My first little Mr. Wu

**Hellings** · 09-30-2017, 07:29 AM

Hi all,

I first heard of Mr. Wu here at this forum so i like to share some pictures with this forum of my first Mr. Wu archtop, arrived yesterday after a 7 month build. It is a basic 16 inch archtop loosley modelled on an early L5. Top is spruce, back-sides Mahogany, fretboard ebony. It plays and sounds very nice, i do not know the stock stringsize, perhaps 012-013, maybe change that later. My first little Mr. Wu-wp_20170930_006-jpg

My first little Mr. Wu-wp_20170930_006-jpg

My first little Mr. Wu-wp_20170930_007-jpg

My first little Mr. Wu-wp_20170930_008-jpg

My first little Mr. Wu-wp_20170930_010-jpg

My first little Mr. Wu-wp_20170930_011-jpg

My first little Mr. Wu-wp_20170930_012-jpg

Regards,

Noël.

**cmajor9** · 09-30-2017, 10:00 AM

That's a beautiful sunburst!

**Archtop Guy** · 09-30-2017, 10:52 AM

Noel, Very nice. Love the choice of the mahogany back and neck. That should warm up a 16" considerably. Just a nice,clean design. Congratulations. AG

**skykomishone** · 09-30-2017, 11:33 AM

Wow! That's very nice. Congrats on the New Guitar Day. Wishing that you play many enjoyable notes.

**Hellings** · 09-30-2017, 11:37 AM

Indeed, i like a more romantic/warmer sound and the guitar can deliver this, especially with finger picking. Dynamics are great and sustain is much better than i am used to, solid wood makes a lot of difference i guess. The D string has (when you attack it hard) a sort extra trebly toink to it, just like the martin i once had, nice!

**Hellings** · 09-30-2017, 11:38 AM

Yep me too, starting with "sleepwalk"!

**2bornot2bop** · 09-30-2017, 02:01 PM

Congratulations! First time I've seen Wu produce a spruce/mahogany archtop - NICE!

Also, only the 2nd Wu archtop I've seen produced with white-black binding. It pops! What does the headstock read?

**Hellings** · 09-30-2017, 02:32 PM

I hope it reads "Noel" , my first name.

**Boogieman** · 09-30-2017, 02:59 PM

Originally Posted by Hellings

I hope it reads "Noel" , my first name.

Indeed, it is the phonetic pronunciation of "Noel" in Mandarin. The inlaid characters are Simplified Chinese characters. The calligraphy looks nice.

One of these days, I am going to get a Mr. Wu guitar for myself. Congratulations.

**Rob MacKillop** · 09-30-2017, 04:16 PM

Beautiful. Have fun with it.

**2bornot2bop** · 09-30-2017, 04:31 PM

Those Wilkinson ebony tuners work fine. You also have the option of swapping them out for German Schaller M6's - there's no additional drilling.

**citizenk74** · 09-30-2017, 04:43 PM

Congratulations on a fine instrument, and play it in good health!

**Hellings** · 09-30-2017, 06:12 PM

That would be an serious option, Mr. Wu had no nickel hardware so he put gold on it. I will first play the guitar a couple of weeks and then decide on a hardware upgrade. In Germany they (ABM) make beautifull Nickel tail pieces but they are not cheap. The guitar balance is a little bit off, i need 250 gram less on the head or more wheight on the tailpiece. Lightweight tuners dont give me that and a heavier tailpiece might ruin the bodies resonance?

**Hellings** · 09-30-2017, 06:14 PM

Bytheway, as in your headstockpicture, Mrs Wu does some serious inlaying, amazing! I like the plain workmans guitar look myself.

**CamillusUSA** · 09-30-2017, 06:16 PM

That's a cute ax - nice colour and lines.

**2bornot2bop** · 09-30-2017, 06:20 PM

Originally Posted by Hellings

That would be an serious option, Mr. Wu had no nickel hardware so he put gold on it. I will first play the guitar a couple of weeks and then decide on a hardware upgrade. In Germany they (ABM) make beautifull Nickel tail pieces but they are not cheap. The guitar balance is a little bit off, i need 250 gram less on the head or more wheight on the tailpiece. Lightweight tuners dont give me that and a heavier tailpiece might ruin the bodies resonance?

When I had that Wu made I knew I was going to replace the tuners with the Schallers. There's a member here that will sell you a set if you're ever in the need.

Some have sent parts to China while their guitar is being produced. Good luck with resolving your tailpiece - there are lots of options!

How's the guitar acoustically? Did you request an additional drying time for the finish?

**Hellings** · 09-30-2017, 06:33 PM

The guitar is ment to be played acoustically only. I am not a big fan of jazzy electric archtop sounds but i love the acoustic sound of a good archtop. This guitar sounds fine to me, good tonal balance with no big basses and no super bright hi end. You can change the tone quite a bit with moving your hand position, great attack response and good sustain too. I ordered nitro lacker but no extra drytime, is that a problem?

**2bornot2bop** · 09-30-2017, 07:16 PM

Originally Posted by Hellings

The guitar is ment to be played acoustically only. I am not a big fan of jazzy electric archtop sounds but i love the acoustic sound of a good archtop. This guitar sounds fine to me, good tonal balance with no big basses and no super bright hi end. You can change the tone quite a bit with moving your hand position, great attack response and good sustain too. I ordered nitro lacker but no extra drytime, is that a problem?

Not necessarily. But several of us did just to be on the safe side. As wood needs proper drying time before being used, so does lacquer.

I've read up to 16 days is beneficial. Don't many builders allow curing of 4 weeks?

Nitrocellulose Finishing Schedule | stewmac.com

**Hellings** · 10-01-2017, 03:43 AM

I checked the dates, Sunburst on 19 aug, nitro and polish on 2 sept but he forgot the pick guard so actual shipment was on 27 sept...so maybe i got lucky! I will check the article on nitro drying times, thanks.

**deacon Mark** · 10-01-2017, 08:23 AM

BIll Hollenbeck always allowed at least 4 weeks curing time and even more. Ideally if not in a hurry wait 6-7 weeks the longer the better.

**Hellings** · 10-01-2017, 09:17 AM

Can you notice this at the surface? Mine is not sticky at all, but maybe underlying layers are still not dry? That would be difficult to check. Maybe i should remove/loosen the strings and let it sit for a few weeks to be safe. I have to put another tailpiece on it anayway.

**iim7V7IM7** · 10-01-2017, 10:23 AM

In my experience, most luthiers that I have worked with want a minimum of 4-weeks after their last wet out, before bottoming out and buffing the guitars final coat of nitro. When you account for the additional time for final assembly, set up and stabilization, it is typically about 6-weeks until it sees a guitar case and is on its way to a client (usually it is stored on a rack of hanger in their shops).

This also can vary greatly and can be influenced by the chemistry nitro that they use, the solvent system of choice, environmental conditions during application, number of coats, time between coats, thickness of coats, and the environmental conditions during the drying period. I have seen guitars shipped too early show signs of texture from their own weight against the case lining making an impression into the finish.

**DanielleOM** · 10-01-2017, 10:35 AM

I like the head stock (OPs guitar photo) on this one.

I don't understand why so many manufacturers tend to make headstocks where adjacent strings are right on the verge of touching each other on the headstock.

Was that headstock a standard offering?

**Max405** · 10-01-2017, 10:46 AM

Really nice simple guitar. Mr Wu is a busy man these days huh? Wow.
Best of luck with it.
I second 2b’s comment about the tuners. I wouldn’t go crazy changing them. The high end replacements are not that much better. And they probably a lot heavier too.
Joe D

**Hellings** · 10-01-2017, 10:54 AM

I am not shure if your question is about my headstock or on the one on the 2bornotobop photo. In my case i sent Mr. Wu pictures of and old L5 model which he copied in his way. So the headstock is a copy of the original, Mr. Wu makes an estimate based on your wishes and has no standard items, i guess. Mine was about 1200 euro, all in, which is not expensive for a handmade solid body guitar which sounds great acoustically.