Australian/New Zealand Luthiers Forum

Hi Everyone,

Wasn't quite sure where to post this as its work in progress. but thought it might be of some interest, i'll definetely post pics of the completed guitars.
So this is my first batch order for the Rockshop,
six guitars three cutaway three non.
NZ macro top and neck
Swamp Kauri back and sides, head veneers
Puriri freboard and bridge
Paua fret inlays and koru logo.

Its been so much fun and very satisfying building six guitars at once, thankfully i have been able draw experience from my younger days building production furniture and have a mass of jigs for every component and an awesome cutting list and production schedule all sorted.
The guitars have been drying nicely in the workshop since friday, enjoy the pics.
Cheers,

Christian

Looking good Christian, I'd say these will sell well throught the Rockshop. When I was up in Auckland delivering my last guitar to it's customer I wandered into to the town branch of the Rockshop looking for one of these but the guy told me they were "in the pipeline somewhere" so sorry I missed them. I'm loving the lack of binding look that you manage so well, very clever. Not too sure about the MDF bridge though, are you sure they're going to be strong enough?

Well done Christian. Look out china

Jim

Nice group shot there. These have turned out sweet.

Looking great !! Thats a beautiful colour in the close up shot of the sides. How is the Macrocarpa working out for the tops ? ( I just love the smell of working with Macro )

I have also been keeping my eyes out for these appearing in the Rockshop - looks like they won't be too far away.

Sorry folks I'll give you the heads up when they are in the shops. Nick not sure if one will go down to Chch now ? I think they have moved out to Hornby now. Sorry Lillian and the Aussies you will just have to make a trip out to NZ. haha re the MDF bridge those super screws are pretty strong mate.
The mitred join is really neat way to join to sides to the top and back, because once you rout the back and top exactly to size with a 45 bit, the bent sides have to conform to that shape and they are literally glued and taped in place.
Hahaha Not sure I'll take on China just yet, but boutique production guitars could be the way to go, I really think there is room for this in the market, Just like boutique Cheese Wine Beer etc.

Dave I love the smell of Macro too, I certainly would have never considered it for a neck let alone a guitar top a couple of years ago, I remember in my joinery days the only use I had for it was making couch frames !!! But as we know the Cypress family was and still is used to build Spanish Flamenco guitars, so its got some historic tonal value.
I only thought of using it when i came accross some closely quartered planks, and gave it a try for a top and was pleasantly surprised ,the tone has a real warmth to it and like the Kauri i usually use it has amazing sustain too.
I just hope i can find more of it.

Cheers,

Christian.

What a beautiful brood!

Thanks for the great pics Christian. I've been wondering for a while now about the suitability of Macrocarpa ( I love that timber so much; makes me sneeze though) for guitar building - I was reluctant to make the experiment.
I think I'll be visiting the mill down the road in the near future.
Cheers.
Paul.

Here they are almost finished, just awaiting a heel strap pin and a bit of fine tuning.
they are settling in nicely and all sound really good, great presence and sustain loving this Macrocarpa.Thankfully they are consistant in their sound, and all smoke the prototype i made so really happy about the progress I've made with this design.
Paul definetely give the Macro a try !!!

Cheers,

Christian.

Again a very nice job Christian, just unfortunate that they won't be finding their way into a Chch store so that I could get the chance to see them up close & personal .
I'm hopefully going to be getting some of the fallen oak provided the council 'approve' my application for a bit of it! I was thinking of using Macro on one of them as I have plenty, what sort of top thickness is a good starting point do you reckon? I also have a three piece top of TaneKaha I was going to use on the other, so they should be a couple of "homegrown" guitars in every sense.

Hey Nick don't cry just yet still maybe able to get one down there, I believe the Hornby Rockshop is almost ready for business.
All the best with the application for the Oak shouldn't be a problem you only need a tiny amount. Go for it use the Macrocarpa.
I thickness sanded my tops to 3mm ,because of the number I was doing and the mitre I had to put on the top I didn't thin it down anywhere though. I would recommend keeping the guitar on the small side mine are essentially an OOO auditorium.
Can't say I've built with TaneKaha yet, Bob has recently built with the Aussie version celery pine, on his weissenborn's so he maybe the man to talk to on that.
Look forward to seeing what you come up with.
Cheers,

Christian.

christian wrote: Look forward to seeing what you come up with.
Cheers,

Christian.

Me too! Haven't planned anything too specific yet as it will all have to be milled & dried, going to have to talk nicely to a timber miller with a kiln otherwise it'll be planks drying 'au naturale' (and from what I've read, Oak is tricky to dry) so if that's the case then it would be sometime before I got close to a start date I do know they would be in the OOO size though as I like that size from a playing perspective.
I'll venture out to Hornby when they've set up & been going for a few weeks (I believe they are just unpacking new stock so it shouldn't be far away from re-opening) and have a squizz for one of these beauties .

Hey Christian, great work, no bindings makes for a very clean look indeed

With the mitre joint for back and top to the sides I am curious if your use any form of linings to extend the glue joint at all? From your description re; leaving the top at 3mm to provide enough glue surface, it sounds like you do not. I wonder if this could be an option to allow more thinning of the top or perhaps using this method for a larger instrument?

Cheers

Kim

Hi Kim & Nick,

Well Nick you certainly won't be short of inspiration for our beloved city.
yes you will definetely be twiddling your thumbs for a while waiting for the oak to dry. I'm guessing they are English oak ?
hopefully you get to choose your cuts.
I'll be in touch if the guitars make it to chch, would love to hear what you think of them.
Kim,
Initially I did try gluing the guitar together without linings but it simply wasn't strong enough, so I added linings but they are smaller than normal. once the guitar is together I found you can sand the tops perimeter and then blend it with the sides. You could build larger instruments, but I felt the Macro I used was optimally suited to smaller bodied guitars.

Cheers,

Christian.