xray's pics

[xray]

Hey team, as promissed i decided to get the camera out and snap the new build that is not quite finished yet. The timber is as follows:
-Soundboard is King William Pine
-Back and Sides are Queensland Maple
-Neck is Queensland Maple
-Headstock Veneer is Tasmanian Blackwood
-Bridge is going to be Tasmanian Blackwood
-Bindings are Jarrah
-Fretboard is Australian Bouree (hardness rating is 19 not bad ebony is about 15)
-Bracing is western red cedar
-Rosette is jarrah and tasmanian blackwood with MOP to match diamonds

I am unhappy with the rosette because i didnt cut the trench deep enough and nearly ruined it when finishing the top.
I decided to tap tune the soundboard unbraced and shaved the deadspots back until a nice resonance was the whole way accross the soundboard. I then fully braced the soundboard and retuned it by once again shaving excess wood form the bracing. Im hoping to produce a nice mid tone and strong high range from the guitar and because of the volume of the dreadnaught design, the bass should take care of itself.
I used a home made truss rod and i am happy with it for many reasons, the main one is it cost $3 to make and it is fun making the whole guitar except the fretwire and bridge pins which are ebony.
Enough jibber jabber heres the pics, feel free to hack and critisise on my work and tell me what you think, and who knows if you go hard enough i may tell you what i think. see ya xray

[Allen]

Gee, it's been a bloody long time since anyones posted a picture of a dread. Seem to forget how big they are.

Is there a finish applied to it yet. Hard to tell from the pictures. I really applaud your use of so much local wood. Tough to find local wood suitable for brace stock though as you've probably found out.

Some close ups showing some of the details would be great to see.

[Bob Connor]

That's lookin fine xray.

I'll be interested to see what you think of the King Billy on a dread.

I've used it on an O model but I felt it may be a bit too loose to use on a larger bodied instrument. - I hope you prove me wrong.

[xray]

hey allen, yeah your right it's a big sucker. they look so much better with a cutaway profile. anyway whats done is done. it should be a nice full sound anyway. the finish is just a mat nitro cellulose sprayed on. geez the photos turned out poor. the back of the guitar has a real nice shimmering fiddleback through it but can't be seen due to quality reduction to get the photos under 100k. anyhow when its all strung up ill let you know about sound quality and any dissapointments. thanks mate
xray

[Austen]

mate it looks really good. i can vouch for the figure in the maple. lovely looking peices. youve done a great job.
its interesting what bob said about king billy on the bigger guitar. immediately had my mind churning at a million miles an hour about my king billy jumbo!!!
Ah well buddy, like you said whats done is done. hurry up and string it up so i can play it! wouldnt mind seeing a close up of that rosette either

[Austen]

guitars look so funny without a bridge i rekon.
are u happy with the feel of the neck?

[Hesh1956]

Looking great X!

[xray]

hey auz, hope the tonsils held up okay after your gig last night.
The neck is a little different to what i had planned but i had a play around pretending the strings were on and i think as long as the profile is low it should be sweet. im actually thinking ill keep this one and put some skill into being able to play the instruments instead of putting so much time into making them. Afterall a $100 no name guitar played by a guru can sound better than a custom crafted maton played by a hacker.

[sebastiaan56]

Sweet looking instrument xray. I love King Billy Pine, the orangy colour is just naff.