torstai 26. toukokuuta 2011

Small body planning

The word for the next projects (yes, there's going to be #6 & #7) is Small Body.
Martin's double o, 00, is going to emerge in 12 or 13 fret and 14 fret versions. Below you find three different plans - three interpretations on the same theme - two by Martin and one by Gibson.

Planing rosewood sides for the 00-28 style 12-fretter. 


Gluing the back plates together

Down middle is the original Martin 00-shape, with body-to-neck joint at 12th fret (like in classical guitars).  Up left is the Gibson interpretation of the Martin 00, with the neck joining the body at 14th fret. Gibson just moved the bridge up a few notches, leaving the body shape pretty much the same (note the roundness in the upper bout.)
Up right is the Martin 00 with 14 frets to the body. With the player's need to access upper frets, the 00 body was reshaped. The bridge sits higher on the lower bout (not in the middle of the "drumhead" anymore) and the upper bout has tighter curves as it's been shortened a bit. There's also a"hybrid version" with 13 frets to the body. Some think that's the optimal compromise soundwise, especially with the longer 25,4" scale. I'll see where all this settles.

The mold for the 00 12 (or 13) fretter.

lauantai 14. toukokuuta 2011

Tres hombres outside

I've made three guitars with the same mold. I call the body shape J-OM. It's a fattened (J=jumbo) version of the Martin classic Orchestra Model. The volume of the box is somewhat bigger than OM but smaller than a Dreadnought. As #4 happened to be around for a tweak, I decided to shoot some "family photos" just for the fun of it. Luckily, the sun was shining too.




Rosewood, koa and flamed sapele mahogany. The sapele has darkened quite a bit since it was born.

tiistai 3. toukokuuta 2011

Excursion to percussion

I'm not a guitarist, but even less am I a percussionist. Nevertheless, I wanted to try a build of a simple cajon-drum. It's a box made of plywood with some kind of snare mechanism. I've always admired the vast range of sounds a talented percussionist is able to get from a simple wooden box.

The box is nordic birch (12mm for the frame, 6,5mm for the back and only 2mm for the 'tapa', the "drumhead"), and I "loaned" the adjustable snare system from a Sonor cajon that I had a chance to peek into yesterday. The 5-ply 2mm aeroplane veneer might be a bit thin for the top. The bass is good, but overall sound might be a tad flappy. Thus I added an extra brace to support the hitting surface.
The sound? I'd need a real drummer to pop in and give it a slap.

The cajon is a one day project. I stained the top into rich mahogany and finished with a simple wash coat of shellac. Laatuvaneri in Oulu is the place to get any veneer you need, precisely cut into dimensions. Note to self: remember to add the extra 24mm to top and back plates...

Here are some pics of the build:


The snare adjustment mechanism. 

Getting it togehther


Turning this knob up gives full snare sound, turning it down lifts the snare wire off the head completely.



Inside view in bad lightning = long exposure = shaking hands = blurry image