Blackwood and King Billy 000

[Bob Connor]

Another 000 finished. This one's going back from whence it grew.

It's for Britton Brothers (sawmillers), Smithton in Tassie and will grace the walls of their office.

Pity really because it sounds great . It's a typical King Billy sounding guitar. The bottom end is not big but is adequate and the mids and highs are very sweet with lots of overtones.

I usually put King Billy on Parlour guitars so this is the first 000 and it's probably the largest guitar shape that I would put King Billy on.

It's also the first instrument I've finished with the lattice bracing in the lower bout. It has double laminated sides and Cheesewood bindings.

When I first put strings on it the notes were as dead as a door nail when fretting. Open strings were fine. Turns out the Blackwood fingerboard was a bit soft and the frets had to be superglued in. I'll be doing that as standard from here on in.

It also has a Blackwood bridge.

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[PHANTOM]

Very nice mate seems a shame to hang it on the wall.




Wayne

[P Bill]

Very nice geetar Bob . The Blackwood figure is really in scale with the body . I think someone will be playing it soon enough .

[Kim]

Lovely bit of work there Bob, I like the overall look and how the colour of the billy top marries in the shades of the bridge and FB with the back and sides and all is well framed by the bindings...very tasteful ol son

Cheers

Kim

[liam_fnq]

I love the look of that King Billie top. The slightly pink hue has a real fleshy look to it.

Hey Bob, what are your thoughts on blackwood as bridge/fretboard material? Did you use some particularly dense stuff?

[Bob Connor]

Liam - I would probably never use Blackwood as a fingerboard material again.

I used it on this one because it would spend most of it's life hanging on a wall
with the occasional luthier who was at Brittons looking for wood giving it some
closer scrutiny.

If you wanted to use Blackwood I'd get Queensland grown Blackwood. I have
some that is extremely dense. it seems to grow that way in hotter climates but
the tree doesn't grow as big as it does in Victoria or Tasmania.

I'd use the Queensland stuff for bridges as well. The bridge on this one was around 20 grams.
I usually like to use closer to 30 grams.

I did take some liberties and some tried a few different things on this instrument because it
was essentially going to be a piece of artwork as opposed to being a working instrument.

It still sounds and plays fine but you wouldn't want to be gigging with it 5 nights a week.

[Lillian]

It turned out to be a beaut Bob, but I don't think you could make an ugly guitar.

Did any of your "liberties" turn into "must try again"?

[Bob Connor]

Thanks all. I'm very happy with this one.

Lillian - most of the liberties were taken on the top. Carbon fibre on the upper transverse brace and the lattice bracing in the lower bout. The lattice braces are quite small 3mm x 5mm (.118" x .196")

The bridge plate is laminated (Osage Orange and Honduran Rosewood) It's also wider than I normally do to stop the bridge rotating and so I can lighten up the bracing in the lower bout.

The A bracing I don't normally use and the there is a solid patch of King Billy around the soundhole.

So it's much more robust in the area from the bridge plate to the A brace. It's what I'm calling "the corridor of uncertainty", That is the area that is most likely to be deformed by the relentless pull of the strings and the bridge rotating and trying to collapse that area between the soundhole and itself.

I'm quite happy with how things are sounding so far. in fact I'm about to string up an 0-18 that I've done the same treatment on so I'll have a bit more of an idea then. On the 0-18 I didn't scallop the edges of the upper transverse brace either. Just ran them to the sides with a piece of spruce glued to the sides to support them.

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[Lillian]

Thanks Bob. This is one of those threads that will get squirrel away so I don't lose it.

[Stephen Kinnaird]

Good stuff, Bob!
Say, that top looks just like mine. Are they from the same billet?

Steve

[Bob Connor]

Indeed they are closely related and from the same billet Steve.