new parlor build

liam_fnq · Post by **liam_fnq** » Tue Sep 08, 2009 6:12 pm

so i've started my second build.

i probably should have taken some photos earlier in but never mind

back, sides NGR.
top Kauri
bracing WRC.
neck will be NGR too.

cant decide on bindings, any ideas.

also any critiques are most welcome.

i'm having trouble with more pics so i'll try again later

liam_fnq · Post by **liam_fnq** » Tue Sep 08, 2009 9:04 pm

Mark McLean · Post by **Mark McLean** » Tue Sep 08, 2009 9:47 pm

Looking good so far Liam. The bookmatch on the back looks very nice. You wanted suggestions for binding - the NGR will be gold-brown so the best binding would be something much darker (EI rosewood or walnut) or something really pale. I would probably go for maple. But your decision, and the good thing is that there are no wrong answers.
cheers, Mark

ozziebluesman · Post by **ozziebluesman** » Tue Sep 08, 2009 11:11 pm

Great start there Liam. I have a big soft spot in my heart for parlor sized guitar. What scale length are you using on this one? Thanks for sharing the pictures.

Cheers

Alan

liam_fnq · Post by **liam_fnq** » Wed Sep 09, 2009 3:27 pm

mark, i was thinking something really light for the binding, any thoughts on options other than maple, any good natives?

alan, 600mm scale puts the bridge right in the sweet spot on this very small body. it'll be a 12 string tuned to open G. hopefully i'll get that early blues mojo working.

i just got the back glued on. note the bamboo plant stakes AKA go bars. $3 for the lot.

Allen · Post by **Allen** » Wed Sep 09, 2009 4:49 pm

Brown wattle for the bindings might be a nice contrast to the NGR. I've got some of it that you can slice enough off if you want.

Mark McLean · Post by **Mark McLean** » Thu Sep 10, 2009 6:38 am

Hey, I use bamboo stakes in the go-bar too. Cheap as chips and very effective. I buy packets of little rubber caps from Bunnings to put on the ends of them (get the white ones - the black ones leave marks on your work). I haven't used many Aussie timbers in my builds so far, but I want to get into that. For a pale binding, how about sassafras. 12-string parlour guitar sounds interesting. Are you going to use a tailpiece or a pinned bridge. For a pinned bridge it might be cool to use Craig Lawrence's 6-pin 12-string bridge idea, to save space on a small guitar top. (viewtopic.php?t=354&highlight=6pin+12string+bridge)

Taffy Evans · Post by **Taffy Evans** » Thu Sep 10, 2009 9:49 am

Hi Liam, it's coming along nicely. NGR, I've been buiding with it for over 10 years now, I wondered how long it would take before I read others are using it too, I don't mind it at all, and the guitars gets high praise. Its use appears to be growing I see. There was a time when I thought twice about telling people what I was using.

I'm building a parlor too at the moment at the same stages as yours by the looks of it.

liam_fnq · Post by **liam_fnq** » Thu Sep 10, 2009 4:27 pm

thanks all,

mark, i'll prob go with pinned bridge and will definitely be looking at the 6 pin method, 12 pin bridges can look a little large and kind of awkward.

allen i'll keep you posted, after i get the box closed i've got to build a binding channel cutting machine so it may be a few weeks yet. cheers though.

taff, i'm no expert but the NGR seems to have a nice tap tone and its easy to work. I bent by hand on a hot pipe without so much as feather of grain separating on the sides so it must bend easily. i get plenty of the stuff from the scrap pile at the Cairns Woodworkers Guild for next to nothing. bargain. taff, i'd love to see some photos of your build, us novices need all the help we can get

Does anyone have any experience building or repairing a 12 string, ladder braced parlor, any advice on top bracing would be greatly appreciated.

J.F. Custom · Post by **J.F. Custom** » Thu Sep 10, 2009 7:16 pm

Hi Liam,

The build is coming along nicely. Look forward to seeing it finished. NGR is a lovely timber that varies in colour and figure as well. Well worth using.

So far as binding is concerned, for native species you are likely to be able to obtain in your general area, you could try looking at Queensland Walnut (Endiandra palmerstonii) for a dark binding option or Silver Ash (Flindersia Spp.) for a light binding option.

Qld Walnut can be difficult to work due to high silica content and it smells like crap, but, it is about as dark as you can get - varying from nearly black dark chocolate brown to mid brown. Silver Ash is a common name for several of the Flindersia species, a family which is also home to Qld Maple. It is user friendly, varies in colour from pale yellow to silver white and has a variety of figure. It does yellow a little with age but when in its silver white form, is one of the palest timbers Australia can offer. Both of these are Qld trees.

Hope this helps - good luck.

Jeremy.

Lillian · Post by **Lillian** » Fri Sep 11, 2009 1:44 pm

What does PNG rosewood look like under a finish?

Allen · Post by **Allen** » Fri Sep 11, 2009 4:17 pm

This uke is New Guinea Rosewood. Americans tend to call it Narra.

viewtopic.php?t=1897

Paul B · Post by **Paul B** » Fri Sep 11, 2009 5:58 pm

We also call it Solomon Islands Rosewood, a lot of it comes from there.

It's pretty inexpensive down here, makes great necks too. I think I pay about $9 per neck blank in good quarter sawn, straight grained, rough sawn form.

Gerard Gilet has been using it for years too. He frequents the same lumber yard as I do. That'd be Anagote's for anyone in Sydney.

Allen · Post by **Allen** » Fri Sep 11, 2009 6:11 pm

Very inexpensive. We get all the off cuts from a local joinery mob, and some of it is bloody magnificent. There has been a English Rocking Horse building course put on at the Cairns Woodworkers Guild recently, and many of the horses have been built with NGR. They look maginificent. I've been spraying one of them for Joe, who is a member of the forum, and is taking the Uke course.

The neck on my Size 5 is NGR and it's it's my favorite to use. The grain can be straight or very interlocking, and sometimes difficult to deal with by a plane blade, but it does sand brilliantly, and isn't overly hard, so easy to work this way.

Should be one of our best kept secrets, but seems word is getting out. Let' just try to keep it quiet for a little longer, or we're going to end up paying and arm and a leg for it.

Lillian · Post by **Lillian** » Fri Sep 11, 2009 9:37 pm

Allen, what is the light and dark wood in your rope binding?

Allen · Post by **Allen** » Sat Sep 12, 2009 5:46 am

It's Maple / Rosewood / Koa that I had Micheal Gurian build for me. I put together a group buy for the Moderators, and Micheal Connor and I split the rope binding order.

Lillian · Post by **Lillian** » Sat Sep 12, 2009 7:53 am

Allen, it looks like there are four different woods.

Well, using Allen's guitar as a guilde, I'd say that the dark rosewood would go great as well was whatever the darker reddish wood is. So, what about Jarrah, Gidgee, Mulga, Red Forest Gum or Red River Gum?

Taffy Evans · Post by **Taffy Evans** » Sat Sep 12, 2009 12:21 pm

Hi Lillian, some time ago I was experimenting with grain filling on NGR samples. Here they are: unfinished, finished in NC lacquer and a shellac/wax finish

Allen · Post by **Allen** » Sat Sep 12, 2009 4:24 pm

The lamination for the rope binding is Rosewood / Koa / Maple / Koa then it repeats itself.

Lillian · Post by **Lillian** » Sun Sep 13, 2009 12:43 am

Its beautiful. That's a difficult wood to label with a color. Its golden yes, but I wouldn't call it blonde, it not really brown and yeah, there's some red in there as well. Its a medium-light hue that is beautiful. I'd still go with a darker color that brings out the various shades of the wood. The darker reddish koa in Allen's binding goes nicely as well as the darker rosewood.

Taffy, thanks for the visuals. I can't see much of a difference between the shellac and the NC lacquer which is kinda cool.

liam_fnq · Post by **liam_fnq** » Sun Sep 13, 2009 1:56 pm

A little more is done, I hope to get the box closed late this afternoon.

taff, those samples have come up a treat.

The top is braced, carved and is now having the Tas Oak bridge plate glued in.

i thought i'd throw in a photo of the inside with one coat of minwax wipe on poly to seal it from the tropics. might give some idea of the colour to expect on the finished instument.

jeffhigh · Post by **jeffhigh** » Sun Sep 13, 2009 4:46 pm

Hi Liam ,
Lookin good so far.
I Hope you plan on some braces beside the soundhole and between the UTB and headblock, looks a bit vulnerable there at the moment

liam_fnq · Post by **liam_fnq** » Sun Sep 13, 2009 5:35 pm

jeff, can you give me a bit more detail on bracing thoughts, i'm quite the novice.

the old oscar schmit stellas and others similar were some times braced with less.

the fingerboard will be floating w/ adjustable neck join, so not so much downward force on sound board above the sound hole.

also, this is a very small body
length: 420mm
upper bout width: 200mm
lower width: 280mm

jeffhigh · Post by **jeffhigh** » Sun Sep 13, 2009 5:53 pm

I build mine with a floating fingerboard adjustable neck arrangement too. Most of the force from the neck goes straight into the top and attempts to push this section into the soundhole and can shear the top though on a line parallel to the sides of the neck.
I brace mine with diagonal braces from neck block to UTB to distribute the force to the side of the soundhole and then braces beside the soundhole to reinforce this area.
Doesn't really matter that it is a small body, the forces in this area are the same and yours is worse in being a 12 string.this is how I do mine

ozziebluesman · Post by **ozziebluesman** » Sun Sep 13, 2009 10:13 pm

G'day Liam,

I found this on the MIMF forum. It is a view of the top bracing of an original Stella 12 string. If you research this lead a little more you may be able to get some more info. Here is the link:

http://www.mimf.com/link.htm

Cheers

Alan

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