Members Freeman Keller Posted January 27, 2015 Members Share Posted January 27, 2015 I was out in the shop minding my own business when a friend popped in with some wood in his hands. He'd been shopping on evil bay and scored some rosewood, which he dropped on the workbench. You can have the Madagascar, he said, I want you to build something for me out of the Braz. Well, sure, of course, I said, what do you want? How about building two identical parlors, just make the wood different, say he, altho a double ought would be kind of nice too. OK, let me think about it, I says. It is tempting to use as much of that Braz as possible, but neither of us has a parlor so that's kind of tempting too. Here is the wood (the wet spot is where I rubbed some alcohol on it to bring out the grain) and I have some really nice Lutz spruce squirrelled away To be continued..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kwakatak Posted January 27, 2015 Members Share Posted January 27, 2015 Ooooooh! o-O Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Idunno Posted January 28, 2015 Members Share Posted January 28, 2015 I think I'd go as large as I could. Parlors have such a small sound. Chipmunks. But, the customer is always right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DeepEnd Posted January 28, 2015 Members Share Posted January 28, 2015 I'd also be inclined toward a 00 but then I'd probably want a 0000 anyway and I'm neither the builder nor the customer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kwakatak Posted January 28, 2015 Members Share Posted January 28, 2015 I have to agree. 00 is the smallest I'd go so I'd be hard for customers to work with. No skulls this time, I hope? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarist21 Posted January 28, 2015 Members Share Posted January 28, 2015 Wow, FK, that is some gorgeous wood. Can't wait to see how this plays out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kwakatak Posted February 17, 2015 Members Share Posted February 17, 2015 Has this gone anywhere, Freeman? I hope you were able to talk him into a double-ought. It seems a shame to waste so much of that wood unless you somehow were able to use it for ornamentation like a fancy rosette? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted February 17, 2015 Author Members Share Posted February 17, 2015 I loaned him my daughters little guitar for a couple of weeks while I went skiing. I wanted to make sure that he really liked it and would be happy with it. He said that he is and that his daughter loves it - so I think I am going to build that size. I do need the send the sides off to be sanded to thickness - I used to be able to have that done at my local cabinet shop but they got a new sander that won't go thin enough. It will cost more to send it to LMI and back but I know they will do it right. I'll order the rest of the wood at that time to save shipping. One small reason to go with the parlor size is that I also get one out of the deal - remember that the Mad Rose is mine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Queequeg Posted February 19, 2015 Members Share Posted February 19, 2015 OK, I'm following this with interest and anticipation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarcapo Posted February 20, 2015 Members Share Posted February 20, 2015 Usually if I'm in that situation I will seek out another set that's smaller and use that, instead of cutting down a larger set. Save the larger set for later.Maybe even score a wedge and be able to go bigger. Brazilian being so precious these days. I wish you were closer. I could trade you some smaller Brazilian rosewood sets of the same or better quality for that one to avoid cutting down a larger set. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted May 1, 2015 Author Members Share Posted May 1, 2015 Progress report. I took a couple of pictures to show my friend what had (or had not) been done with his wood. Thought I might as well post them here too The Madagascar back has been joined and braces glued on. The sides are bent and kerfed The Brazilian has only been joined, here it is with a couple of rough necks. The Braz will wait for the mold to get free And today I put rosettes in both tops Slowly but slowly.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted June 24, 2015 Author Members Share Posted June 24, 2015 Not much interest in this but there has been some progress That's the Madagascar on the left, Brazilian on the right. Boxes are closed and ready to be bound, necks are roughly shaped and fitted. Lots of things getting in the way of progress Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members pk1fan Posted June 24, 2015 Members Share Posted June 24, 2015 Thank's for the update ! I now have internet at HOME so maybe i can hang out more with the granola and sandals crowd . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mikeo Posted June 24, 2015 Members Share Posted June 24, 2015 Looks like two sweet guitars in the process. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members All The Same Posted June 24, 2015 Members Share Posted June 24, 2015 Wow! Those look incredible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted June 24, 2015 Author Members Share Posted June 24, 2015 Thank's for the update ! I now have internet at HOME so maybe i can hang out more with the granola and sandals crowd . Just finished a bowl of granola (with blueberrys from the bush) and I've got my sandals on. Welcome to the club. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 That's the Madagascar on the left, Brazilian on the right. Boxes are closed and ready to be bound, necks are roughly shaped and fitted. Lots of things getting in the way of progress That Brazilian rosewood is drop-dead gorgeous, and instantly recognizable - especially sitting side by side with the Madagascar! Beautiful work as usual Mr Keller! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mrbrown49 Posted June 24, 2015 Members Share Posted June 24, 2015 Glad you linked to this over in EG or I would have missed all the fun. The carving on the bracing looks really nice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted June 25, 2015 Author Members Share Posted June 25, 2015 That Brazilian rosewood is drop-dead gorgeous, and instantly recognizable - especially sitting side by side with the Madagascar! Beautiful work as usual Mr Keller! Thanks Phil - here is another shot of the two backs. Frankly I think they are drop dead gorgeous each in its own way. So, here is a question (that the owner of the Braz guitar just asked me) - am I going to stain the necks? Martin usually does stain mahogany necks to match the color on Rosewood guitars - I've done that on most of mine. Each of these will get a headplate in the same wood as the body and the little piece on the back of the neck heel. Any thoughts - stain or not? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DeepEnd Posted June 25, 2015 Members Share Posted June 25, 2015 ^ Back in the 70's a friend had a Yairi that was pretty much a copy of a D41. It had an unstained neck and I always thought it looked cool that way. I think I'd leave the neck on the Madagascar unstained but probably stain the one on the Brazilian. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members t_e_l_e Posted June 25, 2015 Members Share Posted June 25, 2015 not exactly knowing what staining mean, but i guess matching color somehow with the back... actually from the pictures, the neck with a lighter color than the body looks great, i would keep it that way. but it all depends on the whole guitar, will you finish the top? what kind of bindings? if you keep the "unfinished" top there might be too much different colors involved.... but heck yeah, keep the contrast between neck and body, somehow i think this is a good idea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Grant Harding Posted June 25, 2015 Members Share Posted June 25, 2015 This is really cool! They're both very nice looking so far! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted June 25, 2015 Author Members Share Posted June 25, 2015 Here is what I was talking about with staining the neck. This was my daughter's parlor, built quite a few years ago. The body is East Indian Rosewood and the neck mahogany - here I'm applying a redish brown stain and here is the neck and body together I like the effect with the redder Madagascar but not sure about the Braz - it has quite a bit more brown. The obvious thing to do is mix up some stain and try it on scrap when it comes time to do the finishing (which is a long way off but since my client was asking I thought I would pose the question here) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members pk1fan Posted June 25, 2015 Members Share Posted June 25, 2015 Glad to be back ! Fresh blueberries are always good for breakfast . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 I like the sort of two-tone look of the neck, with the redder mahogany in the middle fading into a darker stain that more closely matches the deep brown of the Brazilian rosewood at the neck heel and the back of the headstock. I think that would look much better than a natural, or all "red" type mahogany neck - especially for the Braz-backed guitar. PS If you have time sometime, I'd still love to hear more about how you shape a neck and get the symmetrical profile you want. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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