Tenor guitar build thread

[martintaylor]

Hi all,

I am building a Tenor guitar from my own plans. Thought I'd share some pics along the way.

Back and sides - River Red Gum (Eucalyptus camaldulensis)
Back bracing - Queensland Maple (Flindersia brayleyana)
Soundboard - King Billy Pine (Athrotaxis selaginoides}
Sound board bracing - Bunya Pine (Araucaria bidwillii)
Neck - Recycled Red Cedar
Fretboard - River Red Gum (Eucalyptus camaldulensis)
Binding - Recycled Silky Oak

Red Gum back bookmatched


Sides Bent and joined to blocks. Red gum is hard to bend! had to go to 195°C


Back bracing going on


Joining back to sides


Centre strip, side reinforcement done


Soundboard bracing done


Box closed

[GregL]

Hi Martin,

Looks great!
I'd definitely be interested to see more pics as your build progresses!

Thanks,
GregL.

[colburge]

Nice, I don't recall any other builds with river red gum, it will be interesting to see it with a finish next to Silky-oak bindings. You going to do another tru oil finish?

Col

[kiwigeo]

River Red gum...give that man a medal for bravery.

[KLW]

Tenors are darn fun, I've built two so far and I'm sure there are more to come. Yours looks great!

Kerry

[martintaylor]

Nice, I don't recall any other builds with river red gum, it will be interesting to see it with a finish next to Silky-oak bindings. You going to do another tru oil finish?
Col

Hi Col, I'll be doing the Danish Oil finish again. I have tested some scraps with the Red Gum and they look good.

River Red gum...give that man a medal for bravery.

haha, is it brave to be stupid? Bending the sides was tough but I got there in the end. Had to set the bending iron to 195°C before it would move.

I am enjoying the experiment so far, so hopefully she'll work out.

[kiwigeo]

Bending red gum......it's all about getting the stuff to bend before it catches fire

[Kamusur]

Bending red gum......it's all about getting the stuff to bend before it catches fire

Often by name and nature it's not called 'hardwood' for nothin

Steve

[martintaylor]

Some more progress pics

Binding channels routed


Silky Oak Bindings going on


Fretboard shaped in my jig. 12" radius.


Fret slots going in


Jig for routing the dovetail. Stewmac with base with some additions.


Starting to shape the neck. I love this part.


Old Martin style bridge for this one. RIver Red Gum.


Neck on, Frets in.


Ready for oiling. I use Danish Oil (6 coats) and then Carnuba Wax (2 coats)


Gotta love this part! I love seeing the timber come alive.


The River Red Gum back is looking nice too.

[colburge]

The silky bindings are a great combo with the redwood, l really like it, well done on another beautiful guitar.


Cheers

Col

[edrobins]

The timbers look beautiful, but what about the weight of the red gum? It is so dense, I'm wondering if the instrument will be on the heavy side. Ed.

[martintaylor]

The timbers look beautiful, but what about the weight of the red gum? It is so dense, I'm wondering if the instrument will be on the heavy side. Ed.

Hi Ed,

I've kept the back and sides pretty thin. When she's all finished I'll weigh her and see how I went. She still feels pretty light.

Martin

[slowlearner]

Looks fantastic.

What does the carnuba wax do for the oil finish?

[martintaylor]

Looks fantastic.
What does the carnuba wax do for the oil finish?

Hi Pete,

I use the wax to get a final hand buffed finish. Probably not completely necessary but I find it is an extra protective finish.

Martin

[martintaylor]

Here she is, all finished! Sounds amazing. Will hopefully get some sounds recorded soon.

[martintaylor]

So, finding a case for a Tenor Guitar is a little harder than expected. Off to the shed and now a case/road case is born.

[martintaylor]

Excuse the rudimentary playing but I finally did a recording of this Tenor. Give a man GarageBand and anything is possible! The link is an mp3.

http://martintaylorguitars.com.au/au...20Universe.mp3

[martintaylor]

oops, the link is broken, try this one http://martintaylorguitars.com.au/audio ... iverse.mp3

[Nick]

Love the sound of this little fella Martin, very 'folky' sort of feel to it, a very tight focussed sound,loving it. Good job

[Dennis Leahy]

Loved it, Martin!



Dennis