Australian/New Zealand Luthiers Forum

This going out the door in about half an hour but I'm getting it back to show down at Port Fairy in a month's time.

Specs

Left Handed
Back/sides/bindings/rosette/peghead overlays : Cocobolo
Top: Euro Spruce
Fingerboard/bridge:Ebony
Neck: Mahogany/Satin Box/Blackwood/Satin Box
Tuners: Waverleys
Frets: Gold Evo

Sounds pretty nice but it's pretty hard to get a sound out of a lefty.

I just love little guitars with slot heads Bob. That ones a real beauty. The buttons on those Waverly's are pretty swish too!

Very nice Bob, coco sure is a beautiful looking timber. Wayne

Very nice Bob. Love it

Thanks folks.

Allen - those Waverley's are standard butterbeans. They look swish due to the reflections of the bamboo I took the photo against. I had to look twice at the pics when I first looked at them on the PC.

Regards

Lovely little guitar Bob.

I too have a liking for small 12 fret acoustic guitars.

The Coco looks spectacular.

Beautiful workmanship mate!

Cheers

Alan

Lovely work Bob. The cocobolo really does the trick. I like the simple elegance of the bindings being the same as the back/side wood. Sometimes we tend to overcomplicate the colour scheme - this is great. It is a nice touch around the fretboard also. It must be frustrating not being able to play the bugger when it is done!
Mark

Very very nice Mr Connor, nice clean simple lines and the slot head just adds a touch more class. The gold EVO frets, were they a customer request or your choice? I find myself leaning more toward the EVO wire these days if I'm left to decide, they just add something a little extra against a dark board and are a little harder than the Silver/Nickel.

That's a class act Bob . Beautiful looking little guitar . With the Cocobolo and Euro spruce I'll bet it sounds like a winner too.. The Coco bound ebony fretboard is certainly a good look !

Hi Bob
Great looking guitar beautiful work.
I understand your frustration at not being able to play it i am a lefty building RH guitars.
Regards Steve

Nice work, as always.

I'm finding myself more drawn to the little one's and a more "monochromatic" look to them as well. In terms of consistent wood choices, and at the least similar colourings.

Very elegant.

Beautiful.

And this Cocobolo is a killer!

Very nice Bob, how was the cocobolo like to bend?
Rod.

Thanks everyone. This was one of those instruments that just went together easily. Didn't fight me at all.

I prefer Evo as well Nick and use it in preference to nickel silver.

Rod - the Coco bent easily. It was only .040" thick. I use double sides on anything I build and then glue the two laminates together with Titebond. Makes for incredibly dense, stiff sides that have very little ripple and no springback. I think my instruments sound much better since I started doing it.

I've got another Cocobolo Size 5 that's about to be finished too.

Regards

I love these small bodied,12 fretted,slotted headstock guitars a lot too!
I have one I made years ago that I still play everyday.
Very fine work Bob.

I love it. Small guitars are just so playable and the Coco is to die for.

Bob Connor wrote:
Rod - the Coco bent easily. It was only .040" thick. I use double sides on anything I build and then glue the two laminates together with Titebond. Makes for incredibly dense, stiff sides that have very little ripple and no springback. I think my instruments sound much better since I started doing it.

.

G'day again Bob, I'd like to build with the double sides approach. A few questions ;
How do you go about joining them without gaps between the two.?
Does it require a solid mould or can you get away with the type with the bar separators ?
You say your Coco was .040. what wood do you you use for the inner and how thick is it ?

Craig

I usually use Blackwood as the inner side (just because I have lots of it) and it's around .040".

A solid mould is necessary.

I glue with Titebond and tightly tape the two sides together with blue painters tape every 2 inches before clamping on the solid mould.

I have had the occasional gap but they can be fixed with clamps and a little heat after the sides are removed from the mould. If you do leave gaps you can have problems when you are routing binding channels as the outer side will be susceptible to chipping.

I know some of the US builders use epoxy for glueing the sides but I try and avoid epoxy as much as possible. Besides the joint has so much surface area you could probably glue it with flour and water Maybe they use epoxy for it's gap filling properties,

The first time I did this procedure I couldn't believe how stiff the side was when I took it out of the mould.

These sides are virtually indestructible (i.e. the won't crack or split) and there is no need for sides re-inforcing tapes/strips.

Here's a pic of a Weiss side being clamped. (That was before I started using the painters tape.)
Regards

Another very classy little guitar Bob. The euro looks very clean and the fine grain of well quartered cocobolo is a perfect match. Slothead, Waverlys and the black and red contrasts all bought together with the ebony fretboard...she's a real looker.

Cheers

Kim

Thats a great looking guitar with your usuall attention to detail. I love the slotted head Im not game
enough to try one of those yet.

PHANTOM wrote:Thats a great looking guitar with your usuall attention to detail. I love the slotted head Im not game
enough to try one of those yet.

The Phantom losing his bottle????

PHANTOM wrote:Thats a great looking guitar with your usuall attention to detail. I love the slotted head Im not game
enough to try one of those yet.

I bought one of these.

http://luthiertool.com/slot%20head%20fixture.html

It's not cheap but Blind Freddie could do a slot head with this jig. (just witness the above pics)

Really if you can fork out for this bit of kit you will not be disappointed.

Regards

Thanks for all that double side info Bob , I'll be giving it a shot. Definatley loads of advantages . Like you ,I also try to avoid using epoxy . Titebond's ability to pull the surfaces together as it dries makes it a good choice for the job. It's quite a big surface , I imagine you brush it on to speed up the glue application ?. Do the sides cupping ( when applying Titebond ) cause an issue ?

Bob that is one sharp guitar. Very nice.

I do my ukulele double sides using titebond. The 1mm sides are glued together in an outside form and synched up using the same dressmaker's twill tape I use to synch the bindings.

Craig wrote:Thanks for all that double side info Bob , I'll be giving it a shot. Definatley loads of advantages . Like you ,I also try to avoid using epoxy . Titebond's ability to pull the surfaces together as it dries makes it a good choice for the job. It's quite a big surface , I imagine you brush it on to speed up the glue application ?. Do the sides cupping ( when applying Titebond ) cause an issue ?

There is bugger all cupping with the double side method Craig.

I wear rubber gloves and just smear it on with me fingers.

I draw some witness lines on the sides but a quick sand with 80 grit flattens it out in about 5 minutes.

Regards.