Finishing for a friend

[Stray Feathers]

I introduced you to this guitar a while ago when I tried a new (to me) technique to lengthen a neck that had become too short for a number of reasons; thread here:

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=10179

I've been working with a friend, Dean Derby, who just joined the forum. Our friend's health continues to decline but he is still interested in seeing this - what may be his last - guitar finished, so it can be given to the friend it was built for. It's Sitka Spruce I think, and Australian Blackwood - his wife is Australian, so he had access to nice wood. The position dots are turquoise but I am not sure if there is any significance there.

The neck modification worked pretty well, and looks surprisingly good. When I introduced Dean to our friend, he very quickly learned how to French polish from him. Because he finished most of his guitars this way, we wanted to honour that when we finished this one. It's a beautiful job. Dean put the neck on but when he went to glue the bridge he (fortunately) had the sense to check inside, and found that for some reason the bridge plate was in the wrong location. So he cleverly added a piece of rosewood behind the existing plate (which was also a little thin) and then another piece laminated on top. It worked fine. The guitar sounds bright and loud for a parlour, good balance, and has nice sustain. He built most of his guitars on the light side. We both feel it's been a privilege to finish what another builder started, especially one who was an influence in our building. Bruce W.

[RHayes]

Well done, looks like you did some good work on it.

[jread]

That's a great looking build. Super nice job!