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RE: "Luthiers share your creations" thread
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Ruphus
Posts: 3782
Joined: Nov. 18 2010
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 RE: "Luthiers share your creati... (in reply to Anders Eliasson)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Anders Eliasson
Anyways, esthetics are important. But only for the eye and music is made for the ears. And in the end, a musical instrument is only a tool made for making sound (noise in some peoples ears)
Of course.
I was an aesthete before I could even know why ( so floored by the wonderful calfs of our nurses in kindergarden, kid you not), and appreciate fine detail with all of senses.
Yet, priorities remain like you just mentioned.
There are different kinds of aesthetics that I enjoy each individually. From rat looks, over traditionally conform or tone sur tone to bling style. And then there is that attraction that can occure with the speciality of a material ( like the one with ancient woods).
Still, all second in row with performance. No question.
With my current favorite being a beaten up warhorse the better looking guitars stay in their cases, hidden from view anyway / with their visual clues now of little value.
Inserted / bolted necks despite the gap can resume the back still, can´t they. ( No deal breaker. Only if a guitar was built for me anyway I wouldn´t mind that item.)
My take is: If it is a fine guitar, it would be only complementary if visually thrilling as well, but no must.
Ruphus
PS:
The almost religious dispute about retro that you mention, I only experienced regarding architecture ( and from some motor vehicles and gadget designs).
Discussing with my architect brother in law who would disagree with my wish to see modern remakes of art nouveau or antique style with those solid walls, high sealings, windows, doors, plaster, etc.
He insisted on the basically alu & glass flash as modernity.
I think of retro / pseudo antique styling as fully legit, and for me coming in second as attraction after wooden structures.
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Date Jan. 31 2014 14:40:08
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estebanana
Posts: 9351
Joined: Oct. 16 2009
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RE: "Luthiers share your creati... (in reply to Ruphus)
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Yeah, I've known for long time it's a Sevilla style to have a broken outside border with circles. I learned the concentric circles from Gene Clark, but several of the older players I know who went to Spain in the 50's 60's said that it was Sevilla style when I began doing it. Only I invented it without knowing that because I orginally took that exact broken border from a rosette on a 19th century oud.
The concentric rings are old as the hills, you see it on 100 year old guitars. I've never cared for intricate rosettes although I can do them, the problem with them is that the more intricate they are the less they read as good solid design. Super intricate rosettes begin to look like the trim and filigree on dollar bills or stamps. That os fine if you want to look at them with a magnifier an enjoy the skill of the engraver, but for guitars I think too much detail has diminishing returns.
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I've been working on my violin varnish, I hit on using varnish made by Joe Robson, he makes a pine balsam ground and a cooked resin linseed oil varnish. In the past I had used a spirit varnish, the one called "1704" made with shellac, elemy and sandrac, but I think the resin varnish with the balsam ground is much better.
This is the balsam ground with one layer of resin oil varnish on top- the second has two layers, in different light, still showing the ground on the side.
I never liked orange guitars- The orange finish on guitars is nothing close to good violin varnish, which it always seemed to me it is trying to emulate. I'm pretty happy with Robson's varnish, it is the best stuff I have seen, but it ain't cheap.
Images are resized automatically to a maximum width of 800px
 Attachment (2)
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https://www.stephenfaulkguitars.com
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Date Feb. 4 2014 11:16:16
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tijeretamiel
Posts: 441
Joined: Jan. 6 2012
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RE: "Luthiers share your creati... (in reply to Anders Eliasson)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Anders Eliasson
the steel string is doing really great, I dont play it much but it really sings.
I´ve made 2 flamencos with Sitka spruce and they both sounded VERY well. I have one, (number 4) with me. Its my swing around guitar and it looks like sh*t. Everyone loves that guitar and between the flamenco singers in the peñas of Huelva it was considered the best guitar I ever made (I dont agree, but its good)
I will make a 2A guitar with a master grade Sitka top within a few month.
Its also a very pretty piece of wood.
Good to hear about the steel string. Do you have any inclination to make any more steel strung guitars? If you do make a 12 string! I really love them, a nightmare to play though!
Guitar no.4 sounds good. I have a lot of love for guitars that don't have much in favour for their looks but do for their sounds - guitars for playing! Maybe they think it's one of the better guitars you made as the sound developed - I imagine most of the guitars you have made, you've not managed to hear when they have been 'broken in'?
I look forward to seeing the build for your 2A with a mastergrade Sitka Soundboard. Out of curiosity, how do you grade soundboards? When it comes to Spruce tops anyway, I often think there's an obsession over 'perfect' visual appearances with the lines being uniformly close together, but I've played some amazing guitars where there has not been a uniform distance between the lines.
I really like Sitka as a soundboard for material for steel strings, and it's easily my favourite over the more often more revered but more expensive Adirondack, Englemann and European spruces, as Sitka to my ears sounds warmer. One thing about Sitka spruce soundboards, is they don't look that nice as they age but that's not a very important thing.
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Date Feb. 4 2014 11:22:05
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Anders Eliasson
Posts: 5780
Joined: Oct. 18 2006
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RE: "Luthiers share your creati... (in reply to tijeretamiel)
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quote:
Good to hear about the steel string. Do you have any inclination to make any more steel strung guitars? If you do make a 12 string! I really love them, a nightmare to play though!
Guitar no.4 sounds good. I have a lot of love for guitars that don't have much in favour for their looks but do for their sounds - guitars for playing! Maybe they think it's one of the better guitars you made as the sound developed - I imagine most of the guitars you have made, you've not managed to hear when they have been 'broken in'?
I look forward to seeing the build for your 2A with a mastergrade Sitka Soundboard. Out of curiosity, how do you grade soundboards? When it comes to Spruce tops anyway, I often think there's an obsession over 'perfect' visual appearances with the lines being uniformly close together, but I've played some amazing guitars where there has not been a uniform distance between the lines.
I really like Sitka as a soundboard for material for steel strings, and it's easily my favourite over the more often more revered but more expensive Adirondack, Englemann and European spruces, as Sitka to my ears sounds warmer. One thing about Sitka spruce soundboards, is they don't look that nice as they age but that's not a very important thing.
Time will show if i will make more steelstring guitars. Its all about time and energy and right now, besides building Spanish guitars, the violin is what I´m most interested in.
The number 4 is what Ricardo described a Gerundino guitar, a rasgueado and pulgar guitar. (I liked that description) That it does really well, but picado and especially arpeggios up the fingerboard is not its force.
I dont really grade soundboards and when i say mastergrade, its becase it was bought as a mastergrade. Soundboard grading is there in order to make money, so that one piece of very good soundboard is 20,-€ while another with some different characteristics but not better sounding costs 80,-€. When I choose wood for a 1A guitar, its sound first and then looks. Some of these picture perfect soundboards, all white, hardly any contrast can be to sloppy in their cross grain stiffness. Then its better with some contrast even though some think it looks wrong. The contrast is the hard and stiff part of the wood. To much wintergrain and it gets to heavy. Its all a compromise.
I wont continue to build with Sitka spruce for simple reason that I´m in Europe and I can get Euro spruce cheaper and its what most clients want.
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Blog: http://news-from-the-workshop.blogspot.com/
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Date Feb. 5 2014 14:49:13
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tijeretamiel
Posts: 441
Joined: Jan. 6 2012
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RE: "Luthiers share your creati... (in reply to Anders Eliasson)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Anders Eliasson
Time will show if i will make more steelstring guitars. Its all about time and energy and right now, besides building Spanish guitars, the violin is what I´m most interested in.
The number 4 is what Ricardo described a Gerundino guitar, a rasgueado and pulgar guitar. (I liked that description) That it does really well, but picado and especially arpeggios up the fingerboard is not its force.
I dont really grade soundboards and when i say mastergrade, its becase it was bought as a mastergrade. Soundboard grading is there in order to make money, so that one piece of very good soundboard is 20,-€ while another with some different characteristics but not better sounding costs 80,-€. When I choose wood for a 1A guitar, its sound first and then looks. Some of these picture perfect soundboards, all white, hardly any contrast can be to sloppy in their cross grain stiffness. Then its better with some contrast even though some think it looks wrong. The contrast is the hard and stiff part of the wood. To much wintergrain and it gets to heavy. Its all a compromise.
I wont continue to build with Sitka spruce for simple reason that I´m in Europe and I can get Euro spruce cheaper and its what most clients want.
Thanks for the reply Anders. That made a lot of sense.
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Date Feb. 5 2014 15:20:48
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