sequoia
Well-known member
If I was actually a professional luthier I would have starved to death long ago. This thing took me over a month to build. I work slower that even Ken does.
The experiment: Use a piece of torrefied spruce (terrified spruce?) to see how it worked, looked and sounded. The sides and back were made from an old guitar kit from LMI purchased about 30 years ago and never used. I realized if I tried to build a guitar I was going to end up with ruined wood and a disaster. Thus it sat in my closet all these years until now.
The terrified spruce was interesting to work with. Very fragile and any self inflicted injuries like a thumb nail or a scraper hitting the top made serious damage and a lot of swearing. If I worked with this stuff again I would protect the top at all times with plastic or cardboard. Just look at it and it dents. Tear out was always a concern, but I slathered on the shellac when routing and it behaved well. Odd smell. About what you expect from cooked spruce. Extremely stiff. Didn't sand out particularly well. Wanted to feather and had to be tamed with a couple or three of “raise the grain” wet sandings until it sanded out white and smooth with 400. The stuff is dry and the grain brittle.
Turned out nicely I think and the sound is fantastic.
Note above that the Indian rosewood has changed color over the years. The purples and reds have changed to a darker chocolate brown. Still pretty, but nothing like it was 30 years ago. So it goes with tropical hardwoods. At least now it is stable.
Above is bit of koa I retrieved from the trash as an end graft splice. Looks like a tree to me. Never throw those bit and pieces away. Never know when a bit here or there will work. Note error on the binding splice.... deep sigh. I can do better, but always a tough little join for me to pull off.
Cocobolo on the peghead.
Probably best picture of how the top looks under natural light. A lovely honey brown with a clear shellac finish. No "classic amber" dye needed. It really does look like it is 30 years old... The sound is extremely good and the uke very "alive". I'm very pleased.
The experiment: Use a piece of torrefied spruce (terrified spruce?) to see how it worked, looked and sounded. The sides and back were made from an old guitar kit from LMI purchased about 30 years ago and never used. I realized if I tried to build a guitar I was going to end up with ruined wood and a disaster. Thus it sat in my closet all these years until now.
The terrified spruce was interesting to work with. Very fragile and any self inflicted injuries like a thumb nail or a scraper hitting the top made serious damage and a lot of swearing. If I worked with this stuff again I would protect the top at all times with plastic or cardboard. Just look at it and it dents. Tear out was always a concern, but I slathered on the shellac when routing and it behaved well. Odd smell. About what you expect from cooked spruce. Extremely stiff. Didn't sand out particularly well. Wanted to feather and had to be tamed with a couple or three of “raise the grain” wet sandings until it sanded out white and smooth with 400. The stuff is dry and the grain brittle.
Turned out nicely I think and the sound is fantastic.
Note above that the Indian rosewood has changed color over the years. The purples and reds have changed to a darker chocolate brown. Still pretty, but nothing like it was 30 years ago. So it goes with tropical hardwoods. At least now it is stable.
Above is bit of koa I retrieved from the trash as an end graft splice. Looks like a tree to me. Never throw those bit and pieces away. Never know when a bit here or there will work. Note error on the binding splice.... deep sigh. I can do better, but always a tough little join for me to pull off.
Cocobolo on the peghead.
Probably best picture of how the top looks under natural light. A lovely honey brown with a clear shellac finish. No "classic amber" dye needed. It really does look like it is 30 years old... The sound is extremely good and the uke very "alive". I'm very pleased.
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