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Did anyone else see this ? Now there's 2 weeks of that guy's life he doesn't get back. I hope he and all the other luthiers got paid but I bet they didn't.
Scrap oak as a tonewood ? The guy obviously has skills, so why spend all that time making a Harmony / Sears Catalogue special ?
Scratching my head . . . : )
???
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12-21-2023 11:10 AM
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I would play it. And be proud of it.
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Originally Posted by Dennis D
Last edited by John A.; 12-22-2023 at 12:24 PM.
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Originally Posted by John A.
I just felt sorry for him the more I thought about it.
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Why would you feel sorry? He elected to do a build off challenge. Have you ever heard the phrase the journey is the destination?
Last edited by AllanAllen; 12-21-2023 at 04:19 PM.
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Originally Posted by Dennis D
Last edited by John A.; 12-22-2023 at 01:08 AM.
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Spruce and maple are the traditional materials when we think of finer archtop guitars.
Yet many types of wood can be used to make such guitars, if the builder knows how to work around the quirks of the chosen or available wood.
Some oak wood guitars have stood the test of time:
This is an ESTE archtop, or something like an ESTE replication made in GDR - some employees came from East Germany.
Felix Stärke (ESTE) in Hamburg was a successful builder of mainly banjos (about 1,000 exemplars) in the 1920s who made fine, now very sought-after archtop guitars in the 1930s and again a couple of instruments right after the war (in total less than 400). It is said that Stärke had been a fastidious man and never let a less than satisfying guitar leave his workshop.
Sure ESTE made spruce and maple archtop guitars:
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I had to watch the beginning again, and yeah he said he'd previously only made one, and that was from a kit.
So if he's happy with what he built and what he had to endure to build it, good for him.
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Originally Posted by Dennis D
Too bad they make it sound so utterly terrible but I bet they are better sounds in there than what buddy John - who obviously never played a note of jazz in his entire life - gets out of it.
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I am totally, hugely impressed. I just wish a jazz player had been found for the inaugural playing of the newborn guitar!
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12-22-2023, 10:30 PM #11joelf GuestOriginally Posted by Dennis D
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I'd play the shit out of that. Cool video.
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12-23-2023, 05:16 AM #13joelf GuestOriginally Posted by mr. beaumont
To wit: I once bought a Martin at Matt Umanov's store. Matt is, let's just say not on my xmas list. Due to my own negligence the guitar developed 2 huge cracks and a humongous hole near the bottom. I wanted to cry. Umanov got wind of this, and after a phony pep talk ('It's just a guitar. Not an arm or a leg---etc., etc.) with a straight face continued with 'We teach guitar repair here. I'll give you $50 for yours.' (the guitar cost me around $1,400).
I used my head though: went straight to Rick, who completely repaired the guitar, charging me a mere $60. The damage was still visible, but contained, and the instrument was playable. I was able to sell it to a friend and recoup around half the purchase price.
Another time the jack female became loose on my guitar and fell inside, and I had a gig. Rick fixed it 123, and charged me $5.
If I get to where I can afford one I'd buy a Kellycaster. (Cindy, his apprentice, also makes very interesting and well-made instruments). I have 2 archtops and that's more than enough...Last edited by joelf; 12-23-2023 at 06:32 AM.
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12-23-2023, 05:21 AM #14joelf Guest
Now I'm not sure which video you meant---probably the 1st.
But if I turned a few people onto the good deeds and work of Rick Kelly I'm happy...
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Oak is an extremely dense wood. I've never made an archtop with it but I know Al Carruth, who is a huge advocate of non rainforest woods and a fine luthier found it to be quite similar in density, cross grain stiffness and Q to rosewood, built a classical guitar with it. It turned out that as a flat top wood, it compared quite nicely with rosewood, was less oily, was much cheaper and easier to work with. It has great projection, it can be easily and reliably taken down to thicknesses that allow it to be tuned precisely and it's quite stable through temp and humidity changes. And it sounds great.
Other woods that are very fine top grade luthier tonewoods: Walnut, Apple, Sycamore, Cherry (if it's clear and on the quarter) and many more that can be found in temperate climates. The biggest obstacle to using wood that is more plentiful and of higher quality than "prestige" woods from depleted global sources? Prejudices of traditions and the insistence of consumers that only a handful of woods will make an excellent instrument.
Once again, looks prove to be more important than sound.
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12-23-2023, 06:36 AM #16joelf GuestOriginally Posted by Jimmy blue note
The luthier working on a vintage S.S. Stewart of mine says that's what it's made from, and that pine is a great guitar wood. Never had heard that before.
What do you think?
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Originally Posted by joelf
I'm not so sure of how high or quickly pine grows in comparison with spruce, but I do know the fact that high elevations and slow growth contribute to the tight annular rings in spruce, especially species like Engleman which is very similar to European, tends to be smaller and harder to harvest from higher altitudes. So it's really a special wood.
I do wish more people worked with pine. We'd have a more comprehensive database. When something acquires a stigma of not being sought after, wood suppliers don't carry it, people don't experiment and great potential resources are ignored or overlooked. Shame.
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12-23-2023, 07:50 AM #18joelf GuestOriginally Posted by Jimmy blue note
So you're a luthier?
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It's not the same thing (at all and I recognize that) but Jerome Duffell is building me a guitar where the back and sides are smoked oak laminates. The wood is gorgeous, and I love the idea that something more sustainable can be used to wonderful effect. Other than the top, all of woods were sustainably sourced from either reclaimed wood or very old stock from the 1930s, and the smoked oak.
And FWIW, the best snare drum I've ever heard in person was made from oak.
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Originally Posted by joelf
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Interesting info jbn. Now I’m hankering for
an archtop made of native English wood….
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12-23-2023, 04:12 PM #22joelf GuestOriginally Posted by Jimmy blue note
One day for some reason I got the idea that maybe I could do repair work (it didn't last.)
Eddie: 'Forget it. You're too nervous'.
I dunno if he thought I'd shake and/or miss---like a mohel after too much Schnapps---but I dropped it...
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Originally Posted by Christian Miller
If that's the case there, there may be sawyers and luthiers who converge at such fellings. It'd be a really nice tribute to the land and flora of your native lands to turn those years of growth and weathering into music. Do it!
Find out if any luthiers there will work with English wood.
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I think there are also videos where someone builds a semi-hollow out of lollipop or icecream sticks - and the results sounds like, well, an e-guitar?
Originally Posted by Jimmy blue note
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Originally Posted by RJVB
Not really sounding very 'jazzy'. Is it in the...
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