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Im getting really excited now because my new negra is nearly finished being built. Its being made by master luthier and Foromember Stephen Hill just down the road from me in la Herradura. This is one of the 25th anniversary guitars that he took orders for last year and its exciting for me for many reasons. Firstly because I have known stephen for ages and he is the only guy I now trust to do my setups. I have wanted one of Stephens guitars for a long time now and when the 25th anniversary model was being planned I couldnt resist. Secondly because although I have had several negras, I never had one in Brazilian rosewood. Thirdly because this is the first time I have had the opportunity to have a guitar custom built for me where I have a large say in the spec and i can choose the actual pieces of wood for the instrument. The special edition came with some cool features starting with a new rosette ( all hand inlay, i wouldnt have the patience for this!)
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RE: New Guitar nearly ready (in reply to Pimientito)
Here are the sides and back. The rosewood is Brazilian but it comes from old stock. I dont think there will be any more Brazilian models after this one. The sides have a beautiful colour gradient into the top and the back has a swirl which I liked very much.
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RE: New Guitar nearly ready (in reply to Pimientito)
Stephen is also a master at S+M. Some people think this black rubber technique is to hold everything together while the glue sets....not true, its just for fun!
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RE: New Guitar nearly ready (in reply to Pimientito)
Here is Stephen himself routing the binding channels. He looks a bit scary with the powertools and facemask.....but not as scary as when he takes them off You can see the headstock has been routed for the machines. I was not going for pegs on this one.
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RE: New Guitar nearly ready (in reply to Pimientito)
Now the fingerboard is going on. I think there are going to be some nice inlay features on the bridge and I like the bindings very much. Notice how the light grain on the rosewood mtches the top perfectly. Im not sure when it will be ready to play but hopefully should be in a few weeks.
I have a recording project later this year and Im really wanting to use this guitar for it.
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RE: New Guitar nearly ready (in reply to Pimientito)
Looks beautiful, congratulations. Also looks like a cedar top, no?
Love the tile work in the window frame next the bench in Stephen's shop. That would make a great rosette, in fact I am pretty sure I've seen that in a rosette.
RE: New Guitar nearly ready (in reply to Pimientito)
Looking nice! Exciting times eh? :-)
Stephens work always looks very tasteful. Beautiful details are already apparent. I love that rosette, and the bindings / purflings are well thought of to accent the very cool wood figuring on the sides. Heaps of character with wood like that!
Posts: 1240
Joined: Nov. 6 2008
From: Sydney, Australia
RE: New Guitar nearly ready (in reply to Pimientito)
congrats mate!! when it is done.. do a side by side comparison with your other guitars.. especially the conde that you got about 1-2 years back... the gravina one i think =)
RE: New Guitar nearly ready (in reply to Pimientito)
That looks really nice. A cedar top braz babe....a real brownie I like the thin pale parts of the sides. It gives the guitar character and the rosette is very beautifull in all its simplicity. Do you have any ideas on when it´ll have strings on?
So Stephen wont be building more Braz? As things are now, I wont be building more braz guitars either. To much cheating and very expensive. Way to risky
Im not sure when it will have strings. Its got to have a polymer type finish which I think takes several coats. Im not having it french polished because I find it very impractical and I will scuff to guitar to shreds in the first week.
The brazilian rosewood is now very difficult to obtain. I know some makers who have private stocks but they are not selling any. Stephen said that there are people buying old houses in Brazil that have rosewood timbers for the beams etc and are tearing them down to sell the wood. However its so valuable that there are many con men selling wood from anywhere.
I think we will see the end of Brazilian rosewood guitars once some of these private stocks are used up and thats why I really wanted to get one while I could.
RE: New Guitar nearly ready (in reply to Pimientito)
I know builders (and wood sellers, wood cutters, etc) who build guitars out of whatever brownish wood from south America and call them Brazilian rosewood guitars.
What kind of polymer finish are you going to have on the thing. Polymer sounds plastic to me. If you dont want FP, I would advice you to have it finished in Nitrocellulose.
RE: New Guitar nearly ready (in reply to Pimientito)
...and now the frets are being put on. The finish will be a type of Nitro cellulose I think and applied in a half dozen very fine layers over 3 weeks. This is the first time I have seen the guitar all put together. The rosette is a one off unique piece specially designed for me. You can see it more clearly now. Its the only one like it.
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Its nearly finished. I havent seen it since I posted the last photos a month ago but Stephen says he is putting the final coats of laquer on it now. Jingle saw it last week and was really impressed. He phoned me and said it looked beautiful. I guess strings will be going on in the next week or so.
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You can see the headstock has been routed for the machines. I was not going for pegs on this one. 
I like the thin pale parts of the sides. It gives the guitar character and the rosette is very beautifull in all its simplicity. Do you have any ideas on when it´ll have strings on? 
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