"Port Orford Cedar Parlor Guitar

[MaineGeezer]

The binding and purfling are looking a little better as I trim them down, and the rosette came out pretty well:

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[Diane Kauffmds]

I sand a 15" radius. When using a short radius block, yes it's very tedious. I have an 18" long radius block and it goes much faster.

[Diane Kauffmds]

The rosette looks beautiful!

[MaineGeezer]

This afternoon I took the in-progress guitar over to show Carter. (For any newcomers, Carter is the luthier who taught me how to build guitars.) Carter didn't think it was as terrible as I had let him to believe, which was encouraging. He suggested filling the dings and gouges with shellac sticks, which I hadn't thought of, and he helped me sort out the neck dovetail fit. Altogether a productive afternoon.

[jread]

You seem to be like me and only see the faults in our work. It’s a great looking guitar and is very unique inside and out. It’ll be a great one.

[MaineGeezer]

Well, it's done. Not the best craftsmanship I've ever done (in fact some of it is pretty rough) but it sounds quite good. One thing I'll make sure I don't do again: I made the string spacing at the saddle too wide. at 2-1/2". It was supposed to be 2-1/4" but somehow an extra 1/4" crept in when I wasn't paying attention. I'll blame it on Parkinson's disease interfering with my ability to concentrate.

cedar guitar 3.WMA

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[bftobin]

Sounds real nice !! The sound is very balanced from bass to treble and the notes have great separation.
Keep building until you can't !!

Brent

[MaineGeezer]

I'm working on getting my friend Jud to come over and give it a test drive so I can get a decent sound sample to post. Even with me playing it though, the fullness and volume seem remarkable for such a small guitar. The weird top bracing worked!

[jread]

Beautiful guitar. I love the old look, it's a real heirloom. The sound is quite pronounced, thanks for sharing all the progress and the unique bracing. What a treat. I love how they take on a life of their own after they are done. It was a build project on your bench, now it's a really sweet guitar with a timeless look that will only get better with age.

I've been on break from building due to shoulder/arm pain. But I'm inspired by all the builders here who work through their physical challenges. I helps me realize that I can do it too.

[MaineGeezer]

I used dark amber shellac for the finish, which does give it an aged appearance. It's also not a particularly good finishing job, which makes it look somewhat beat up and old. There is a certain appeal to its "used" look, I think.
I was just thinking, sitting here looking at it, that it reminds me somehow of a Mexican guitar. Not sure why.