My new 12 fret 000 - in the white

[Paul B]

Here's a sneak peek at my latest. Still a few more things to do to finish it off.

It's a 12 fret 000 as per the stewmac plans.

Stats:

Back and sides: Sapele form Don

Top: euro spruce from ebay braced with Adi from Steve at Colonial.

Neck: New Guinea Rosewood, known to you northeners as Narra, from the local lumber yard.

Head plate, fret board, rosette, and bridge is Myall I picked up at the Sydney Working With Wood show a few years ago.

Bindings are Minerrichi (yet another desert acacia) from Tim at Australian Tonewoods. These are pretty highly flamed but that doesn't show up so much in the shitty pix.





As you can see I still need to set the neck and bung on a heel cap, not to mention put some finish on.

The pix are pretty crappy I know, forgot to bring the work camera home last night. You can see from my post the other day what the bridge looks like, well the head plate, fret board, rosette, and back strap all are from the same plank.

This is the first guitar I've made since I got the voicing and advanced voicing dvds from John Mayes. Can't wait to string it up, at which point I'll post some much better pix.

Have a good weekend you lot.

[Bob Connor]

Very, very nice Paul.

That minerrichi is very tasty stuff.

That's going to be a real tasty, classic instrument.

Bob

[Paul B]

Thanks Bob.

Minerrichi, at least the highly flamed stuff like this is a little difficult to bend, and prone to fracture due to the hardness and short grain. But is wonderful to work otherwise. So hard and dense, once you sand it to shape it almost feels like plastic, as does the myall. I took that bridge into work to show a couple of people who were interested. Got comments like "it feels like plastic" and " it's just so tactile you want to touch it and feel it all day" and it's pretty to look at.

In person this minerrichi looks like flamed Koa bindings, but chocolate brown instead of golden. It just adds to the colour palette that's available to us. Tim was great, I asked if he had anything available and he sent me some pix of different coloured boards and said I could have my pick of board and he'd saw it in what ever orientation I wanted. Great service, great guy!

I think most of my guitar building in the future will be an investigation into local timbers. But I need a few instruments out of traditional timbers for comparison purposes. I'm hoping this forum works out 'cause I'm thinking of doing most of my posting here - I'm not real comfortable at the OLF anymore, I dunno why. And that's not a criticism of the OLF and it's moderators, perhaps the OLF has just out grown me.

Still disappointed with the quality of the pix, but I guess it was just a "sneak peek" after all. I'll borrow my father-inlaws 10 megapixel monster in future.

Anyway, gotta go clean the pool - it's gonna be a scorcher here today and my daughter tells me she wants to have a swim.

[Bob Connor]

Thirsty work that pool cleaning stuff Paul. Hope Le Fridge is stocked.

I'm with you on the local timbers. The only thing that we haven't got here is a choice of top woods other than King Billy, or Bunya. I'm not sold on the Bunya and the King Billy, as you know, is quite difficult to come by these days.

Bob

[Paul B]

I hear ya, and the last thing we want to do is create an international demand for King Billy pine when it's already so hard to get.

Though, if Gunn's hadn't got the go ahead for their pulp mill the other day there might have been more available, instead it'll be turned into toilet paper. But now I'm getting political.

And you've raised a good point - Le fridge is depleted, I guess I better go do something about that

[BillyT]

Great work all the way around! I like the Narra neck, thats real good look'in!

I hear what you say about the OLF I think it's kind of going to more of a business than a place for guys just to hang and talk guitars... whatever! It feels more comfortable over here! Nothing bad about the OLF mind you just feels different.

That bunya is a real nice wood. Never seen any here in the USA, ever! I've heard some use it for soundboards have any of you guys heard any difference in bunya opposed to spruce/redwood.

Too bad we couldn't leave guitars in the white they sure look good that way!

[Dave Anderson]

It Looks Excellent Paul! I really like 12 fret, short scale guitars.
In fact,Thats my next build,and It's for Me !!
Love the shape of this one and Great looking woods.

[Ron Wisdom]

Paul, that looks really fine from Arkansas. Nice choice of woods.

Ron

[Serge]

Nice job Paul, looks really neat and sweet, i think this combo will yield great sound!

Serge

[Craig]

G'day Paul, This one sure is coming along nicely . Great choice of woods all around . Your workmanship is really showing here
I know I've said it before mate , but your've got great taste. Another class imstrument.

[Hesh1956]

Now that Paul has used the word "shitty" I feel right at home here too.....

Paul your OOO looks fantastic my friend and I am sure that you will notice the fruits of your labor from the Mayes voicing DVD too. My first guitar that I built after buying the video was much more open right off the bench than the previous guitars.

It is just so very difficult for some of us like me to get the idea that we are not building bridges out of our heads and that light, stiff, and responsive is the goal.

I made a point a few guitars back out of sticking to local, traditional guitar building woods too. So this means lots of Honduran Mahogany, Brazilian Rosewood, Adi, and Lutz. What, BRW and HR are not local???? Time to tell Bush that there is WMD in Honduras and Brazil......... Wow - I got to swear and be political all in one post.........

[Arnt]

It's beautiful, gotta love those 12-fretters...

Who was the Ebay seller that you got the Euro spruce from? Do you know exactly where in Europe it came from? I'm working on a similar guitar now; 12 fret but my own take on the 000 shape.

[Rod True]

Paul that sure is looking great.

Is it just my imagination or the picture playing a trick on me or is this neck angle really set back alot?

[Paul B]

Thanks guys.

Arnt, I can't remember who sold me the wood, it was from someone in Australia tho. It might have been Barry Kerr from woodtone guitars. I've bought a lot of tonewood from him.

Rod, its just the camera angle, I haven't set the neck yet.

[Kim]

Look'in great Paul,

What a classy little guitar this one will be, the slothead 000's have so much appeal but we do need some better quality pics when she's done so that we can appreciate the workmanship and that wonderful Minerrichi.

Cheers

Kim

[Dennis Leahy]

...I think most of my guitar building in the future will be an investigation into local timbers.

Paul, after seeing what Tim Spittle has, I'd say some of your local timbers are among the finest and most beautiful in the world.

The tiny bit of experience I have as a player, playing similar instruments using different back and side woods, tells me that the adage that the soundboard is producing the vast majority of the sound is correct. Of course that means that myriad species can be investigated as back and side wood, and if the wood is stable and takes a bend, it should work. Beyond that is just an artist's palette of grain, color, texture, and figure options. I'm sure it's also true that a glassy, resonant wood or a deader more sound absorptive wood will loan some "tone color" to the overall timbre of the instrument, and it appears to me that you have quite a few options for stunningly beautiful and perfectly serviceable timbers in your own back yard.

Dennis