Aesthetic Help!

[James Mc]

By happy chance I cracked a side I was bending for a flamenco (you know how it is… wow this is bending easy, I’ll go a little harder and faster… Crack!). I was using yellow cedar and the chances of finding a matching side or set of sides locally aren’t great and the cost of having a replacement sent from the US isn’t justified.

The happy part is that I wasn’t all that happy with my choice of yellow cedar for the back and sides after I had thicknessed it, so this presents an opportunity to change timbers. I just had some Huon Pine sliced for a harp project and there is enough extra to get a couple of sides and a few backs (in 3 or 4 pieces). The shorter timber I can use for the back has a nice figure at one end, so thinking to maximise this I cut a book-matched splice for the centre (first impulse) I didn’t even think about the option of adding wings to the sides until later. I’m an engineer and I don’t find the building side of things to be much of a problem… but making things pretty is a very different story. So I thought “why not throw it open to the forum and let consensus ruleâ€

[matthew]

B for me. I like the interesting swirl in the upper bout. In the lower bout it makes the thing look bottom-heavy.

I would go for simple black pinstriping. With huon pine, will look very elegant.

[snidermike]

I vote for C. Although I do like that in A, I can see two frogs, side by side, getting ready to leap up the back

Definitely C for me though.

[Dennis Leahy]

James,

I'd go with A or C. If using "A", I'd vote for a simple black or Ebony stripe between each piece, to accentuate the 4-pieces, rather than trying to hide them. If going with "C", which looks like a possible way to fake a 2-piece back, I would do my best to hide that seam. A center seam strip on "C" would pull your eye to the center even more strongly, helping to hide the seams on the wing pieces on the tips of the lower bout.

B looks top heavy.

Thanks for posting this. It is a good exercise for all of us to determine what we would do, even if it is not the same as what you would do, to use material that is a bit too narrow for 2-piece backs. I suspect that luthiers will need to get good at this (as wider material diminishes), plus it opens the door to species that just don't grow wide.

Dennis

[Allen]

I like B, or C best. Really don't care for A at all, far to busy. I'm with Dennis on not trying to accentualte the wings by adding a strip out there. Just one center strip and I think it'll turn out a treat. I could flip a coin and pick either on on a given day.

[sebastiaan56]

I like C the best and agree with the comments about black striping,

Sebastiaan

[Bob Connor]

C for me.

[graham mcdonald]

I would go for the idea of C, but make the centre sections about 100mm wide so it was obviously four pieces, rather than two big middle bits and little wings that just look as though the bit of wood wasn't wide enough. If you are going to use a four piece back, do it so it looks like a four piece back

cheers

graham

[Paul B]

C, no question.

[Kim]

C4ME

[kiwigeo]

C4ME2

[SteveF]

I'm gonna go with C don't like A or B at all...Steve

[ozziebluesman]

Yep, C for me too Steve.

Cheers

Alan

[ozziebluesman]

Sorry James for the mistaken identity. I better be careful as you may live just around the corner!

Still C for me.

Cheers

Alan

[Lillian]

A vote for C as well.

[Hesh1956]

I like C - it reminds me of a woman's back side complete with the two dimples just above the butt and on each side. Very beautiful.

[Stu]

Not wanting to sound like a broken record........................'C'


cheers, Stu

[Lillian]

I like C - it reminds me of a woman's back side complete with the two dimples just above the butt and on each side. Very beautiful.

Much better than the two frogs I see in A.

[WaddyT]

"C" for the aforementioned reasons!

[Colin S]

Just to be a little different I'd go for A, or rather a variation on A.

I'd leave the two outer sections as they are but use a single plain piece for the centre wedge. Then of course use a single thin black line separating the three pieces and combine it with ebony bindings. That way you'll be using a system much used by Torres, so it has good precedent, and it'll look aesthetically pleasing too. Some of the best classicals in the world by people like Kevin Aram use this system.

Colin

[kiwigeo]

I like C - it reminds me of a woman's back side complete with the two dimples just above the butt and on each side. Very beautiful.

Man those aren't dimples....theyre big fat puss filled boils!!!

[jjh]

A looks pretty 2 me

[James Mc]

Well it looks like ‘C’ with an ebony back strip, thanks for all your thoughts on this. I’ll be substituting blackwood or myrtle (maybe ebonised) for the ebony (I’m trying to avoid using imported timbers where possible and I’ve never found a supplier of Australian Ebony Diospyros geminata).

I’m thinking about trying a king billy top and making it an all Australian flamenco (A Flayobbo) but I’m not sure how king billy stacks up against German spruce, which is my preferred soundboard on flamenco and classical guitars (although some people do like WRC but I’m not really sure why?).

I like idea from Colin of using a plain centre wedge… so if the Huon works ok and I like the sound then I’ll join up the second set for the stockpile.

Cheers
James

[James Mc]

I gave a test piece a bit of a sand to remove the saw marks and wiped it with lemon shellac so I had a better idea of how it will look against the timbers I’m thinking about trimming it with (decided on red ebony to match the fretboard). Thought I’d post a photo for the guys that aren’t in Australia and probably haven’t had much opportunity to work with Huon pine, which is a fantastic timber. Photos can never do it justice; it has a depth and 3D shimmer that just doesn’t come out in photos.




This is the bit I’ll be using for the sides, much more subdued grain pattern.

[Allen]

I know a bloke up here that I get some of my wood from that deals with Australian Ebony. From the pieces that I see around his shop, it looks like it's usually quite small, so I don't know if you'd be able to get suitable sized stock for our needs, but I'll ask the next time around just for info sake. I think most of his stock goes to China etc. for carving.