This one will be a dog

[Dave White]

Inspired by the Greenfield brothers in Canada in the 1920-1930's:



and modern builders such as Paddy Burgin, and nagged by my daughter Martha to make her one as soon as she saw the clips on Youtube of Paddy Burgin playing the instrument he made, I've embarked on making a double necked acoustic lap-slide guitar. As usual I want to do this my own way and in my own style. After playing around with different concepts, I've decided to make it a similar size to a normal lapslide but to go with a ladder braced top, one soundhole and a deeper body - just over 4". The name of this instrument is "Orthus" - in Greek he was the two headed, serpent tailed dog of Geryon, the three headed giant king of Erytheia. Orphus was also the father of the Sphynx. I got a couple of very nice Khaya harp guitar sets that will be the top, back and sides. The binding will be curly eucalyptus (from Uncle Bob) and the fingerboards some nice African walnut. Here's a few pics of where it is currently at - I've put a page on my website here documenting the build:

The rim-set - there is a "neck-block" in between the two hollow necks and this has slots cut to take a pair of carbon fibre "flying buttress braces that will be anchored to the sides just below the waist. The sides weren't quite long enough so it is a three piece. The end grafts are bwb/curly eucalyptus/ Old Rio Rosewood, and the peghead veneers Old Rio Rosewood:








Starting to thickness the top and backs:



Thanks for looking.

[Hesh1956]

No dog there - it looks great Dave mon!!!!

So you are not going to do the butt crack end wedge that the original had?

[Dave White]

Hesh,

No - that's Howard Klepper territory Also the thought of having to floss out the dirt as part of general maintenance doesn't really appeal - "stick it where the sunburst don't shine" would take on a whole (or is that hole) new meaning

[Allen]

Really interesting and inspiring stuff Dave. I see that both will be 6 strings, so I assume that one will use a different tuning?

[Dave White]

Allen,

Yes - Open G and Open D seem the obvious choice or minor key variants but I suspect there will be a lot of interesting combinations to be found. DADDAD (a la John Butler) with DADF#AD or DADGAD. It's got some similarities to harp guitar territory with sympathetic strings ringing, but with different open tunings it would be a great instrument to have in Irish Sessions where tunes go from D to G in mid-set.

Future instruments could be waiting - one neck a longer scale baritone, or harp guitar type with longer tuned down sub bass strings. That's the fun about instrument making - the possibilities are only limited by your imagination, building skills and time. I love it

[Bob Connor]

That'll be one stunning double neck when finish Dave.

Do you reckon Jimmy Page'll be interested.

Bob

[Sam Price]

Future instruments could be waiting - one neck a longer scale baritone, or harp guitar type with longer tuned down sub bass strings. That's the fun about instrument making - the possibilities are only limited by your imagination, building skills and time. I love it

Agreed- the only person restricting the process is the person building them- and it involves traveling WAAYYY outside the comfort zone...don't ask me how I know this!

Amazing work already Dave- love keeping up with what you're building at the moment.


Something I forgot to ask you sometime back Dave- that brown tape you fix your bindings with- can you buy that stuff in the UK?

I can't seem to locate it anywhere, unless I am looking in all the wrong places....

[kiwigeo]

Nice looking twin neck Weissy there Dave.

Look forwad to pics of the finished instrument.

Cheers Martin

[Dave White]

Bob - it's probably one neck short for Jimmy

Sam - I think I've tried about all of the tapes available in the UK and none of them really work well. I get either the Stew-mac one or the LMI one depending where I'm getting stuff from at the time. They seem to be the same stuff. I couldn't be without this stuff and use on average one roll per guitar - tent-joining tops and backs, binding etc, etc.

Martin - thanks.

[ozziebluesman]

I love to watch a craftsman like yourself create an instrument. I will be watching your build with much interest.

Thanks for sharing

Cheers

Alan

[Ron Wisdom]

Wow, Dave, that's really, really cool. If I had one of those, I'd tune in open G and open E. Open G cause that's how my banjo is tuned and open E because I can play "Steel Guitar Rag" already in that key.

I love it!!

Ron

[Dave White]

Alan,

Thanks - you are doing pretty well yourself and I'm enjoying watching your Weiss come along.

Ron,

Thanks. Why don't you make youself a dread with a banjo neck - then you could play "Duelling banjos" all by yourself

[Kim]

Great stuff as always Dave,

You have been one of my favorite builders over the last 3 to 4 years ever since I first started trawling these forums for info. Your work as a builder and skill as a player is a inspiration to many of us, always interesting and always beautifully executed in both departments.

Expect Dennis to get a little excited when he sets his eyes on the rear end of the original. It looks a lot like his first in that area, don't know if he needs to floss his wonderful Angeline though, anyway if he did he could always use an old G string





Cheers

Kim

[BillyT]

This is already going to be a great instrument! I can tell! Great design!

[Dave White]

Kim,

Thanks - I'm blushing but that could be the "horny" picture

I was thinking of Howard's "Naykd Laydie" which was a "sublimimal butt hint" rather than Dennis's "Angeline" full on crack:



Billy,

Thanks - I hope you are right. It's a bit of a leap in the dark, but hey

[Ron Wisdom]

Alan,

Thanks - you are doing pretty well yourself and I'm enjoying watching your Weiss come along.

Ron,

Thanks. Why don't you make youself a dread with a banjo neck - then you could play "Duelling banjos" all by yourself

Yeah, I will think on that!! Actually, I already play dueling banjos by myself, as I can't get anyone to play it with me.

Ron

[sebastiaan56]

Hi Dave,

Wow, there is still so much potential left in stringed instruments, keep pushing that edge mate. I will be watching with great interest. I always learn from your posts. thx

[Dennis Leahy]

Hi Dave,

Here in the USA, we don't speak English, but a bastard variant of English called "American", just to piss off you Brits. So, since we don't really speak the same language, I'm wondering if I am translating you correctly.

When we say something "is a dog" that means it is shitty, crappy, not good. I'm having a very difficult time believing that is what you mean, so please expound.

We use lots of animal expressions: loony (nuts), jackass (idiot), dead fish (boring), wolf (predator or stalker), sheep (follower), shark (ruthless), snake (sneaky), chicken (afraid) and in phrases like "bat out of hell", "eagle eye", "free as a bird", and "dumb as an ox".

We even occasionally make up colloquialisms, such as "skinny as a snake fart."

We say something "is a bear" if it is difficult. I'm guessing that building this double necked acoustic lap-slide guitar will be a bear, but I'll bet a few farthings that it will NOT be a dog!

And yes, Kim, as soon as I saw that butt on the Greenfield brothers guitar, I realized once again that I am re-inventing everything I think I am inventing. I'm probably synthesizing at best! Now I know what happened to my old G-string!

Go Dave!

Dennis

[Tom Morici]

Dave,

Like Dennis, I am confused by your "Dog" statement. Of course you could
look at it as, a dog is man's best friend.

I do like what I see so far, I am a big fan of your unique builds.

On the subject of "rear end" theme guitars!

Here is one, a friend of mine built.



Tom

[Kim]

On the subject of "rear end" theme guitars!

Here is one, a friend of mine built.

Wow Tom! That's got me wondering what the action is like on the other side

Cheers

Kim

[Dave White]

Ron - time for you to post a sound clip of that I think

Sebastian - Thanks.

Dennis,

Thanks. Over here in Europe we have a healthy appreciation and use of irony - unfortunately it seemed not to be a favourite of those that colonised the Americas and so appears to have got lost over there If you read what the instrument is called and why - that's why named the thread title as I did. Take your time though - the process of holding two different but simultaneous meanings in your head can freak you a little sometimes

Then again, I could be just hedging my bets in case its bark is worse than its bite.

Tom,

Thanks. I bet that guitar has a strong bottom end

[Sam Price]

Dave, will you be exhibiting at the Cheltenham guitar festival again this year? (if there is one...?)

[Dennis Leahy]

Over here in Europe we have a healthy appreciation and use of irony - unfortunately it seemed not to be a favourite of those that colonised the Americas and so appears to have got lost over there

Yes, but when the second British Invasion (the Beatles) hit our shores, irony was rekindled. (..."life goes on within you and without you...") It was with a tip of my bowler and tongue firmly in cheek that I predicted that your own Orthus, the two headed dog, will be a songbird in dog's clothing, not a bird dog baying at the moon. And, I hope not too much of a bear to assemble.

Dennis

[Dave White]

Dave, will you be exhibiting at the Cheltenham guitar festival again this year? (if there is one...?)

Sam,

Yes I will. September 13-14. Keep an eye on their website.

[Dave Anderson]

Very Interesting project there Dave ! I sure can't wait to hear a clip of this one.