Rose Maple and Walnut Dreadnought.

[soulman]

I`ve called this my campfire guitar. kept it simple. I wanted to create a look of a guitar that one could chuck in the ute and not worry about being knocked around and still have something that sounds and plays great. It's a bit rough around the edges so to speak. light sand then finished with a burnishing oil.

Back, sides, neck, fingerboard and bridge are Black Walnut.
Soundboard is Rose Maple. (not actually a maple. I believe it's a northern NSW species)
Tuners are Gotoh 510 cosmic black.
Elixir strings with bone nut and saddle.
I made up a stamp to burn logo on headstock

[seeaxe]

Looks very functional!
There's a few interesting details to ponder there - whats the story with the heel?

Cheers
Richard

[soulman]

Hi Richard.
I have experimented with neck profile and wanted to do something different with the heal. just started carving and ended up with this. Feels unusual when first start to play but actually feels extremely comfortable once you sit and play for a bit. This is my first attempt at side sound port and wanted to include my logo. While the hole is relatively small with logo in the middle it added a surprisingly nice presence to overall sound. Almost a surround sound feel. I will defintely consider doing the side sound port.

Thanks for you comments

Ross

[seeaxe]

Hi Ross

Thanks for that.

I've put sound ports on my last few guitars. There's lots of discussion about whether they improve the sound, but I agree with you. For me, I know as a player I get much more volume coming back at me with the sound port. I can cover it and you immediately hear a significant difference.

Others have said they don't think they work, but I suspect they are talking about "out front" rather than from the player perspective.

I'm hoping to set myself up for tap testing soon and intend to investigate whether I can measure any differences, with and without the sound hole plugged. Should be fun.

Good for you for doing something a bit different. That's the beauty of building something for yourself, isn't it?

Cheers

[soulman]

Hi Richard
Thanks for that.
Yeah for me its all about experimenting and trying ideas and theories. Every guitar I build I get better and have aquired more experience. I'm happy to try different timbers. who knows what I might discover. for me it's about building to suit someone preference. I
To me the side sound port is for the player only. How it affects front sound hole is something that would be interesting to test. I'd be interested to hear your results.
Happy Building

Regards

Ross