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Showing posts from December, 2018

On the Workbench - Redwood/Curly Walnut Hernandez y Aguado Style Guitar, Part 1

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. ..the graceful lines and the splendor of the guitar's body possessed my heart as swiftly as would the features of a heaven-sent woman suddenly appearing to become the loving companion of a lifetime. Andres Segovia, Andres Segovia, An Autobiography of the years 1893-1920 , 1976 I made this neck more than a few years back with the intent of building a nice guitar with a 640mm scale length. It languished in "the wood pile" until recently when I pulled it out and paired it with a back and side set of curly black walnut. The walnut bent like a dream and unlike some walnut that I have worked with in the past, it didn't spring back, a definite bonus! I thinned the sides down to 3/32" and the waist area down to a tad less that 1/16" to help with the bending process. I find with walnut that the bending iron temperature needs to be between 350-375 degrees Fahrenheit, any hotter and the wood gets too bitter and will fail. I have disco

Be Your Own Apprentice

Daiju visited the master Baso in China. Baso asked: "What do you seek?" "Enlightenment," replied Daiju. "You have your own treasure house. Why do you search outside?" Baso asked Daiju inquired: "Where is my treasure house?" Baso answered: "What you are asking is your treasure house." Daiju was enlightened!  Ever after he urged his friends: "Open your own treasure house and use those treasures."  from Zen Flesh, Zen Bones , complied by Paul Reps and Nyogen Senzaki, 1957 "What maker did you study with? What was his name?" This was a question I often get when I attend guitar festivals as a vendor. "Myself," was my reply. "Really? How?" "I read a few books on guitar making, pulled out some old tools I inherited, bought some wood and went at it," I replied. "Wow! Really? How did you know how work the wood into a guitar? I don't think I could make anything like this