La Gaviota

[Charlie H 72]

Hi all,

This build has been in the planning stage for a while, but now its up and running! It is inspired by Chris Craft boats, vintage radios, and the ocean. I could tell a long story about the planning, but I won't. its a hollow/chambered body with f holes. 75% of the wood is recycled. the name means seagull, but its a working title. i figure i might as well go with the spanish theme. it sounds cool (at least i think). no im not spanish.

Specs

Body:

-Top - Carved, multi-lam jacaranda and maple, with f holes whose design i will post the when its finalized.

-Back - Painted black mahogany, chambered, support strip down the middle of the inside, roundover on back.

-between the natural top and painted back, there will be a red pinstripe, like the waterline on a boat.

-notes: jacaranda came from a couch like the one with the red vynil pictured. my dad had in his house growing up, but it broke, so it has a second life as a guitar. maple was purchased, so was fretboard, but the back was mahogany from a chair my uncle built in middle school. not really sure how he paid for all that mahogany, or why he decided to build the chair, but it is literally 5 feet tall and 2 inches thick, using 2 solid pieces for the back. it is incredibly uncomfortable to sit in due to the fact that the back is at a 90* angle to the seat. Anyways, it was falling apart and unusable (not to mention ugly) so he gave it up to us. my dad and i made him a miniature version out of the same wood for xmas, he loved it.

Neck:

-Maple

-25.5" scale

-Ebony fretboard

-Scarfed headstock

-island inlays

-compass rose inlay on headstock

Hardware:

-http://www.guitarfetish.com/181-Wilkinson-Open-Back-3x3-Waverly-Style-Vintage-Tuners_p_9.html these tuners

-the bridge pictured (TOM)

-the tailpiece pictured

-one pickup, lollar imperial bridge, placed sort of in the middle.

-one volume, no tone

note: I've found that I basically only use my bridge pickup on my main guitar, especially during shows, and that the extra controls are only in the way, so im going as simple as possible on this one.

-no pickguard

-martin truss rod

-jack top mounted and recessed

-coil tap? how do lollars sound tapped?

-maybe a cool red killswitch, who knows, but i think i want one cool button or something. let me know if you have any suggestions.

-pickup will be subsurface mounted, no ring, if possible. if not, it will have some sort of bling-ey mounting ring. not sure what yet. maybe rickey style chrome ring, or maybe red plastic. let me know if you have any suggestions there as well.

the mortising on the inside is pretty rough, but i figure nobody will see it

truss rod rout

close up of the wood

plans

Let me know what you think!

Edited February 27, 2012 by Charlie H 72

[Robbinst]

very interesting, I don't think I've seen any one do a mulch-laminated top like that before but it looks good. I like the body shape, and your cuts are very clean. I'll be looking forward to seeing more of this!

[Charlie H 72]

Thanks! An update on the weekend (mom and sister gone, dad and i spent 8 hours in the shop so far):

1: Pickup cavity routed

2: F holes designed

3: F hole jig made

4: F holes routed

5: Inlay idea: have the inlays look like the jacaranda w/ the center maple stripe is still running through them, against the ebony fretboard. whenever an island comes to the center, it has the maple stripe running through it (like it is revealing it or something. No matter what, the headstock will be the same pattern as the body.

6: Other F-hole idea: Cut a rectangle out of the guitar and put in a metal grille like a bath drain or something.

7: should we relic the hardware to tarnish it a little? just putting it on the table. it might add to the "seaworthy" look of the guitar.

8: Should the fretboard be glued to the neck before either of them are tapered? will ebony splinter like crazy if it is run through a band saw or table saw?

pics!

forstner holes for starting the rout

F-hole routing jig

Jacaranda dust. This wood literally turns to butter under tools. its awesome. Also, it smells like some incredible spice. I can't describe it. It is such a joy to work with compared to the mahog. back. Piece-to-piece variation is wild, which is probably why it is not very popular (and im not even sure if its attainable anymore, this is recycled), but everyone should at least smell it before they die.

rout from the back

and the front (no sanding whatsoever)

some beauty shots:

[Charlie H 72]

Glad everyone is loving it...

Here is an update of the control access panel. The pickup will be mounted through the top, so no ring needed, but back access is necessary, so we did a circle access panel that should provide us with the space to get at electronics and the pickup. Fortunately electronics are simple, one jack, one pickup, one pot.

Sorry these pictures arent that great. they actually show color better than some other ones though.

I have an important question regarding this picture!!!

So, below is what is left of the "support spine." Will that be enough to carry the tension of the strings? I am afraid it will be less than ideal, and putting a carbon fiber/steel reinforcement rod into it might fix that. I don't want to have to put one in though.

Edited March 12, 2012 by Charlie H 72

[RestorationAD]

It will be fine.

[nowa90]

give us dimensions! I'm sure 1/2 thick will do, or if they string on the trapeze tailpeice it'll be fine.

[WezV]

looks to me like it would still be fine even without the centre support

[Mattia]

What Wez said. It'll be fine.

[Charlie H 72]

Thanks guys!

[Charlie H 72]

This weekend:

Mocked up inlays (island chain)

Routed top to shape

Painted inside black

Broke truss rod nut :/

For some reason this came out super-high contrast, but this is how the wood looks with rubbing alcohol on it.

(that is ONE coat of black paint, some crazy super high pigment stuff)

Can't resist a mockup...

Okay, heres the problem for the day. already posted in the jim thread, but now i have pics. what should i do about this? restart the neck, or try and get this truss rod out?

let me know what you think.

[RestorationAD]

Get the trussrod out without destroying the neck.

What did you glue it in with?

I usually do not glue them in instead just use a few spots of silicon to stop them from rattling.

[Charlie H 72]

Okay, had to take a few steps back recently to take any forward, but here's what's up. the epoxied rod came out no problem using a heat gun, but the neck went back to the warpage it had before the rod was put in, so I had to level the whole top of the neck out, and then rout the channel to depth again. now the rod is glued in (only on the ends now) and the neck is back where it was before.

This is the cool part. My dad and I made this dremel router base, which will be very cool once it is in action. it is based off of Stewmac's router base, but we only had to buy the bolts, so it all worked out to be much cheaper.

the dremel screws into the big nut. We did make a stupid mistake though, and we used a nut that is too big for the dremel. after the first test fit everything seemed okay, but then we built the whole thing, and it turned out to be too big. So the top will have to be made again.

Also, we glued on the top and did a roundover on the bottom

The back will be painted, but i can't decide b/w red and black.

Also, if nobody is following this, I will just stop posting. let me know if you're following!

Edited April 4, 2012 by Charlie H 72

[Robbinst]

Following

[Wretched]

Following dude. Very cool and unique.

[Our Souls inc.]

Guilty of being a silent follower.

You're making a unique guitar, can't wait to see it finished!

[pauliemc]

Guilty of being a silent follower.

You're making a unique guitar, can't wait to see it finished!

Yea. Same here. silently following. i realy like this build.

I would not worry about the lack of posts from others. It usualy means you just havent fukt up badly enough for any comments.

[Workingman]

Following with interest.

[Mender]

I'm following this build with interest

[ScottR]

Guilty of being a silent follower.

You're making a unique guitar, can't wait to see it finished!

Yea. Same here. silently following. i realy like this build.

I would not worry about the lack of posts from others. It usualy means you just havent fukt up badly enough for any comments.

+1

Sometimes during a build we just can't think of what to say, but we still can't wait to see what happens next!

If your view count goes up everytime you post, people are definitely interested and watching.

SR

[demonx]

I've noticed that on this forum (and most forums in general) that the community are more likely to post in your thread if you are an active member and show genuine interest in other people and their work.

There's many members here who only come to post thier own work and don't even look at others. Often they'll post up a GOTM and then disappear not long after. Members like this stand out, they offer nothing to the community so people show little interest in their presence here.

ForaAny forum to work and be successful it needs people to post, people to ask questions and people that have the answers. I'm no expert but I am better at some things here than others are, so I'm more than happy to share what I can, in return I learn from others on the forum that are better than I.

My advice to your call out on non response is, you are a new member. Spend some time here and you'll find your groove. Be willing to ask and help others when the time comes. Thread view count let's you know if people are looking.

Cheers

[Charlie H 72]

Thanks guys! Good to know I have some support, haha. Demonx, i will do my best to consistently contribute to the forums.

[ScottR]

Additionally the content of your post--what you say--plays a large part in generating responses. Use a "here's what I've done" format and people are going to watch with interest if the work is good--and yours is--but may not feel compelled to say anything. Throw out some bold statements or opinions or methods that others can relate to or disagree with can start discussions. To wit--your last comment in main post was one that made folks feel compelled to respond to and so they did. Not very subtle, perhaps, but it was a conversation starter. And lo and behold, we're still talking about it.

SR

[RestorationAD]

Though there is an ebb and flow to activity Scott, DemonX, Wes, Avenger, me and others are on the site everyday so if you ask questions you get answers. If you look back through the thread you will see that I answered what you needed for several questions you asked. If you need more clarification just ask another question that is what we are here for.

One thing you won't see much of on this site is fan boy style "Yeah!" and "Good job" posts... like Scott said look at your views that is your real tell.

Nice work so far...

[Diffidentia]

And the real reason why this forum is as good as it actually is, is because you active members contribute as much of your own work and experience. Hell, I'd still be stuck thinking about building my first guitar now, rather than being on my third, if not for the tips and inspiration I've found here. A big thank you for that, and a slap on my own wrist to remind me to actually try to comment and not just read the posts

[Charlie H 72]

been a long time since ive updated. basically, ive done a ton of work on the neck, and carved the top. the carve on the top is really shallow since i had to cut away at the inside of the guitar for the F-holes, and i did not want to go through. also, my dad's stupid 30 year old router crapped out on me, and wouldnt stay at the right depth on the last level, so theres a low spot. that is a bummer, but i cannot do anything about it. dont have good pics of the carve anyways. the island on the fb is near my cottage in maine, and the tree on the headstock is this tree in front of my cottage in maine we always called the doctor seuss tree, but then it had to be cut down.

had to use a hand powered drill to do these guys since i didnt have the right size drill bit. it doesnt look great, but whatever. the grommets will cover it. The curve here and on the end of the fb will match the curve on the tailpiece if everything lines up right.