Ladies and gentleman- The Thumb buster!

Right, the harp guitar is all finished and at it's new home. Instead of putting up pictures of it outside my workshop, this time I can (hopefully) link to a video of it in action played by Paul Brett, who's idea and inspiration it was to get this thing up and running... again, the original harp guitar that this monster is based on dated from the 1890s and the concept hasn't been taken up since

It'll be on Paul's stand at the London Acoustic Guitar Show if you fancy giving it a try and I'll be hanging around too, so come and say hi!

well after a long journey in the back of at least 3 vans the Terz guitar eventually made it up to Lanarkshire so I can show it off for all to see here. As you might expect from such a small bodied guitar it responds very well to a light touch- no heavy strummers please. Its great for gentle fingerpicking whilst on the sofa watching TV its new owner assures me! I have another Terz in the pipeline for early next year.

...And so on to the next one. I've been working with guitarist Paul Brett to resurrect an idea for a harp guitar from the late 19th century. What makes it different from usual harp guitars (if there is such a thing!) is that the extra bass strings are played with the thumb of the left hand. Paul was keen to take inspiration from the original design and use environmentally sound materials so we settled on oak for the back and sides as per the original, Sitka spruce from a naturally fallen tree, sycamore for the neck and neck dowel, bog oak fingerboard, bridge and head veneer and English walnut binding. The body is based on my 12 fret Cilgerran model. Hopefully it'll be finished by the end of the week so I'll put up a couple of completed pics.

In between working on the terz and other guitars I've managed to find the time to finish a guitar I started late in 2010! I was building it to demonstrate methods and techniqes alongside Richard who was building his own. He finished his in 2011 (see a few blogs down) and I... didn't. The Rhossili got left behind whilst I worked on commissions and repairs but its all finished and sounds and plays lovely.

The soundboard is Sitka spruce,
Back and sides are Claro Walnut
Neck is Sapele
Fingerboard, bridge pins and headstock veneer are ebony
Bridge is Indian Rosewood
Binding is figured maple
Tuners are Grover sta tites

This Rhossili brings my total number of stock guitars to two and is also for sale at £1300. If you would like to come and give it and its stablemate (well, cupboardmate) a european spruce and mahogany Cilgerran a play you are most welcome.

The Terz is nearly done, body and neck are finished and buffed ready for assembly, bridge and setup

That's all for now, I'll post up some nice pictures of the lovely little Terz when its finished, and when I have decided on a fitting name for it! Also a little taster of a guitar I've been working on over the last few months, should be finished by then.

Richie

A little update to the Terz guitar; it's coming along very well, only the frets and logo to go on before lacquering (and a LOT of sanding). To avoid tearing the grain when routing the binding ledges I give the edges of the body a coat of shellac, it also stops glue sticking to the bits of wood where you don't want it.

binding and purfling ledges routed out

Using masking tape to hold purfling in place while the glue dries

Koa binding with a very thin strip of maple to stand it out from the mahogany sides

Ziricote headstock veneer, koa binding with maple and dyed maple purflings, tuners will be Waverleys, fancy!

Nothing guitary to show this time I'm afraid, I just want to show off my new tool/ gadget/ gizmo...

As some of you may know, last month I was catapaulted to the heights of fame and fortune by being interviewed for ITV Wales' 'Fishlocks Wales'. The theme for the programme was left handedness, as a left handed guitar maker I was asked to explain the differences between left and right handed guitars and why there aren't more left handed guitarists etc... One question stuck in my mind 'are there and left handed tools you use?' My answer was no; I get by pretty well with normal equipment, but one tool always catches me out and that's using my vernier calipers.


The are the only hand tool or measuring tool that have to be used right handed- otherwise they are upside down or back to front... not good for reading measurements to two decimal places so an internet search came up with these; the left handed calipers! shown with their dextrous sibling on the latest soundboard. I don't much like the digital readout and the fact you have to remember to turn the thing off everytime but hopefully it'll make life easier... not that it was particularly hard before... stupid whims!

More guitar making stuff next time I promise!

Ok, another guitar in the making; a 21" scale length terz guitar. The idea of this guitar is that the pitch (and tension) of the strings is the same as if a normal guitar were capoed at the third fret but with a much smaller body.

Modelled after one of his own guitars, the customer has asked for a simple guitar with little ornamentation but using beautiful woods. Back, sides and neck are of mahogany, soundboard is bearclaw sitka spruce, binding is Koa, fingerbaord, bridge and head veneer are are Ziricote. Its going to make for a very nice (if tiny) guitar!

I have some nice comissions lined up this summer so watch this space...

Rich

Ok, another guitar rolls off the factory production line! This Oxwich was picked up on Tuesday by its new happy owner. Its a lovely little thing with a big sound and heart. The brief, as I mentioned in the last post waaay back in october was to make a guitar using local, Welsh timber where possible. For the most part I succeded in sourcing Welsh woods, apart from the soundboard; softwood in Britain grows too fast to be of any use for instrument makers. 

The real revelation in this build was using bog oak for the fingerboard and bridge. Bog oak has been sat in the ground for anywhere up to tens of thousands of years, the older it is, the closer to petrified it becomes, the piece I used on this guitar still felt very much like oak to work, just jet black but the beautiful medullary rays found in oak very much on show. I look forward to using bog oak again...  If anymore gets ploughed  up in the local fields.

Many Thanks to Stephanie Davies for laser cutting out the Rosette and my heastock logo in wood, it's turned out lovely!

http://www.stephaniedaviesdesigns.co.uk/#