An Adirondack/Ziricote Build

[cigarfan]

Brad seems to be able to get remarkable clarity even from woods that would typically have rich overtones. I chose the Amazon rosewood and cedar combination after I tried out his other AR/C road trip guitar – they were both very clear, despite the use of cedar on top of rosewood. To be sure, my Kolaya has lovely overtones but they don't overshadow the clear natural tones of individual notes – even when I strum it! I can't say enough good things about the guitar and about Brad – he did a superb job, and I have no doubt your new guitar will also exceed your expectations!

Sachi, that is precisely why I picked Brad to build this guitar. Seems it matters not what woods he is working with, he is expert at voicing a guitar.

I certainly appreciate having been able to follow your build. It is really special to watch as the magic happens. I am sitting on the edge of my seat seeing this guitar come into being. Believe me there is no doubt in my mind it will be incredible and provide me a friend for many years to come.

[BigSkyTaylorPlayer]

Just beautiful!!

[cigarfan]

The rosette, as designed, is Cocobolo arranged with radial grain eminating  from the center with a Paua Abalone ring in the middle edged with bwb purfling. Then, towards the outside of the Coco both inside and outside, a single stripe of flamed Koa purfling.

The rosette is constructed over a template away from the top and set into the top later in the process. I find the technique used intriguing. The end product looks beautiful.   

And the photos ...

Laying out the rosette for the template to glue the pieces to



Sanding the angle onto the Coco segments



Gluing up the segments



The Coco blank is all put together and trimmed





Cutting the channel (for the Paua Abalone) out of the blank. The Koa purfling really pops against the Coco



Position the Paua Abalone and bwb purfling in the channel



Shaving the purfling to level with the Coco/Abalone



Rosette is ready



Next is to inlay the rosette, bind the soundhole, start milling up the Adi material for the braces and shape and glue in the neck and tail blocks. Woohoo! Stay tuned ....

[BigSkyTaylorPlayer]

Thanks for the pics CF - it looks beautiful!

[Strumming Fool]

Stunning...just stunning - that rosette will truly be a centerpiece in this guitar! Thanks for continuing to share!

[cigarfan]

This week Brad has added the soundhole binding and incorporated the rosette in the top. In addition the top is braced / voiced and the neck and tail blocks prepared and glued in. The Cocobolo and Koa binding blank is prepared for the next steps.

Fascinating to watch! You having fun yet?

This week in pics ...

Routing in the rosette channel



Channel routed, rosette ready to go in



Gluing in the rosette



Scraping the rosette down level with the top



Completed rosette and soundhole binding



Neck and tail blocks shaped and ready to be glued in. Shaping is done on the belt sander.



Gluing in the blocks

[cigarfan]

Cocobolo and Koa strips before gluing up to form the binding blank



Gluing up the binding blank



Gluing the X-brace after the soundhole patch has been added



Attaching the upper tone bars.  Brad is using a cantilevered neck so the fretboard will be elevated allowing the top to vibrate in this area but it still needs to be stiff.  The way Brad braces it, the A frame struts carry the load of the force on top of the neck block but are still very light.



Profiling the X-brace before gluing down the bridge plate and tone bars



All the braces glued in place, ready to be shaped/voiced.  Note the laminated bridge plate of Port Orford Cedar and Cocobolo.



Voiced



Gluing in the kerfed linings for the back



And all of this during the week of Thanksgiving. Brad you are a hard working man!

[cigarfan]

Brad continues to make good progress. This past week included addition and shaping of support blocks for arm rest and fret access bevel, addition of the end graft, gluing the neck and headstock pieces and attaching the top to the sides.

You may think it strange but when Brad asked about wood choice for inner sides my thoughts went to aroma. I just love a good ol' smelly Rosewood guitar. It's like aroma therapy. So I asked Brad to pick out the most aromatic pieces of Rosewood he could get, which he did (Brazilian RW no less). This week he has decided on Spanish Cedar (also very aromatic) for the arm rest and fret access bevel support blocks. Love it!

The support block (Spanish Cedar) for the arm rest



Rough sawing the shape on the arm rest block and sanding it in





Gluing in the arm rest block



Shaping the inside of the arm rest block. Wow! That Spanish Cedar smells good!



Shaping and sanding the inside of the fret access bevel





The top of the rim contour sanded



Parts of the neck ready for gluing - Honduran Mahogany



Gluing up the neck

[cigarfan]

Brad has decided to carry the rosette theme into the end graft design.

Routing in the end graft slot





Hammering in the Cocobolo for the end graft



Trimming off the excess Cocobolo



The Abalone twist added and cleaned up





Routing the brace reliefs for the top



Gluing the top on





Inside of the guitar with the top glued on. I can almost smell the Rosewood!

[jjrpilot-admin]

Hey Cigarfan, she's coming along beautifully!    Just out of curiosity, were you given the the option to choose what type of kerfing you wanted?  It looks like normal "slotted" kerfing on the inside....do any boutique makers use solid kerfing?


PS...what made you go with Kolaya Instruments for your build?  I just spent about 20 min...drooling...as I looked at his website...

[cigarfan]

Hey Josh

I am very pleased with how things are going. This is quite a ride!

Regards the kerfing, Brad did not offer me any options so I have to assume it is the only way he does it. The only other boutique guitar I have has the slotted kerfing. Maybe Brad will weigh in here but I would imagine solid kerfing might be a little tough. They would probably have to bend it (like the sides) in order to get it to fit the shape of the guitar. Much easier to bend slotted piece fit the curves.

I had many reasons to go with Brad. He is an up and coming talent with a growing reputation. His reference from clients is excellent. His prices are right. I didn't have to wait five years to get on the build schedule. He was willing to build with a set of wood the I had purchased, ETC, ETC. Bottom line .... I really wanted my money to go where it did the most good for me and the luthier and I felt that was with the younger guys. Watching sachi's build didn't hurt either! 

Yeah, his website shows some pretty cool stuff. Brad makes some really nice instruments.

[cigarfan]

I have never owned a guitar with a sound port. After talking to Brad and several others I've decided to give one a shot. One thing has always bugged me about those I've seen. Most are just plain ... I mean a circle or oval cut into the side. Functional but boring. Sure some luthiers bind the hole with some nice wood but, no offense to anyone that has one like that, I wanted something a little more interesting than just a plain hole.

I sent Brad some design ideas and these are the four that rose to the top of our list. See if you can guess which one we picked. Which one would you pick?

Sound port option #1


Sound port option #2


Sound port option #3


Sound port option #4

[gdeleo]

I vote for number 2.  One would be ok for me without the circles on the end of the swirls and 3 kind of looks like a raindeer .

[jjrpilot-admin]

Keep in mind it's just my worthless opinion...but I'm always thinking "worse case" scenario...but all those designs look amazing...but pretty fragile.  What if you accidentally grabbed that part or "knocked" it?  I could easily see those intricate designs being broken off etc...so I can see why most just do a simple oval etc for the sound port...BUT I do like 1 and 2, but 2 looks less fragile than number 1.   
 

[CodeBlueEMT]

 Wow.  What else can I say?

 I like #2 for the sound port. I'm sure there's a significant reason for each design idea. I'd love to hear what #3 represents. My guess: Rorschach test.  Just kidding.