EIR/Cedar OM finished

gratay · Post by **gratay** » Sun Jan 04, 2009 9:37 pm

First cab off the rank.
A Christmas present to myself.
It has taken 2 years to complete as I had to wait till i saved for the next purchase of whatever I needed to get to the next step.
It has exceeded my expectations...
I would really like to thank everyone at the forum for your help along the way..it is an invaluable resource and I don't think I could have achieved such a great result without you all...so Thanks very much.

here's the specs

Back and sides :- East Indian Rosewood
Soundboard :- WR cedar w/- sitka spruce bracing (Scalloped bracing)
Neck :- Mahogany.... Mortise and tenon bolt-on neck
Fingerboard :- Ebony
Bridge :- Ebony
Binding :- rock maple
Rosette and end graft :- Blackwood
Tuners :- Grover vintage
Bridge pins :- unslotted ebony
Finish :- Zpoxy/ Tru-oil ...satin neck; gloss everything else.

Thanks for looking,
Grant .

Bob Connor · Post by **Bob Connor** » Sun Jan 04, 2009 9:45 pm

Sensational Grant. It's a very warm and welcoming looking instrument.

I bet the 2 year wait to get it finished was worth it though.

Amy chance of a sound clip?

Kim · Post by **Kim** » Sun Jan 04, 2009 11:39 pm

Very classy Grant, she's beautiful and you have every right to be proud M8.

Outstanding!

Cheers

Kim

Hesh1956 · Post by **Hesh1956** » Sun Jan 04, 2009 11:51 pm

Very nice geetar Grant my friend - Great job!!!

Lillian · Post by **Lillian** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 4:01 am

The first and last picture didn't come through, but the rest show a beautiful guitar that you should be really proud of. Well done Grant.

Mark McLean · Post by **Mark McLean** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 6:34 am

That is an exceptional guitar Grant. Classic clean look and very fine work. Can you tell me how you got that high gloss with an oil finish? How many coats after the Z-poxy, and what did you do to buff it?
Congratulations
Mark

Allen · Post by **Allen** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 6:36 am

I'm so impressed Grant. That's just so elegant, and asks to be picked up and played. The blackwood rosette is just so nice against the cedar. I'm going to use that on my next cedar top. Thanks for the inspiration.

ozziebluesman · Post by **ozziebluesman** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 9:50 am

G'day Grant.

I'm with Allen and like the blackwood rosette against the cedar. Nice contrast! The EIR is a beauitiful rich colour and looks great with the cedar. Nice work! Congratulations.

Cheers

Alan

gratay · Post by **gratay** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 10:06 am

thanks a lot everyone

bob, I'll see if I can get a decent sound to do it justice...although i only have a digital camera ..see how it goes

Mark,...I did 15 coats of oil. .wet sanding to 600grit between coats..after the last coat I left it for 3 weeks then went to micromesh and wet sanded from 3200 up..I dry sanded the 8000 and 12000 grit..then meguiars #9 and #7 except for the neck which was done with 0000 steel wool after the last coat. All hand buffed
I'm happy with the finish but can see where I could improve it...When I was in the car shop to buy the meguiars polish I noticed a lot of good looking applicators ..next time i'll try one rather than teeshirt material.
If i could get it a bit more glass like I'd be happy.

Allen and Allan, I wasn't sure about using the blackwood ..I thought it might disappear as its not much colour difference from the cedar..but I kinda like the subtlety..

DarwinStrings · Post by **DarwinStrings** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 11:40 am

Top Notch work Grant. Great choice of transition between the neck and headstock, also the tuners, I would not have even considered open tuners till i saw your guitar.

Jim

jeffhigh · Post by **jeffhigh** » Tue Jan 06, 2009 3:28 pm

Lovely work both in the woodworking, design and finishing

kiwigeo · Post by **kiwigeo** » Tue Jan 06, 2009 7:52 pm

Classy work my friend....I love the top and the rosette.

gratay · Post by **gratay** » Wed Jan 07, 2009 9:06 am

thanks very much guys.

Toejam,..I was planning to do a volute but I got a bit confused when saf-t-plaining the back of my headstock and took to much of what would have been the volute. So I changed course and decided to do a smooth transition instead and I left the neck a little thicker for added stability in the nut region...only a couple of mm's thicker which is what I like in a neck anyway so it all worked out to my liking.

thanks jeffhigh and Martin.
Martin, I wasn't sure about the contrast of colours for the top because I knew it was going to be close...but I like the subtlety.
I'm about to order a tor-tis pickguard which I thought might be more of a feature if everything else is a bit subtle..Although I like it without a guard I think because its Cedar and tru-oil its probably smart to put one on.

Taffy Evans · Post by **Taffy Evans** » Wed Jan 07, 2009 9:47 am

Hi Grant
First cab off the rank? Does that meen this is your first guitar? I'm impressed, very impressed. Everything comes together nicely to good effect. I put those tuners on some of my guitars, I love them, but I had one customer that hates the way they work???? I changed them and he still was not happy, in the end I put on enclosed back tuners. Now I'm not happy.
Nice work Grant, you gotta be proud of Old # 0ne.

Mark McLean · Post by **Mark McLean** » Wed Jan 07, 2009 2:23 pm

Grant
When finishing the top did you mask the bridge area (and with what), or did you finish over it and then scrape it away for gluing? I would have thought that oil finishes would penetrate more than nitro or polyurethane and then it would be hard to get back to the unfinished wood. However, if you mask it with tape does the oil stuff up the adhesion of the tape and let some through?

What method does everyone recommend?

A clear pickguard would be an option if you want to protect the cedar but keep that nice clean asthetic of your top

Mark

gratay · Post by **gratay** » Wed Jan 07, 2009 4:32 pm

Taffy,...Yes, this is my first really. I've played a part in many acoustic builds when working for others...but this is the first one from scratch from start to finish.

Mark,.....what I did was completed making the bridge minus cutting the saddle slot...located bridge..then masked the area the bridge is going and cut the masking tape just a hair inside the bridge outline.
Applied the finish and removed the tape and glued the bridge on. Last thing was to cut the saddle slot.
No need to scrape any finish away...I wanted to avoid that. sounds to messy to me.
And I did some test scraps with the tru-oil prior to all this on a piece of cedar off-cut and was surprised how little it penetrates.

cheers grant

DarwinStrings · Post by **DarwinStrings** » Wed Jan 07, 2009 6:22 pm

gratay wrote:
Toejam,..I was planning to do a volute but I got a bit confused when saf-t-plaining the back of my headstock and took to much of what would have been the volute.

Well it looks like your confusion will be to my benefit Grant as I like the look and have now added it to my Ideas for future projects. One of the big problems with this forum is that I get to see all these great looking guitars but I don't get to have a play of them, oh well, cest la vie I guess.

Jim

Allen · Post by **Allen** » Wed Jan 07, 2009 6:32 pm

Mark McLean wrote:.... However, if you mask it with tape does the oil stuff up the adhesion of the tape and let some through?

What method does everyone recommend?

Mark

I've done both mask and scrape back. Of the two, I prefer masking off. Far less chance for disaster to strike with a careless moment. I'm all for minimizing to the risk of me stuffing something up. I've had far too much experience to realize that I'm not infallible.

Kim · Post by **Kim** » Wed Jan 07, 2009 8:10 pm

I am with Allen,

Being a complete penis fingers soon taught me to look for the safe option rather than gamble with the easy way out. However my lack of intelligence ensures that I continue to make enough stupid mistakes to never trust my ability to always separate the former from the later correctly.

This wonderful cocktail of nervous anxiety combined with expensive material and sharp, sharp spinning, whirring, whizzing and buzzing things allows me to live my life right on the edge sailing close to the wind in the extreme sport of guitar making

Kowabunga and totally sick dudes (nervous tension will do that to you)

Kim

Dave Anderson · Post by **Dave Anderson** » Thu Jan 08, 2009 2:22 am

That is a Very nice looking guitar Grant ! It has that "pick me up and play me" look to it.
I like it a lot ... Congratulations M8 !!

sebastiaan56 · Post by **sebastiaan56** » Thu Jan 08, 2009 8:49 am

Nice axe Grant, there is something about simple looks.

gratay · Post by **gratay** » Fri Jan 09, 2009 2:21 pm

thanks dave... Its certainly getting a bit of play at the moment...I've been having some fun trying different brands of strings to see what it likes best.

cheers Sebastian,... I also like earthy simple looks without to much bling

Craig · Post by **Craig** » Fri Jan 09, 2009 10:53 pm

Very cool Grant . Very subtle , very elegant . . A warm inviting guitar.
Congratulations mate and take a well deserved bow

gratay · Post by **gratay** » Wed Aug 05, 2009 3:57 pm

I haven't been around much as of late and I know this guitar and thread for that matter is getting a bit long in the tooth now (its been strung up for 7 months now) and I'm finally happy with the way its setup...Its been a bit of a search for the right strings but I'm liking the D'Aquisto nickel round wound Tony Rice set 13-57's.. And I love the K&K gear...thanks again Bob

Anyway there is no audio interface in this ...just guitar w/- K&K pure western mini plugged into a K&K XLR preamp which is then plugged straight into garageband on my mac. All Eq was done on the xlr preamp before the signal went to the computer...I used a very tiny bit of compression and reverb after the fact but thats it..

Anyway, here it is ...me bluffing/fudging my way through "Stella by Starlight"...goodluck hope yours ears survive the 4 mins.

youtu.be/

seeaxe · Post by **seeaxe** » Wed Aug 05, 2009 4:14 pm

Well I survived 4 mins OK!! Pretty cool and classy. that sounds so smooooth and warm. Well done!
Cheers
Richard

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EIR/Cedar OM finished

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