Australian/New Zealand Luthiers Forum

This one took me a long time! Over a year, 15 months from when the client picked out wood to delivery. Mind you he also had a very specific, detailed and long list. The new owner is a consummate player and I found it really enjoyable being pushed by the specificity in addition to some new areas.

First the body shape is completely custom, with the lower bout curves requested to be like a Grand Symphony and the waist and upper bout shoulders like a classical guitar. A FEW iterations later, I enjoyed naming the new shape a August Symphony even if I suspect this will be the only one made. Otherwise, included in the list was arm bevel, ribrest, Sienna cutaway, CF neck reinforcement, multiscale, pinless bridge, falcate braced, 13 frets to the body, brass & resin dual fretmarkers, D-Tuners on the 1st & 2nd strings and a K&K Trinity Pro. Plus my usual overly complicated art deco style aesthetic Please also never bring up compensating C# standard vs BGBFGB.

Woods in addition to the SQ SB & the SBG B&S: Maiden Gum fretboard, QLD maple neck, Blackwood trim including binding the "white" Blackwood bridge. The multiscale is 26.75" to 25.5" and a neutral 7th.
And you're in luck if you would like a sound sample because I got a dodgy phone recording ready for you on YT https://youtu.be/psDB4dxVf30

Well that certainly is something else! Must have been a huge amount of work with all the various bevels. And multiscale would blow my mond if I tried it - including as you say the intonation.

How did the blue gum work for the top?

Great stuff!

Very interesting styled guitar build Trent.

What is the reason for the D tuners for the 1st and 2nd strings?

Wayne

Dave M wrote: ↑

Fri Mar 10, 2023 2:28 am

How did the blue gum work for the top?

The SB is Silver Quandong. The B&S are Southern Blue Gum and they bent without a problem., sanded well and had reasonably small pores. There were some sap pockets, but that is what attracted the client to the wood. So it was included not just in the back but also in the headstock veneer.

WJ Guitars wrote: ↑

Fri Mar 10, 2023 8:05 am

Very interesting styled guitar build Trent.

What is the reason for the D tuners for the 1st and 2nd strings?

Wayne

So the tuners have two thumbwheel stops that you can set so you can quickly change its tuning. They have a 1:4 ratio and a large post, so you can set them ~3 semitones apart and with a flick of the wrist have that string in a different tuning. The amazing part is to see them being used midsong or instead of a bend or a slide. The first time I saw them was this fella: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzgTMh21zhI

LOL..sounds a bit like the multiscale commission I did a few years back.

lamanoditrento wrote: ↑

Thu Mar 09, 2023 8:08 pm

This one took me a long time! Over a year, 15 months from when the client picked out wood to delivery. Mind you he also had a very specific, detailed and long list. The new owner is a consummate player and I found it really enjoyable being pushed by the specificity in addition to some new areas.

Hi, Nice looking build there, I have some boards of Quondong and always wondered what it looked like sliced up. I'm finishing a guitar that's taken 3 years to finish - nearly, kept having to leave it for commission builds.
Cheers Taff

kiwigeo wrote: ↑

Sat Mar 11, 2023 5:16 pm

LOL..sounds a bit like the multiscale commission I did a few years back.

I did follow that build quite closely and then reread it a couple of times while I was building this one.

I have to say, figuring out how to make the pinless bridge for proper string fall and then locating the bridge was one of the hardest things for processes that I've done a 100 times before.

Nice!