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Getting geared to start number 2 & 3 and i realized i never finished off my build thread from my first build!!

viewtopic.php?f=10101&t=41876

So without further ado here's my first.
Start with...

and the closer shots...







The end.

Enjoyed my time here and all the help.
Many thanks for the patience, encouragement and for stright up honesty.
A huge thanks to Al Carruth for helping me build a fine guitar - I only wish a tenth of what he taught, sunk in.
Maybe 3 or 4 more times and things might stick...
And final thanks to Trevor Healey who literally set me straight on the neck setup when I had screwed it up.
I am hugely loving this guitar...

I'll be adding a sound clips soon...

Thanks all... !

Rob Lak

Looks really great! I really like the unique bridge design. Well done!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Insta - https://www.instagram.com/cbcguitars/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/cbcguitars

VERY well done!

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

Bravo!

Wow, very nicely done great selection of wood as well.

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http://www.Harvestmoonguitars.com

Well done indeed! Thanks for sharing.

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George :-)

Beautiful guitar! And a wedge body on your first one.

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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

Beauty, wondered what happened to the thread.
It's a brave man who chooses Zircote and LS redwood for a first guitar, but having Mr Carruth at your back must help.
Thanks a lot for posting and letting us see the final product, it felt like someone had torn the last page out of a library book.

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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.

Such a wonderful instrument as your first one. I'm officially jealous.

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member of the guild of professional dilettantes

Thank you... I did go a bit all out (wedge body, bolt-on neck, sound port, cutaway, top notch wood - ziricote and LS redwood) and it was intimidating... HAD to go the route of having a mentor.
The thought was that I was only going to build ONE.

Lessons learned....
- Mexican crackwood not the smartest choice. HAVE to watch humidity like a hawk. There's 5 cracks on that back and another that spans the bottom. Also mega issues with finish as the oil in the wood prevented the finish from hardening.
- Despite best intentions, it's gonna be what it wants to be.
- Soundport is iffy at best. Maybe larger would be the way to go. I notice "some" difference but not enough to make it worth it. I need to play others to see if it will be worth continuing.
- Wedge has some effect but i think i will add a bevel next time. Maybe in addition to...
- Neck needs high degree of attention to detail. Need to get serious about the next one. I may need to build a new neck as after taking it to a repair shop and reworking the neck (pulled the frets and releveled)... there's still some buzz on the treble side that almost bothers me. Playability is awsome. Of course my last old guitar the strings were almost 1/2 inch off the fretboard at the body *grin*
- Not sure i'm a fan of dyed maple as a accent strip. Seems to have been some gluing issues. The back strip gave way at one point and i am afraid it feels as if it would give way again if it was not for the inner brace
- absolutely adore the gotoh tuners.
- You can never build just one.

Thanks! By the way... just wanted to point out that that bridge is a chunk of wood I won here on the forum quite a number of year ago. I think it's grenadillo? I was given that and a fretboard (didn't use that yet... but I will!) and it matched the colors and texture of what I was using that just begged to be used.

Carving it was one of those out of body experiences. I had no design in mind but maybe a rough shape and it just kinda happened. Attacked it with a dremmel and one of those little sandpaper drums and that's what was left when the dust cleared. Easy peasy!

You really nailed it, Rob!

Alex

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

Amazing first guitar!

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Steve Sollod (pronounced sorta like "Solid")
www.swiftcreekguitars.com

That's a very ambitious first guitar with the lined purfling and binding and wedge shape and so on. Good job. That back is absolutely beautiful too.

Wow! Your first guitar, and a wedge body and cut-away? Congrats' on a fine achievement. I look forward to seeing your builds in the future. Continued good luck and fine work.

Max

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Max Bishop
Brighton, Michigan

Oh thank God! I really thought someone has posted real baby pictures

Wow, that's a first huh! Sure wish my first looked 1/2 as nice. Great work!

Well done! Is it for you? Nothing quite like the feeling of playing your own guitar.

Yes it's for me and yes, and now that it's set up better, I have barely touched my old guitar.

Lately though, my son who has been taking lessons for about a year now... has decided he likes it better than my old guitar (now "his") and he's been hogging it a bit too much. That's the big driver to start #2 (His) and #3 (a classical for me).

Why didn't you do a maple leaf rosette like Al does?

Oh wait... because it's insanely difficult!

Great first guitar... same basic wood choice as my first guitar (cedar/ziricote), but much nicer than mine was.

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

You going to bring this to the next NEL meeting? You really should show it off...

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

I should join.. eh?

Yes! But there's not much to join... no dues etc. Just go to the website, and there should be a link to join the Yahoo! Group for getting the communications.

I think the next meeting is at noon on 4/10/16 at Architectural Openings.

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

website has: upcoming meeting •Feb 7th 2016, 12-4PM: Architectural Openings, Somerville MA

I'll have to look more into it..

That looks awesome, Rob! I wish I'd gotten to see it.