Gee that's a big guitar

Craig · Post by **Craig** » Mon Jun 02, 2008 8:52 am

Too cool Matthew ! Fantastic work , as usual .

matthew · Post by **matthew** » Tue Jun 03, 2008 11:23 pm

Cleaned up a bit and stippled. And yes, what you see on the bench in the bg is a life-size colour print of the original.

kiwigeo · Post by **kiwigeo** » Tue Jun 03, 2008 11:34 pm

Bldi nice piece of work Matthew....I love it.

Colin S · Post by **Colin S** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 12:45 am

Matthew, I'm really enjoying the progress shots of your DB, I love the carving part of my lute making, the 3D work on the rose and the carving work on the pegboxes. I've just started carving the dolphin-form peg boxes for an archlute so I appreciated the time and patience that it takes.

My first violin is nearly ready for stringing up, (first time in my building career where the varnish has cost more than the wood!), but I just can't imagine scaling it all up to that size.

I can't wait to see (and hear?) the finished product of your labours, superb stuff.

Colin

Allen · Post by **Allen** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 5:46 am

Wow.

sebastiaan56 · Post by **sebastiaan56** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 6:51 am

Matthew,

lovely work mate, its going to be a fabulous instrument.

We have a cello that has just moved in to our house and Im under pressure from the family to make that or a bass. No offence Matthew but I wont be show them your post, too much to live up to. Where do you get plans?

Sebastiaan

matthew · Post by **matthew** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 9:31 am

There's a book "So you want to make a double bass?" by Peter Chandler that you can get, also he sells plans at about $20 per set. The photos of the various models are in the back of the book. The book doesn't tell you all you need to know, there are gaps that your guitarbuilding experince will fill.

Cellos? Not so sure. Strad magazine posters I guess. Look up "the strad" website and see what they sell. You'll also need to hang out here: http://www.maestronet.com/forum

If you decide to make a bass prepare for a big wood bill

Jim Howell · Post by **Jim Howell** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 7:14 am

Matthew--

Very, very impressive build! Thanks for putting these pictures up for us to see -- its an incredible undertaking.

--Jim

Bob Connor · Post by **Bob Connor** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 1:34 pm

G'day Jim and welcome to the forum

matthew · Post by **matthew** » Sat Aug 23, 2008 10:40 pm

few pics for youse

ap404 · Post by **ap404** » Sat Aug 23, 2008 11:06 pm

Beautiful.

Cheers
A.P.

Allen · Post by **Allen** » Sun Aug 24, 2008 6:27 am

Simply gorgeous Matthew. I really like that understated purfling. How long before a finish starts to go on, and what sort of finish will it be?

matthew · Post by **matthew** » Sun Aug 24, 2008 8:23 am

well I have to decide whether to purfle the back as well or not ... its quite highly figured tas oak.

The finish I am planning is a special mixture of stringybark kino and hard shellac. And it will be antiqued.

PHANTOM · Post by **PHANTOM** » Sun Aug 24, 2008 9:32 pm

all looks great Im trying to build my first guitar and i thought that was a big undertaking. The work your doing is something else. I wouldnt even try anything that big. Good to know about the silky oak as well.

kiwigeo · Post by **kiwigeo** » Sun Aug 24, 2008 10:02 pm

Hey Matthew,

That bass is really starting to look good.....bloody marvellous mate. :serg

Cheers Martin

Bob Connor · Post by **Bob Connor** » Sun Aug 24, 2008 10:43 pm

Looking great Matthew. How long until you get strings on it?

matthew · Post by **matthew** » Sun Aug 24, 2008 10:54 pm

Strings???? It's supposed to be flute!

Bob Connor · Post by **Bob Connor** » Sun Aug 24, 2008 10:59 pm

I could have sworn it was a banjo.

Craig · Post by **Craig** » Mon Aug 25, 2008 9:03 am

Incredible work Matthew

Stu · Post by **Stu** » Mon Aug 25, 2008 6:57 pm

Yep Matthew, as everyone's stated your progress is looking
really great. You're kicking some serious rump with your building.
I think I've got that size envy thing going on as well

I noticed it's all sealed up now.............so where's the kayaker sit?

matthew · Post by **matthew** » Sun Nov 02, 2008 7:13 pm

French polishing using 50-50 hard shellac and stringybark kino!

nearly there

Below is the bass I am copying, and wanting to get very close in look. Thus, an aged, well-played look.

here's the back of the head:

ap404 · Post by **ap404** » Sun Nov 02, 2008 7:57 pm

Looking amazing Matthew!

Can I bring some gravel and a bike chain on 'ageing' day ??

Seriously tho, I can just imagine your joy - getting up on stage with that big ol' peanut one day, it has a beautiful, pre-historic look to the design...

Cheers, AP

kiwigeo · Post by **kiwigeo** » Sun Nov 02, 2008 7:59 pm

Hey Matthew, how are you finding french polishing with the Hard Shellac?

I used it on a recent build but didnt have a whole lot of success.

Cheers Martin

ap404 · Post by **ap404** » Sun Nov 02, 2008 8:05 pm

Also, can I get a sneak peek at the tuners ? How do you go finding ones to match such a future-relic ?

It'd look wonderful with the ebony knobs sticking out either side of the gears like some of those early DB tuners have ...

AP

Stu · Post by **Stu** » Sun Nov 02, 2008 8:07 pm

God damn frickin' WOW !!!!!!

That's alot of surface area to give a shellaccin' to.

I've always wondered about how to go about getting
an aged look, apart from time itself.
There's a definite art to getting it to that reliced pic. you're aiming for.
Any more recipes/secrets for us in that regard?

cheers, Stu

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Gee that's a big guitar

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