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Build thread - koa tricone


Freeman Keller

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While I have carved my own necks on a couple of my other builds, frankly it is a giant PITA and I was never totally satisfied. A quick call to Chris at Hanalei Moon and I had ordered a 5 piece neck with a lovely maple backstripe, Martin style volute and the modified vee that I happen to like. I love the artistry of faceting a neck with a spoke shave, but frankly, here is where a CNC mill shines.

 

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I already had a nice 25.4 fretboard (again, mitering the fret slots is something I would prefer to have LMI do for me

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very nice... par for the FK course... of course... 8^)

 

as a side note... my dad has been wanting a tri-cone for sometime... well the local shop he does all the repairs and setups for got one in- a regal metal body... they gave him a good deal so he bought it... and now had decided that it is just not for him... the main issue is the 12 fret to the body neck. so he is planning on selling it now... i am just wondering how long i should wait before i attempt to borrow it... i'll just covet from afar for now 8^)

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I use the cool StewMac stepped router bits in my laminate trimmer (probably the most important power tool for a home builder) ...

 

Great thread, FK. Never heard of this tool before. Looks like it's smaller than a router and bigger than a Dremel.

 

The other day I made a dog-dish holder for my dog out of Ipe. Used a Dremel to cut the recesses where the bowl would sit. The bit kept catching. My lines look worse than a kid's crayon drawing.

 

I don't understand how you guys make these clean channels for the binding and inlays. If I ever try to build a guitar, I think I'll leave those parts out. :)

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Thank you everyone.

 

I had the rare pleasure the other night of hosting a little jam at my house - in attendence were a dobro player from Nashville and friend who is probably one of the better jazz/rock/blues players in my little community. I had most of the guitars that I haven't given away out on stands for people to noodle around with, but they kept coming back to the tricone.

 

The Nashville cat played it lap style with a Shubb steel - a very nice rendition of Steel Guitar Rag, the local played it in every tuning and style from Gypsy jazz in standard to Michael Hedges slapping in DADGAD to some pretty raunchy bottlenecking. I reluctantly tried a few bluesy things - open D and G - altho Robert Johnson never played a reso his stuff sounds pretty good on one.

 

I kick myself for not just turning the recorder on for the three hours, but didn't so all I can say is that little guitar surpassed every expectation I had when I built it - it did everything well. It is loud and nasty when played with finger picks and a broken bottle, but quiet and subdue when played with flesh and nails. I don't think I've ever heard a reso in DADGAD - but it had that bag pipe drone that makes that tuning so cool. And I could even hear Django in some of those unpronounceable chords that my friend played in his jazz forms.

 

Its hard to describe the sound - we all know the difference between a spider and a biscuit - this critter is somewhere in between. It has a long attack and sustain like a spider, but a bit more of the cone sound. Played gently it is almost acoustic sounding, played hard it is gritty as hell. It is far more balanced between the bass and trebles than a single cone. I've played both old and new metal tricones - I really prefer the sound of the wood on this one. Everyone was raving about the sound - all I can say is it was blind stupid luck.

 

I'll try to get some clips up at the Annex and after watching my friend keep coming back to this guitar over all the others I figure I've got a project building one for him.

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Beautiful, Freeman. I dig your headstock FK logo, too.

Tri-cones are way cool.

 

And I know you didn't carve that neck, but nice one and that's a great tiger skunk-stripe down the center.

 

Are we going to get to hear this baby? huh? Are we?

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I'm kind of in a similar situation as you. I build guitars in my garage as a hobby. But I often use CNC carved necks and parts when it's cheaper or just not cost efficient to build that part from scratch (like dovetail blocks, kerfing, fretboards, tailpieces and bridges etc.) If I can buy an ebony pyramid bridge off ebay for 15.00.....and an ebony bridge blank costs $5. I have to think a bit whether I want to go through the trouble of making one from scratch to save $10 etc...Necks is another matter. I can buy them all ready to go for not much more than the general price of a mahogany billet it seems like these days. At least the ones large enough to make a one-piece neck.

 

I built a few kits when I started out, but I quickly decided to get away from making the guitar exactly like the plan was. What's the point of making an exact copy of a d-28 when you can just buy one and there are even copies of those out there?

 

I have to admit that I'd never attempt something as complicated as a resonator guitar. Too much hardware. It looks fantastic and I really like that type of koa. Flame combined with the color striping. It just screams: "Hawaii"

I know in the wood world, that curly flamey tight stuff is considered top grade but in my opinion it sort of approaches what you can get with flame maple and a bit of dye. The stuff on your guitar is undeniably koa from across the room.....and lets face it....Hawaii and slide guitar belong together.

 

I wouldn't begin to know how to make a good sounding resonator. I know there's lots of lore among resonator people about "spun cones" and the "biscuit" being of this or that material. I do know that the tricones are highly regarded, ad just plain look cooler.

 

I really need to get back in the shop.....

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