Spalted Mango FB-185

[Tony_in_NYC]

Amazing. Just amazing. Ken....you've outdone yourself.

[Herman]

Heey Ken,

Beautifully built! I bet you hang it backwards against the wall. That wood pulls the eye like a beam from Starship Enterprise. Warp zone!

Herman

[Kevin Sjostrand]

Ken, your attention to detail is inspiring. One of the areas I need to work on.
That is a special guitar, you should keep that one. I have loved spalted woods for a long time on my knives, never thought it could be used for a guitar body. How do you get such clear, reflection free pictures????
Thanks a bunch for sharing.

Kevin

[Woody OKeefe]

I love it Ken. It is stunning!
The real point is how does it sound?

[Ken C]

Thanks! Kevin, the best way to minimize reflection is use a big light source. That is why you often see photographers reflecting light into a big ol' umbrella. I had a cloudy day, which gave one monster light source, making it easy to take pictures without much reflection. What reflection I got, I could generally minimize by using a more open aperture. Would have preferred a bit brighter day, but oh well...

Woody, the guitar still sounds a bit tight. The sound isn't overly balanced yet--the mids and lows have been slow to come around. It sounds much better now than last week and will continue to improve, but it really needs to be played, and it won't see much action for a few more weeks. Maybe I can give a better report or post a sound clip in another month or so.

Ken

[Ken C]

Hey Patrick, first post, eh? Welcome and thanks! I hear you are heading east for a few months! Very cool. You'll have to find a way to swing by Michigan and say hi.

I haven't been on here or any of the luthier related forums much in the past couple of months. I have been doing so much traveling that when I have been home, I wasn't spending time on the forums. Yeah, the website is up, but still needs to be expanded and updated a bit. I have managed to keep the shop somewhat operational. The '72 Tele is just about ready for the spray booth, and the box on the L-00 should be closed up soon. I was also contacted by a gentleman wanting a custom OM, so I need to get that one worked in. Once I get the L-00 closed up, I'll likely have to set that one aside. I also resawed some boards I have had sitting around for awhile and now have some really nice quartersawn sets of curly mango, curly koa, black walnut, butternut, and bubinga. Yeah...let's build!!

I haven't played the Spalted Mango much. I had it in the art show for the first month, then I gave it to my guitar-nut friend who wanted to spend some extended time with it. He's had it for quite awhile. I should get it back this week, but the owner of a small music shop near me wants to then take it for awhile. On the plus side, it is probably getting played more than if it were at home!

Drop me an email when you a get a chance and fill me in on what is going on with you.

Ken

[Darryl Young]

Very nice Ken! You have finishing down to a science.......just beautiful. I too was curious what tone the mango provided. Would guess it's similar to Mahogany.

Where did you find the Lutz top with the red streak? It looks great!

[Ken Hundley]

I love the more round bottom on it too (shh, no comments). I have the more flattened Martin-style jumbo shape that I have been using, but I like the round bottom better visually, especially after seeing yours. I have some more curly mango, but I don't think it's big enough to do a jumbo....nor even a dred, will have to stick with the OM. The Maca I started is a Martin-style jumbo, as is a padauk I have also started. I haven't glued the rim on that, and may be able to reform the lower bout before I do that.....hmm you got me thinking. Again, beautiful job, and keep playin her. If you can't play her, put her on a stand infront of a speaker, and keep playing music at a healthy enough volume to get some resonance. Takes less volume than you think. That will help too.

[Ken C]

Thanks guys!

@ Darryl, the mango does not sound like mahogany. I got the guitar back last week, and am now playing and hearing it for the first time in about a month. It really sounds nice. I think it is a little richer sounding than the Claro walnut. The guitar has a nice open, airie sound, and the bass is a whole lot tighter an it was just a month ago. This is the third guitar of this style I have made, and I have been tweaking the bracing a bit with each one. Given how nice this one sounds, I am going to stick with this bracing for the next few before making any further changes. Regarding the finishing, I was really happy to see the finish on this one hadn't retreated into the pores like it has on some of my others. When I got the guitar back, the finish was generally still very level with the exception of the soundboard of course. I am really happy with how well the zpoxy has worked out.

The lutz came from Shane at High Mountain Tonewoods in Canada. I had purchased 10 2A sets from him last year, and I really like the sound (this is my 3rd guitar with it). Some of the sets have minimal streaking. This one had a lot, and I chose it specifically for this guitar because of that of that heavy streaking.

@ Ken, you know, I find that even with older guitars, the more frequently they are played, the better they sound. Stop playing them for a few months, and they take a little time to get their voice back. I can see how keeping a guitar near a speaker would have a positive impact on the sound if the guitar isn't being played a lot. This body style is from Ken Cierp. I had begged him for a couple of years to downsize his J200 template for me, and he surprised me one day by doing it. I built one of the OLF SJs, but this one is sexier. As noted above I am using my own bracing pattern. It builds into a great guitar, and I am winning over Dreadnaught players with it!

Ken

[Ken Hundley]

I'll have to talk to Ken about getting that template....I like it better and better each time I see it. Not in the budget for now, but maybe early next year...gotta finish what I have already started first.