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Showing posts from December, 2009

Lacote Guitar, Legnani Model, circa 1830

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The Lacote, Stradivari and other guitars of their eras were of poor design. Their size created difficulty in obtaining volume or quality. Vincenzo Scaletti, Guitarra magazine, issue 7, Nov.-Dec. 1965 I found some measurements for an original "Legnani model" by Rene Lacote the other day and with the help of a ruler and compass I think that I came up with a close approximation of the guitar's outline without actually getting my hands on the original. I think that this is a beautiful shape, very narrow waisted and, yes, very bulbous upper and lower bouts. The original has a 595mm string length (23 and 7/16 inches) with 21 frets to the sound hole without a raised fingerboard. Luigi Legnani was a guitar superstar in the 19th century and worked closely with Johann Stauffer of Vienna (the original C.F. Martin worked for him before Martin emigrated to the US) to create a guitar that suited his needs. Apparently it was a sought after style for Lacote was one of many who made a &

Bear Mauls El Portal Community Center's Backdoor

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A couple of weeks ago a black bear decided that it needed to get into the El Portal Community Center for a snack and went in through the back door. It literally went through the back door and tore it off its hinges. Take a look at the right hand side of the photo above and you can see pieces of the door. The door was made from one and one-quarter inch thick redwood and offered very little resistance to the bear. Here are the claw marks.... Here is the replacement door that I am making from redwood, a little thicker than the original, but I am using the same techniques as the original builder.