Speedy Goncalo

[brian d]

After nearly 2 years of neglect, I've gotten back to a build that has been on pause since Jan '05. With my Lahav nearly finished (for the second time), I think I'm on a roll!

The shape is based on the same teardrop/paisley that I have used as a theme in my other builds. Here are a few photos of the build process:

I wasted a lot of time and effort with the tenon. I should have just kept it simple continuing the taper of the neck. I don't think it will either harm or improve the guitar the way I've done it....just added some frustration to my life.

I set the neck from the back so I could have a long neck tenon. I'm intending to cut the cavity covers out of the back wood with a scroll saw prior to gluing on the back.

The top is 17mm thick (about 3/4"), made of 3 laminations - the top lamination is about 14.5mm Goncalo Alves, then 0.6mm Brazilian Rosewood veneer, with another slice of Goncalo Alves under that. I'm pleased with how the two pieces came out. They are bookmatched with a very thick kerf. So you don't get the exact mirror image look, but I think the pieces blend in an organic way.

The body wood is African Walnut - at least that's what the guy at the timber yard called it. It looks like Limba and it may just be another name for limba. Any insights into the wood species would be appreciated. The back will be Goncalo Alves.

The neck is laminated BR veneer sandwiched between GA.

The fretboard is Madagascar Rosewood from LMI. It is suuuuuperb. Luckily I ordered a few boards at the same time as apparently Madagascar Rosewood is becoming more difficult to find. This is a 24.625" (or whatever the "short gibson" length is). I bound the fretboard with Goncalo Alves. The GA strips came out uneven to the board on the fitting surface.

More later (when I won't overo the number of photos and thumbnails for one post)

Brian.

Edited August 30, 2007 by brian d

[capello]

Nice!!!

i really like the fingerboard wood,and i'm quite shure that body wood is Limba (Korina)

like to see it finished!!!!

[brian d]

Thanks capello.

After so long since I started it, I'd really like to see it finished too. Do you think anyone would mind if I didn't turn up to work sometimes and spent time in the workshop instead?

Brian.

[capello]

Do you think anyone would mind if I didn't turn up to work sometimes and spent time in the workshop instead?

Brian.

uhmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm....Maybe your Boss????

:D

[GregP]

Man, you're one smiley guy when working on guitars, as it should be! Thanks for sharing those pics.

[brian d]

Thanks Greg,

Sure I was smiling for the camera, but I can tell you there were some times where I was a much less happy camper.

More progress:

With my drill press set up (thanks Stu), on Tuesday I trued the underside of the board with the Safe-T-Planer. I then glued some BR veneer to the bottom of it so it will come out as a sort of "purfling" line between the GA binding and the GA neck.

I also sanded the sides on Tuesday with a hand held belt sander. I had started doing it with a sanding block, but.....

I'm going to carve the top. On the weekend I went through an article about how to mark out a top with concentric lines so that you can route oulines and end up with a predetermined profile. After doing all the calculations I thought I would see what it would be like if I just went at it with a belt sander. I did an experiment on the lower "bout" knowing that I am actually going to take much more off from there, so a mistake wouldn't be too bad. It came out exactly the look I was going for. I'll try the angle grinder for the body too.

It's interesting to see the difference in colour between the freshly worked GA and the rusty colour after it matures. Personally I prefer the mature colour - unlike padouk or purpleheart where you want it to retain the freshly cut colour.

The colour of the BR is quite contrasty with the GA when it's freshly cut. After a while the difference is much more subtle - almost like a grain line. It'll be interesting to see how it looks when it's finished with Tru-Oil. Still a while 'till we get to that stage.

Brian.

[brian d]

Waiting for paint to dry on the Lahav build, I got stuck into the Goncalo today.

I drilled the pilot holes for the posts of the TOM bridge. I took the measurements from the Stewmac Fret Calculator for determining where the holes need to go. They better be right! I also drilled the pilot holes for the strings through. I kept them as pilot holes at this stage. I wanted to get those pilot holes drilled before carving the top - just in case. Do you think that it's better to drill the final holes for the bridge and top and back ferrules before or after the finish? I'm going to finish in Tru-Oil.

After that I went to work with the angle grinder with a flap disc for the rough carve of the top. It was a great, albeit loud, procedure. I am really pleased with the result. I felt like Edward Scissorhands just sculpting away. I went over the body lightly with a hand held belt sander after the angle grinder.

And here is the result.

You can again see the difference in colour between the freshly sanded Goncalo and the wood that hasn't been touched. It takes a couple of days to get to the rusty colour.

One last shot for now:

Brian.

[Guest AlexVDL]

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[brian d]

And there was me thinking I had made an original design!! I guess there's nothing new under the sun.

The body shape started off as a "paisley" type shape tweaked to look more like a guitar, and then the headstock was designed to mimic it. I hope to have the "ventral fin" demarcated more to accentuate the paisley shape. As I have never seen a Tokai Talbo, I'll keep thinking that I've done something a bit original

Thanks for the compliments, Alex.

Brian.

[Geo]

That design is totally awesome. Since you approached it from the direction of a paisley shape, I think we can say it's original whether it looks like something else or not.

Regardless, it looks fantastic. What kind of pickups are you putting in there?

[brian d]

Thanks Geo.

I'm planning to put in GFS Dream 180's and a Graphtech Ghost piezo pickup.

Cheers,

Brian.

[Guest AlexVDL]

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[Ben]

What is a paisley by the way? I know the pattern, but does the word mean anything, or the shape???

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paisley_%28design%29

"The pattern was adapted in India to its familiar shape and spread to Scotland when soldiers returning from the colonies brought home cashmere woolshawls. From roughly 1800 to 1850 , using Jacquard looms, the weavers of the town of Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland, adapted the design to weave woollen shawls, hence the design became known as the Paisley pattern."

"Although the influence is not clear, the Turkish tughra calligraphic seal strongly resembles the paisley shape. Some design scholars call the distinct shape boteh and believe it is the convergence of a stylized floral spray and a cypress tree: a Zoroastrian symbol of life and eternity. It has been suggested that paisley is also a representation of fractals. However, given the time frame of its origin (16th century) the paisley design resembles and is consistent with the shape of the Indian and/or European medicinal leech. The paisley design often incorporates pregnant leeches; and a body cavity containing baby leeches"

[brian d]

Thanks for the descriptions of paisley Ben. I particularly liked the one as the Zoroastrian symbol for life and eternity. I'm going to ignore the one about pregnant leeches.

I am drawn to the shape for a few reasons. It reminds me of one half of the Yin/Yang symbol, it reminds me of the shape of a drop of water and at the same time the shape of a flame. If I were to get soppy, I would say that it is like the shape of a teardrop. It also reminds me of soundwaves, with the top being like a sine wave and the bottom being part of a wave with a longer wavelength intersecting at the tail and at the tip of the horn.

Bottom line....I just like the shape.

Cheers,

Brian.