Daniel Sorbera

Thanks to everyone who voted for me. I really like that acoustic. I've been playing the crap out of it and it's only sounding better and better.

Have you heard of the Tom Anderson crowdster? It's a fully hollow acoustic guitar with a normal braced top but it's the size of an electric guitar and is only 2" thick with no sound holes at all. It sounds really really good plugged in a live setting but obviously has no acoustic unplugged sound.

If you want this instrument to have the best acoustic plugged in sound possible than it would be a good idea to model off the crowdster as much as possible.

is the fretboard already glued to the body?

Hopefully it's glued to the neck.

I've never had a problem with too much backbow with correctly sized fret slots and tang. But than again I always use dual action truss rods so you could just correct it if there ever was a problem.

The head or combo? Is that price a little bit negotiable? Seems a bit high if it's the head.

I might be interested but I wont know until Saturday to see if something I'm selling sells so I have the cash on hand.

Ideally the fingerboard should be very flat already with no tension on the truss rod when you start sanding. Don't intentionally put a bow in the neck before sanding. When your done you want it as flat as possible.

For the stewmac boards that are already radiused I start out with 150 or 220 depending on how many imperfections are on the board and go all the way up to 2000 to make it shine.

I voted for Daniel's blue Nova guitar. When i saw it for the first time i thought it was a perfect new design guitar, if a big guitar company would offer it, i think it would sell very well. It's a very elegant, classy yet aggressive design, kind of like an SG, that doesn't look bad whether you play metal, rock or pop.

The only things are i don't like are:

The relic effect, i hate that

The Machineheads lack the washer

It needs a headstock logo

But i know it's the first one, the next ones will be awesome too, makes me wanna copy that design for myself! hehehe but i won't

There will be one in next months GOTM that I've been keeping under wraps that will blow everyone away. Just wait and see.

Dang it. I think you've convinced me to try out one of their light ones. I just hope it's light enough that I can get used to it.

One question though. do they flex at all like plastic picks or are they extremely rigid like metal picks?

I better order a couple though, because I always have a pick in my pocket (try saying that 5 times fast) and it would probably break after a while.

:EIDT: That sucks. It looks like the coral color only comes in medium or higher. Ivory is the only color that comes in light. Oh well I guess ivory it is.

Oh and do yours have the grip in the center or not? It's hard for me to imagine if that would be a good thing or a bad thing seeing as I've never used something like that before.

I thought the bit on his website about not using the pick as a screwdriver was pretty funny, probably because I've done that exact thing before with my picks.

I don't really think about picks

creditcards coins folded paper fingernails finger tips palm of my hand etc have all been used by me!

I do really like the tiny jim dunlops that are clear and the easiest pick to lose in the whole wide world!

Don't make me slap you.

One of the guys we sold an acoustic to let one of his friends borrow the guitar, and he used a quarter as a pick and destroyed the cedar top...

I guess I'm weird, but I like much thinner picks than that. I play Dunlop Tortex .50 on acoustic and .70 on electric. Plus I play very hard so I'm sure I'd break them since it warns they are fragile. I'd try one if they had some amazing life span but since they almost promise that they will break I'll pass. I go through picks regularly, and I can't afford to go through $20 picks all the time!

Thanks for all the votes guys! I sure do love that acoustic. It sounds so great in real life, I wish you all you play it.

I know everyone might not like the finish on the nova, but hey if you never try something new you'll never improve right? It is a great playing guitar though, it's actually become my favorite gig guitar and I play it all the time.

Set neck. I bet your loving the weather in Austin. Here it's a perfect 85F 51% RH but the guitar was sprayed in a booth, not outdoors.

Almost done. The finish is just going on.

I posted how the extra sound hole works a few posts up, but you must have missed it.

The extra sound hole on the upper bout not only makes it sound good for the player, but it gives it a very 3D sound in front of the guitar too. If I cover it up it sounds much more muffled and sterile, but when you uncover the hole it has a really great 3D sound, almost like there is a chorus on it. It also has really good bass response. I was expecting a much brighter sound, but it sounds really balanced and is extremely loud with good bass response. It's louder and has more bass than my brothers takemine dreadnought, and of course has better more clear highs and strong mids.

I'm extremely happy with how it turned out and I know it will just get better in the months to come.

For your viewing pleasure, we added full size wallpapers to the website.

Wallpaper Link

Safety wise it's not too much worse than nitro, so if you have a good carbon filter respirator and your spraying outside I wouldn't worry about it (don't even think about it without the right respirator, you will kill yourself). I'd be more concerned about the neighbors complaining about the smell (true for any finish).

It might actually work pretty well outdoors because it flashes off in maybe 3 or 4 minutes and it's dry to the touch. So you wouldn't have so many problems with stuff getting in the finish.

Here is a link to it. Link

Another nice thing is it only costs $22 USD per gallon, which is insanely good.

After grainfilling I spray one coat, scuff sand, spray two coats, wait a week and than final sand/buff.

Daniel, are you using nitro for your finishes?

Negative. I use a product called ktystal clear. It's a modified 2 part conversion varnish that is very durable, very clear, doesn't yellow, and can be sprayed very thin (plus it cures hard in 24 hours)

Alright here are the final pictures with strings on. It already sounds amazing. The extra sound hole on the upper bout not only makes it sound good for the player, but it gives it a very 3D sound in front of the guitar too. If I cover it up it sounds much more muffled and sterile, but when you uncover the hole it has a really great 3D sound, almost like there is a chorus on it. It also has really good bass response. I was expecting a much brighter sound, but it sounds really balanced and is extremely loud with good bass response. It's louder and has more bass than my brothers takemine dreadnought, and of course has better more clear highs and strong mids.

I'm extremely happy with how it turned out and I know it will just get better in the months to come.

Link to more pictures.

Cool! I love building acoustics. Shoot me any questions you have when the time comes.

First, take off all your strings. Than *very* carefully check for unlevel frets. Good?

Now put your strings back on, tune that sucker up and slap a capo on the first fret.

Now check the relief, it should be just a hair in the middle of the neck. Still buzzing?

Now you need to measure the action at the 12th fret if you want us to help you better than giving vague advice.

Measure the action at the 12th, and 24th fret where you think it feels good, and than raise the bridge until it doesn't buzz than take those two measurements again.

Do those things, than we can help you better.

As I'm sure you already know, when doing the setup it is very important to do everything perfectly, and in the right order. For instance, if you try to set the bridge height without first setting the nut height your just going around in circles...

I'm going to run through how I check certain things just to give you can idea of something you might be missing.

(this is assuming that the frets are *perfectly* level already)

First comes the nut:

How do you check nut height? You should press down between the 2nd and 3rd frets and check the distance between the string and the first fret. It should just *barely* be above the fret. If it's touching it's too close, if it's more than just a hair it's too far.

Than comes relief:

Hold down the string on the first fret, and the last fret (in your case 24) now measure (I usually do it by eye) the distance between the string and the 8th-12th frets (rough area, will change depending on how many total frets are on the guitar). It should be just a hair, enough to where you can see light underneath the string, but as small a space as you can get it.

Next comes bridge height:

I have measurements that I use to get it in the ballpark of where I want it, but since you don't have anything to measure it with I'd recommend starting with a high action, than bringing it down bit by bit, until it starts to buzz, than back it off just a tiny bit.

There you go thats the lowest action that guitar can have without buzzing.

Than it's on to intonation which I'm sure you already know how to do so I won't cover it.

I hope that helps, but like I said, without measurements all we can do is offer vague advice...

If a guitar is 99 % looks and shape, the sound of any guitar is 99.9% player...

Haha I like that quote, and so true. That should be on a sticker on your guitar case. Than when the ladies comment on how good you sound you can just point to the sticker.

Man, that guitar is awesome! It is so beautiful...I just love black limba. Is this one for you, or is it sold? You guys are really knocking out some gorgeous guitars. Well done.

This one is for me. There is no way I'm selling it (unless I get offered a huge amount of money, I guess we all have our price...)

Removed in order not to start a flame war.

Nice weather we are having.

I've purchased quite a bit from gilmer, but I've found tons of sources for great acoustic wood, even some here in the forum.

Sure, if you say so. But we both obviously have very different ideas of what a guitar is worth. I would have no reservations spending 4k on a really special acoustic guitar.