The Western Red Cedar/Bigleaf Maple Classical Guitar is Finished!

Segovia('s)... instrument moans not, neither does it wail. It is at all times nothing more nor less than a transcendently well-played guitar-an honest and affecting sound because it is a beautifully handmade thing, in which the left hand always knows what the right hand is doing. And that, in the last analysis, is the point and purpose of the whole art of the Apollonian twang.

Frederic V. Grunfeld, The Art and Times of the Guitar, 1969


Four hours this morning doing the final rub out on the finish, worth every penny of the labor spent. I discovered that Meguiar's Swirl Remover worked the best for a gloss finish. When I took these photos I could see my reflection in the finish, me holding my camera and the guitar looking back at me.

This guitar started out as a bigleaf maple board that my friend, Leo Weber, gave me for the sole purpose of making something out of it. I re-sawed the board by hand with a Disston D-8 rip saw into the back and sides, the top I scavenged from a old pile of hand split cedar shakes that I found some where near the slopes of Lassen Peak and Brokeoff Mountain in northeastern California. The rosette is from manzanita burl that I harvested on my grand parents property, the rest is wood that was purchased from LMII: Spanish cedar neck, West African ebony fingerboard, bindings and bridge, it's outfitter with Sloane tuners and right now it has light tension LaBella 2001 strings on it.

Thanks, Leo.









Here's a YouTube of Sharon Isbin being amazing as always!






Comments

  1. Congratulations on the guitar, Wilson. A beautiful piece of work.

    And thanks for the Isbin video - I'm finding your blog a musical education.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Rob:

    Thanks for the kind words on the guitar.

    I'm glad that you are enjoying the videos that I'm posting, music has been a big part of my life since I was a kid, I can't live without it!

    ReplyDelete
  3. darn wilson, you done outdid yourself. the grain looks beautiful, the shape of the body is mighty fine, but lordy, i wished you had recorded some of the that sweet thang's tone!

    look forward to seeing what comes next man.

    ReplyDelete
  4. wow wilson,

    that looks like a guitar should look!

    well done man, well done.

    gonna need some video recordings from the new owner though on the blog - can't wait to hear what it sounds like.

    ReplyDelete

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