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Parlour Guitar! Bearclaw Sitka soundboard, Quilted Sapele back/sides, Honduras Mahogany neck, Ebony appointments, Waverly Tuners, 24.5" scale. This was a fun project. My wife says she won't let me sell this one

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Doug

Don't let fear or common sense stop you from trying to build something

Doug, that is .... what's the word? .... exquisite! And I really like the way you posed it for its pictures.

Dainty and delish!

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

Gorgeous guitar! nicely done

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http://www.Harvestmoonguitars.com

Very nicely thought out design Doug. There's a whole lot to like there. Did you go to Minnesota to take the pictures? Hans's house? The photos are very nice.

Cheers,
Danny

Where's that dang wolf whistle Smilie when you need it!
Really pretty, looks very well thought out, beautiful execution. Killer Sapele.
I like the Petros/Purflex Celtic appointments.
Not surprised the little lady won't let you part with it.

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

Like the shape, Doug! Larson bridge too.
What is the nut width and 12th fret? Saddle spacing? What strings did you end up with?
Wives always say that! My wife "owns" all of mine...

Really lovely! How did you do the soundhole and purfling inlay and all that celtic carving on the string pins! Oh and please don't just say "very carefully!"

Outstanding!!! Haven't seen anything better in a parlor.

Stunner!

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Max Bishop
Brighton, Michigan

That is one very beautiful guitar!!!

I like that guitar! It captures the ornate look of the old parlors but somehow retains a slightly understated tastefulness. Not east to do.

Nice miters!

What finish did you use? How's it sound? Bolt-on or dovetail? Any pictures of the bracing?

Terry

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It's not what you don't know that hurts you, it's what you do know that's wrong.

Beautiful guitar! Very elegant. Your wife is right.....it's a keeper!

Many thanks for the many kind words my friends.
Now onto some answers to the many questions:

Haans: I pretty much went with the Scott Antes plans on the fretboard. 44mm at nut, 57.5mm at 12th fret. This makes the saddle spacing a little too wide for my liking. It's certainly very playable but in the future would probably cut down the 12th fret width to 56 mm which would reduce the saddle spacing by 2X that. I went with Elixir 12/53 strings. BTW for aesthetic reasons I moved the sound hole south by 1/4". I would like to move future soundholes further south by another 1/4" but there is not much more room to work with without seriously splaying the X-bracing and thus comprising the structural integrity I would suppose. I can see how you like to work with ladder bracing as it allows for a broader range of sound hole placement. I may have to try one of those.

Bob Orr: All of your questions related to the purfling and bridge pin head designs can answered here: http://www.purflex.net/Purflex/Welcome.html

Terence Kennedy: Nitro lacquer finish buffed out with Menzerna, double bolt-on with captured nut, the sound is still developing but it sounds about what I would expected from a smaller body instrument: stronger fundamental with less complexity, less sustain giving it more of a vintage sound. But then again it's only been strung up for 24 hours and things are changing quickly.

Here is a pic of the bracing:

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Doug

Don't let fear or common sense stop you from trying to build something

That is a real beauty.

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http://www.CostaGuitars.com
PMoMC

I have to agree it's beautiful and certainly a keeper!

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Michael Lloyd

“I was born to ignorance, yes, and lesser poverties ...
I was born to privilege that I did not see ... I didn’t know it, but my way was paved” – John Gorka

Well done, Doug! As a parlor guy, I love it!!

Amazing!! Great job!!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Really beautiful guitar! The sapele is a knock out on the back and sides and I like that you used it for the head plate, bookmatched, too. The ebony binding is classy.

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Once in a while you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right - Robert Hunter

That is something special, Doug! Your wife is right on, but I suspect you'll be getting orders for some look-a-likes!

Alex

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"Indecision is the key to flexibility" .... Bumper sticker

Doug, you always surprise me in how your builds change from one to the next and the way you experiment. That guitar looks like it wants to be hugged.

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We are all in the gutter but some of us are looking at guitars.

Wow, nice one Doug!
Visually, I like the placement of the soundhole - seems to flow nicely...

So here is a sample of the audio via this video. I lent the guitar to a friend for two days and he returned it along with this unsolicited video. Aside from crediting me as a luthier rather than a guitar builder (we don't want to resurrect that debate again do we?), I think he did a pretty good job. And he is a fantastically better player than I. At the point of recording it had been strung up for 7 days.

http://youtu.be/AGlstb4Z2AA

[youtube]http://youtu.be/AGlstb4Z2AA[/youtube]

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Doug

Don't let fear or common sense stop you from trying to build something

OK, how cool was that?
He did a terrific job of both visually and sonically representing your guitar.
Sounds as good as it looks!

Your friend made a great testimonial without saying a word....he let your guitar do all talking.

Alex

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"Indecision is the key to flexibility" .... Bumper sticker