined by the scale length, the body length, and the number of frets clear of the body. So for a while, Gibson played with these, and no where was it more evident than the Nick Lucas Special starting in 1926. Check the third photo in my album for a shot of 3 Nicks each with a different approach - 12 frets, 14 frets, different bodies and different bridge locations.
I don't think the number of frets clear makes a difference in the sound other than it changes the bridge location. The quintessential Nick (IMHO) is the one I chose to copy - it has the bridge right in the center of the lower bout which changes the sound. Also the body is very deep - it is 4-3/4", more like the depth of a jumbo and it is a small guitar, and this changes the sound.
What is interesting - the early L-1 shape that I copied was later blown up to make the J-185 and the J-200, and reduced in size to make the LG-2 3/4 size. This is the guitar that Woody Guthrie gave to Arlo when he was 7 yrs old, and Gibson cooped it in 1999:
http://www2.gibson.com/Products/Acousti ... ie-LG.aspx
My current project is this smaller guitar in Osage Orange and everything has worked out so that it has 13 frets. And this smaller version is also the shape of the Les Paul solid body electric.
Santa Cruz makes a beautiful 13 fret Nick as their H-13, designed by Paul Hostetter (hence the "H") in 1978 and in continuous production since then:
http://www.santacruzguitar.com/instruments/h13-model/
Thanks for looking
Thanks - quite a challenge and quite a bit of fun
I am no Gibson expert, but in I have learned this. All Gibson guitars had a carved archtop and back until about 1925 when they made their first flat top, they changed the L-1. In fact this L-1 shape had a flat top and a carved back for a year or so before they also flattened the back. At the same time, the 14 fret idea was just starting. Of course the bridge location is determined by the scale length, the body length, and the number of frets clear of the body. So for a while, Gibson played with these, and no where was it more evident than the Nick Lucas Special starting in 1926. Check the third photo in my album for a shot of 3 Nicks each with a different approach - 12 frets, 14 frets, different bodies and different bridge locations.
I don't think the number of frets clear makes a difference in the sound other than it changes the bridge location. The quintessential Nick (IMHO) is the one I chose to copy - it has the bridge right in the center of the lower bout which changes the sound. Also the body is very deep - it is 4-3/4", more like the depth of a jumbo and it is a small guitar, and this changes the sound.
What is interesting - the early L-1 shape that I copied was later blown up to make the J-185 and the J-200, and reduced in size to make the LG-2 3/4 size. This is the guitar that Woody Guthrie gave to Arlo when he was 7 yrs old, and Gibson cooped it in 1999:
http://www2.gibson.com/Products/Acousti ... ie-LG.aspx
My current project is this smaller guitar in Osage Orange and everything has worked out so that it has 13 frets. And this smaller version is also the shape of the Les Paul solid body electric.
Santa Cruz makes a beautiful 13 fret Nick as their H-13, designed by Paul Hostetter (hence the "H") in 1978 and in continuous production since then:
http://www.santacruzguitar.com/instruments/h13-model/
Thanks for looking
Ed M