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I recently finished this up this guitar and thought I'd post it before the holiday cruch is here which starts tomorrow at my house with a visit from the inlaws, which is good.
This is a koa douple top using some of Shanes lovely Lutz spruce. It's very lightly braced, insprired from a John Calkin piece several years ago in the GAL rag, Ferrari OM, and my experience with my other douple tops. The tops never pull up as much as I think they will under string tension, so I lightend the bracing on this one.
This guitar really rocks! I'm a little uncomfortable stating that as it's my own work but the owner of it really likes it too. The sound is very rich and full with strong bass and trebeles. All I'd hoped for!
So, here's some picts.



Koa from Steve at Colonial.




Sound port detail.



The X is actually about .5 x .25 at its tallest segment.

Looks like I forgot to rotate the photo's, sorry about that. It's late
Just tilt your head .
Thanks for checking it out.

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Jim Watts
http://jameswattsguitars.com

Jim, nice looking guitar there.

That Koa is killer looking.

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Jim that is beautiful, great work. The Koa is very pretty and that Lutz is spectacular, no wonder she rocks.

Well Done

Cheers

Kim

Ahh! Koa!   

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Billy Dean Thomas
Covina, CA

"Multi famam, conscientiam, pauci verentur."
(Many fear their reputation, few their conscience)

Ouch!!!! That is absolutely fantastic! Drop dead gorgeous!

I love your bridge and that Koa... Well,... let's just say I wet myself.... The silk in that top is just crazy too!

Top drawer, my friend, absolutely TOP DRAWER!!!

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I'd like to be able to prove, just for once, that money wouldn't make me happy...

Beautiful guitar Jim!   I'd love to see a close-up of the inlay on the FB.

Long

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"No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man.” -Heraclitus of Ephesus

Jim, you really do nice work!

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Lance@LuthiersForum.com

That is gorgeous Jim.

Can you describe and share with us what the double top is all about?

Jim-
Really beautiful and tasteful guitar!

I'm also interested in the 'double top' bit...not the 'hi-tech' style of laminated nomex double top? (I thought they didn't have any bracing to speak of...)

John

Absolutely beautiful
BTW How do you do your double tops????

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Andy Z.
http://www.lazydogguitars.com

Very Nice!

Mike

Jim, that's beautiful!
More pix, please.

Steve

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From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

Tis sweet, but how do I get my neck unstuck.

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"It's a Tone Faerie thing"
"Da goal is to sharpen ur wit as well as ye Sgian Dubh"
"Sippin Loch Dhu @Black lake" ,Kirby O...

Nice, Jim!
How about a closeup of that fretboard?
Coe

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Give me 50 cents worth of regular.
Check my oil too, if you don`t mind,,,

Very very very COOL Jim !

I too would like to know about the double top ,,, and a closer look at the fretboard inlays

Superb work Jim


Craig Lawrence

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CRAIG LAWRENCE of AUSTRALIA
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I'm in love with this one Jim! WOW WOW WOW!

Gorgeous, elegant, stunning!

Very elegant guitar. You do nice work!

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin

Jim, oh my gosh!

You done a good thing, Jim!

Thanks for all the kind words.
For those who wanted to see some more of the fingerboard here's a shot. Rotated this time

The fingerboard inlay design was provided by the customer. I had built a previous guitar for him with a variation of this design on it for him several years ago and he recently comissioned this one for his wife.

It's a little of a hodge-podge of a design but mostly it's a Christian theme. On the 7th - 12th frets it's two angles touching wing-tip to wing-tip with 5 cheribum around each angel. This design is belived to have been woven into the curtain of the holy of holies. The 5th fret has a star of Bethlehem and I don't know what the 3rd fret is . I think it might be a piece of jewelry but I'm not sure. There snow flakes on the 12 and 15th fret because they like snowflakes. It gives the guitar a very personal touch for them.
Jim_W39064.0779050926

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Jim Watts
http://jameswattsguitars.com

And for those that wanted to know a little more about the double top thing; It actually is a spruce/nomex/spruce top.

I start out with one top jointed and glued together and thickness to about .13-.14.

I then route out two pockets in the top where the honeycomb goes, leaving areas under the bridge, the soundhole and just aorund the edges for the binding solid for ease of installation of the rosette and bindings. I route the pockets so that it leaves a skin of .035.

I then bond in the honeycomb in my vacuum press with epoxy. The honeycomb is a little taller than the depth of the pocket at this point. After its cured I then sand the top to .090 at the center, a little thiner at the edges.
At this point the top looks something (ok, just like) this.



My routing template pins into the two holes you see at either end of the top. Allowing me to precisely locate my pockets where I want them. These same holes locate the top in my side mold when it gets glued on.

I then take a second top and sand the entire top down to .033-.035 and bond the second skin to the first side.

I now have a top that's similar to a standard top only it's a lot lighter in the cored areas than a standard top would be, and the cross grain stiffness is also higher.

I brace my tops as shown in the original photos above. I believe that Charles Fox doesn't brace his "ergo" double top guitars, but he has changed a lot of other things also. Most double tops are occuring in the classical world and are also braced as far as I know.

In the end I get a lighter, stiffer top, with a different flex profile than what a "standard" top has.
They're fun and interesting to build but then again so is a standard top.

I could try to clarify this for anyone if you want more.


Jim_W39064.0787615741

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Jim Watts
http://jameswattsguitars.com

Jim-
Thanks for the double top details. Pretty neat concept and the workmanship is A1!
John

Very nice work Jim!!!

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Tickle your guitar daily, and it'll tickle you back.

Yes,I agree with everyone - Beautiful Work !
Great koa too!

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Anderson Guitars
Clearwater,Fl. 33755