Australian/New Zealand Luthiers Forum

I have finally been able to get this guitar finished. It has been a long time coming. I bought the Native Olive from Chris Searle in Stanley Tasmania last November and carried it (25kgs) back on the plane. We traveled with only carry on luggage but paid the extra $10 with Virgin Blue to get the full 23kgs baggage allowance.( I had an idea that I would bring wood back from Tassie )
So native olive is quite a new and interesting tone wood. It makes for a heavy guitar like the rosewoods do. I think that I will thin it a fair bit more next time as it is very stiff and strong. Perhaps the back nearer to of 2.0 instead of 2.5.
The top is WRC. The neck is Brazilian Mahogany and the fretboard, bridge and head plate veneer are ebony from Ashok Parekh in Mumbai, India. The Binding is highly figured NSW grown Blackwood. The tuners are Gotoh 510 Locking 21:1 with antique gold finish.The saddle is bone,slanted back about 9 degrees and is 3/16 inch or 4.5mm wide for easy compensation. The finish is Mirotone 3220 lacquer.
I will have to try to get it recorded and post here to be able to listen to it as well.

Thanks for looking.

John

That looks very elegant and refined, John, you would have to be pleased with that. Lovely body shape. Whose plans did you use??
I like the native olive very much.

Thanks for posting!

Thanks Richard, Its pretty much a stock OM but I did make the template and mold from Jonathan Kinkades Book "Make an Acoustic Guitar". In the book he calls it the Kingsdown model but its basically am OM.

John

Lovely work on that OM John.

Also nice to see that there are now a couple of Native Olive instruments inhabiting the planet.

Your joinery work on the end graft is particularly crisp.

I'll look forward to the sound clips.

Regards

Nicely executed John, as Bob commented, crisp workmanship indeed.

Nice couple of guitars John, a satisfying feeling to get them finished I am sure.

Jim

Beautiful craftsmanship John as usual ! I bet they sound beautiful as well?

Nice clean sharp work and finish John.

Interesting timber that Native Olive too.

Jeremy.

Hi John
That end wedge is awesome!

It is the first that I have ever seen in that style with no line between the wedge and the guitar side.
How were those sides to bend?

Cheers
Jonny

Nice work John. I thought it was camphor at a glance.

As above that is a great looking guitar.

I suspect 25 Kilos of Olive timber is slightly more than enough for one guitar...?!

I am wondering what is meant exactly by 'native olive'? Is it an Olea or is that just a local vernacular name for something completely different?

Dave

In Tasmania native olive is vernacular for Notelaea ligustrina. There is also an olea species
Olea paniculata that occurs the coastal rain forests of New South Wales and Queensland
and is also called native olive