Latest Top (Pics)

[Hesh1956]

I was able to get in some shop time today since it snowed here today and I finished my SJ top for #15.

This is Lutz that originally had some bear claw which pretty much all went away when final thicknessed so now I call it a squirrel claw top. Maybe I should call it a drop bear claw top for this forum.....

The bracing is adi and the bridge plate is rift sawn BRW. This top weighs in at 109.2 grams making it the lightest top that I have made to date.

I mentioned that my last 4 guitars have had a political message written on the inside of the top. Although I cloned out this message for another forum in keeping with their guidelines I thought that I could share it here believing that you folks would understand.

Take a look.







Thanks for looking!

[Allen]

Hmmm, snow.....I vaguely remember that from my youth. 32 here today and really sticky. Had to mow the lawns or it will be as thick as cabbage. Still a tiny bit better than having to shovel the drive.

Is that the weight of the top unbraced? The lightest that I've built so far has been my current one at 216 grams braced and bridge patch installed. I don't think that I could get it much lighter built without loosing sleep at night.

Lovely work as usual Hesh. And I for one appreciate the signature....well done.

[Dennis Leahy]

Hesh, the top looks really nice. I wonder if the squirrel claw (love that!) will show up under a finish. Looks like you are really bracing light, and she should really sing.

Kudos for the sig, I applaud you! If you had a lot more graphite at your disposal, you could list the number of Iraqi civilians killed in the war too. Oh wait, no you can't. The official US policy is not to do body counts of the "enemy."

I suppose you could also add the number of people killed in Darfur while the US government was occupied in Iraq and did nothing in Somalia. (If only they had some oil! Then they would be worth "saving.")

Jeez, I'm sorry. I think I opened the floodgates of my emotions and frustrations. Hesh, and or other mods, just say the word and I'll delete or edit this post - I know you have a spot specifically for these types of rants.

Dennis

[Alain]

Awesome looking work as usual, my friend... The braces seem nice and light and I'm sure she will be responsive and vibrant...

I was going to post 3875 on the OLF and leave it at that, but I knew that was probably going to open up a can of worms...so for once, I kept my big mouth shut! Surprising, I know...

[Hesh1956]

Thanks Folks!

Allen yes that is the weight of the top fully braced with bridge plate installed. You are not the first to think that it is a type-O but that is what she weighed. My tops are usually in the 130 gram range so this is not very far under my typical build weight.

So far no one has imploded and most of my guitars end up being in the 3.5 lb range when fully finished, strung up and ready to go. I love the way a very light weight, stiff guitar feels and sounds when playing it. They are also rather punchy too since there is far less mass to drive.

Dennis you are right and I didn't forget all the others and that our own losses are just part of the tragedy. Well said.

Al thanks man and its a good idea that you just held back on the other forum.

It's a funny thing to me because when I started building I thought that guitar lovers and builders would be rather liberal in their values. In reality they, we, are just like any other cross section of any other population and all points of view are represented.

When I was a kid (I know there goes that old fart Hesh talking about some crap that no one gives a damn about....) guitars represented icons for change. Artists like Dylan, Young and many more actually helped to end another war with the songs that they passionately wrote and gave to us.

But this is just another of the many things that old Hesh is wrong about, guitars represent as many things to individuals as there are individuals......

Any way thanks for your comments - it is a sincere pleasure being a member here and knowing you folks!!!

[Dave Anderson]

Excellent top Hesh ! It does look lightly braced and that weight is Low.
It will be a great guitar I'll bet. Good message there too.
I like that.

[Lillian]

Well done Hesh. I'm anxious to hear it sing. I know it will be stunning to hear. And of course it will be simply beautiful.

And we couldn't agree more with your message. Most of you know I wore a uniform for many years and wore it proudly. My son was just a year old when all this first began. Two weeks ago he had to register with selective services. I point this out not because I'm a mother who dreads the day he may take my lead and become a soldier. But rather that we have, for all intents and purposes, been at war for his entire life. This is his Vietnam. But with a Bush and a Dick in office, how could we not expect to get screwed?




Sorry, I'll get off my soapbox.

[Paul B]

What is "selective services"?

[Allen]

OK, Hesh....I need more details

I don't have the SJ plans, so you'll have to fill me in on the dimensions. Length, width, thickness, brace dimensions.

I've just seen the new bench mark, and it seems like a long way off from were I am.

Do you weight the top before it's braced? If so, what was it?

How lightly built can we actually go? I was thinking that I was somewhat close at the 200 grams + a little. I've read that others shoot for this range. Is this still far to conservative? It seems I've got a lot to learn...

[Lillian]

Paul, Selective Service is our Draft Board. Every boy has to register on their eighteenth birthday. It is supposed to make it easier for them to find you if we ever go back to a draft.

[Hesh1956]

Lillian please know that I am very grateful for your service. Your post really touched me and IMO you have more license to speak about this then I do or anyone else who has not had some real skin in the game.

The numbers that I write on the insides of my guitars are to "honor" those who have made the ultimate sacrifice. The rest of the message is a message of utter disgust for the leadership that we currently have. With this said I am sure you will know that I agree with your comments completely.

I watched a program on HBO where James Gandofina (Tony Soprano) is interviewing returning, wounded soldiers from Iraq. It is about their "life day" which is what they call the day that they were injured and survived.

You see young women who have lost a shoulder and arm wondering if they will ever have kids and if their kids will love them even without an arm. A young Marine lost part of his head and struggles every day to even know who he is.

It's ironic to me that with today's technology we can save many more people then we could in any prior conflict. But what we are not hearing about and as a result of modern medicine is the over 14,000 seriously wounded Americans who although the war is over for them now life, going forward, is forever changed. They indicated that because of IEDs more people have had limbs amputated in this war than any previous war including the US civil war.

We are maiming and killing our most precious national asset, our young people, and it needs to end - now.

Rant over.....

Allen I will find the specs and post them for you my friend.

The top prior to bracing weighed 72 grams. As for building light it is a system and all things that remain have to work in concert or the thing will explode..... Even the curve on the back of the bridge plate is to avoid, or delay, bellying since the top is thin.

Remember too that I am in my first 20 guitars and these things are not commissions so I can afford to push the limits and see what happens. At some point I am sure that at 3:00 AM I will hear a terrible noise and find that I found the limits......

So I am by no means recommending doing what I am doing. But all the excess mass that anyone may have on the sides of their braces can come off safely carving triangular profiles.

Paul "Selective Services" is our military draft board. Although, currently, the military is voluntary in the US everyone must still register at a certain age so they know where to find you if things change. Lillian what is the age here and does it include both men and women?

[Paul B]

Well, bugger that.

If our government tried that "selective services" shit, they'd probably find themselves getting lynched (which would be why they haven't). We've have a proud history of voluntary enlistment, until vietnam, and since then as well. Check out "ANZAC Day" on Wikipedia for the low down - it'd also tell you much about our relationship with the New Zealanders.

Here, if you don't want to vote you simply don't enroll. Though they do door knock to ask who lives in the house, you tell em and they give you a card to fill in and send in the post. Some people just never send em in - like my wife, until this latest election. Don't suppose Selective Services would let you'd get away with that.

I also was in the military for a spell, but only the reserves, and thankfully, in a time of peace.

[Lillian]

In the US, all males must register upon their eighteen birthdays. Though I suspect that if we were to begin a draft there would be lawsuit contesting the fact that only males are pressed into service. With this war we have had to acknowledge that "front lines" no longer exist, and that women are really in combat, even if their job isn't a combat type job.

Hesh my friend, you have as much right as I do to berate this war. If being a human isn't enough, then wearing a uniform and seeing what you did, more than qualifies you. I don't care if it had another flag on it.

[Serge]

Nice looking SJ top bro! Fine execution! Nice sig!

As for the war, we all hope and pray that our soldiers will come home soon, safe and sound and that the number of innocent civilian victims of this war will cease.

Unfortunately, even though oil could have been the motivation on the part of some elitist group to go there, the world is now plunged in a war that has much higher consequences than just the cost of gas at the pump, i believe that our armies have there vehicles stuck in the sand and mud in a global jihad directed against the west, i will start another thread in the "Anything goes" section, politics and religion wouldn't mix well with guitar building! :bear