Australian/New Zealand Luthiers Forum

Finished my first guitar build... (well, the first coat of finish went on last night). It's euro spruce and mediterranean cypress with rosewood bindings and a rosewood rosette.

I'm pretty happy with how it has turned out...there's plenty of volume, intonation is ok, and the tone isn't too bad at all considering the strings just went on. The bass E is a touch rumbly, which I suspect might be due to the main body resonance being somewhere between E and F (I need to brush up on that section of the book!). I followed the '37 Hauser plantilla and bracing pattern. The soundboard ended up about 1.9mm and the back and sides about the same. Inspiration for the rosette was from Martin's recent build thread.

Beautiful

Nice work....nice work indeed. Nice going with that rosette...it adds something special to the guitar.

Thanks guys, especially Martin for the rosette advice from your build thread. I've now built three rosettes this way (pics below) - I'm a fan of the look.

Paying it forward... if anyone wants to know the method I used....

1. Draw the design on baking paper or similar then cut and join the pieces a touch oversize (I used titebond)
2. Sand flat
3. Cut out and decorate
And voila...

Here are the other two (nearly ready to put strings over these too...)

Australian red cedar Various Australian timbers ...

That looks beautiful. If that's a first, that's impressive. I really like the last rosette.
Great work.
Richard

Thanks Richard. Yeah, it's a first but what you see now was my second crack at a couple of components.... there's a rosette on the inside and a second backstrip too! The first were practise ones.. cough

Very nice job Peter, how about a sound clip?

Jason Kostal was the inspiration for my efforts....credits should be directed to Jason not me

The lighter woods give an overall softer look it's a nice aesthetic change different rosettes are always cool.

Thanks all.

Bruce - I haven't recorded a sound clip yet but will do so shortly. The sound has opened up a lot the last couple of days... if it keeps improving on this trajectory I might just have to keep putting it off longer!

Peter
That is a sensationally good looking outcome for a first build. Very nice design elements there. And you obviously learned a lot on the way. I love to think that there is another rosette on the inside as well!

What finish did you use? I like the non-glossy effect that you got with it.

Nice work indeed!

Mark

Thanks Mark. It's funny how things work out sometimes... my favourite design element is the cypress back and sides. While it's a AAA soundboard, I used cheap B grade cypress for the back and sides. I also have some top grade cypress, but after using the B grade it turns out I much prefer the interesting grain in the cheaper wood than the even coloured stuff... oh well.

Here's what I used for the matt finish:
It was simple to apply (especially with no pores to fill in the cypress) and is apparently food quality safe. I just put a second coat on and like how it turned out.

..and best of all it "Encourages Healthy Living!!"

Lol Martin, I hadn't noticed that on the can, now I can't unnotice it. After reading that crazy scary epoxy thread in the health and safety section I refuse to touch the stuff... I plan to either stick to this can of healthy living or to do a shellac FP in future.

Bruce, I hit record on the iPhone this evening and have included two quick recordings below... remember you requested it... all mistakes my own, not the guitar's (and yes, I did forget how to end the second piece... my excuse is I've been building, not practising for some months now and I can't remember where I put my sheet music).

Chopin Prelude Barrios - The Cathedral (or bits of it under construction at least)