Indonesian Rosewood / Sinker Redwood
Martin 000 · Slotted Headstock

I have not been blogging this build as it does not have any new techniques in it. Unlike many of my previous builds, this has pretty standard X-bracing. I have Kent Everett’s Voicing a Steel String Guitar DVD and I have been trying to follow his method. The top has a good tap tone now and to my feel has the right amount of flexibility.

The top is Sinker Redwood — gorgeous colour and warm tone. The back and sides are Indonesian Rosewood, which I learned is the same species as East Indian Rosewood, just grown in Indonesia.

I just closed the box. This is the first guitar — other than an acoustic bass — I have built using a 40-foot radius dish for the top instead of a 28-foot or 30-foot radius. When I used 28 or 30 foot I would always have to somewhat flatten the angle of the upper bout. With the 40-foot radius that flattening was not necessary — the top just fits.

I learned the rosette cutting method from Kevin many years ago. It is still one of my favourite parts of the build.

I bent a set of Australian Blackwood bindings with BWB purfling and leveled the sides for binding. When I routed for the bindings I lifted over the end graft a bit by gluing on a strip of purfling to the top, then finished cutting the binding rebate by the end graft. A nice clean result.

This post is going to have a bunch of pictures. I have the neck carved — it still needs some final sanding but I stopped for the day as my standards for what I would accept were going lower. This is my first with a classical heel in a couple of years. As the client wants an older-style-looking guitar, it is a slotted headstock with a carved volute.

I use a hand plane and my Safe-T-Planer to square and thickness the headstock. I lift a bump to allow for the volute. I have a fancy slotted-head jig to drill the holes and route the slots.

Before gluing on the fretboard I made sure that the neck angle was good and centred. It is a real pain to work the cheeks after the fretboard is installed, especially if the neck needs to come off.

I cleaned up the neck quite a bit, slimmed up and took some height off the volute. Then all that was left before finishing was the fret markers and my logo. I ended up cutting the logo out twice — the inside hawk was just a touch big, oh so close, and I cracked the moon pushing it in. Oh well, I did a better job on the second one.

This is more traditional than I have been doing of late. When I asked my client what kind of guitar he was looking for, he sent me a picture of a slotted-headstock Martin 000 — he was not looking for a replica, just that feeling. The bindings are Australian Blackwood. All of the trim wood is Amboyna Burl.

This guitar had my first attempt at carving a volute in the back of the neck. I used EM6000 for the back and sides, with shellac and Royal Lac for the neck and top. The back and sides had a Zpoxy fill; the neck has a CA fill.

Dave asked for a step-by-step on the volute-making process. I went back through my pictures and put together what I had.

Kevin said it best: this guitar was made for Scarborough Fair. Here is a chance to hear it: