Starting a crazy-cool negra

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Andy Culpepper

Posts: 3023
Joined: Mar. 30 2009
From: NY, USA

Starting a crazy-cool negra

I'm blogging about a new guitar with some fun features, check it out:

http://andyculpepperguitars.wordpress.com/

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Andy Culpepper, luthier
http://www.andyculpepper.com

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 28 2012 0:12:05

at_leo_87

Posts: 3055
Joined: Aug. 30 2008
From: Boston, MA, U.S.A

RE: Starting a crazy-cool negra (in reply to Andy Culpepper)

Nice! I like crazy.

I was actually going to message you and see what your thoughts about cutaways are.

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 28 2012 0:39:09

Andy Culpepper

Posts: 3023
Joined: Mar. 30 2009
From: NY, USA

RE: Starting a crazy-cool negra (in reply to Andy Culpepper)

Yeah it will be fun. I've seen some cutaway designs on nylon string guitars that I dont like much, particularly how they deal with the heel area.

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Andy Culpepper, luthier
http://www.andyculpepper.com

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 28 2012 17:32:53

odinz

Posts: 407
Joined: May 26 2010
From: Sarpsborg,Norway

RE: Starting a crazy-cool negra (in reply to Andy Culpepper)

The heel on this one will be almost like guitars with no cutaway?
Looks that way to me atleast..

Good idea, I had a guitar with a cutaway and there was no heel at all, the neck slotted flat into the body and it looked awful

The shape of the cutaway looks fun, looking forward to see how it ends up !

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 28 2012 17:44:06

Andy Culpepper

Posts: 3023
Joined: Mar. 30 2009
From: NY, USA

RE: Starting a crazy-cool negra (in reply to odinz)

quote:

The heel on this one will be almost like guitars with no cutaway?

Yeah that's pretty much the idea... I might make it a little shorter and rounder though.
I don't like the Antonio Aparicio style and I want the heel to have a curve.
Thanks Jonas

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Andy Culpepper, luthier
http://www.andyculpepper.com

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 28 2012 21:59:27

TANúñez

Posts: 2559
Joined: Jul. 10 2003
From: TEXAS

RE: Starting a crazy-cool negra (in reply to Andy Culpepper)

Your cutaway reminds me of the Gibson Jumbo cutaways where the cutaway curves upwards. Interesting. Most nylon cutaways I've seen have a slight curve or hardly any curve. I think yours is cool.

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Tom Núñez
www.instagram.com/tanunezguitars

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 28 2012 23:02:38

RTC

Posts: 667
Joined: Aug. 20 2008
From: DFW Area, Texas

RE: Starting a crazy-cool negra (in reply to TANúñez)

Tom:
What the heck!
I guess the camera got your good side.

Prof Police ALERT!

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 28 2012 23:41:59

TANúñez

Posts: 2559
Joined: Jul. 10 2003
From: TEXAS

RE: Starting a crazy-cool negra (in reply to RTC)

It's my Homage to the Professor.

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Tom Núñez
www.instagram.com/tanunezguitars

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 28 2012 23:52:39

Sean

Posts: 672
Joined: Jan. 20 2011
From: Canada

RE: Starting a crazy-cool negra (in reply to TANúñez)

Images are resized automatically to a maximum width of 800px

Attachment (1)

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 29 2012 3:43:05

KMMI77

Posts: 1821
Joined: Jul. 26 2009
From: The land down under

RE: Starting a crazy-cool negra (in reply to Andy Culpepper)

Maybe next you could make a maccaferri hybrid style flamenco. Maccaferri size body with flamenco neck and bridge. I wonder how it would sound

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 29 2012 3:50:15

odinz

Posts: 407
Joined: May 26 2010
From: Sarpsborg,Norway

RE: Starting a crazy-cool negra (in reply to KMMI77)

There are Selmer-Maccaferri style guitars wich are meant to be used with nylon strings, some of them have more classical guitar style necks than the typical Selmer-Maccaferri style, though the body meets at the 14th fret and it is a bit thinner.
The nylon string has become a bit of a fashion in manouche swing lately and they sound cool

So a hybrid like that is likely very possible

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 29 2012 10:12:48

Doitsujin

Posts: 5078
Joined: Apr. 10 2005

RE: Starting a crazy-cool negra (in reply to Andy Culpepper)

Looks kind of gypsy guitar. Did jason ask you for that? ^^ He often tested such little exceptional models. I think you might wanna send it to him for some nice testing footage.

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 29 2012 11:00:13

Andy Culpepper

Posts: 3023
Joined: Mar. 30 2009
From: NY, USA

RE: Starting a crazy-cool negra (in reply to TANúñez)

quote:

Your cutaway reminds me of the Gibson Jumbo cutaways where the cutaway curves upwards. Interesting. Most nylon cutaways I've seen have a slight curve or hardly any curve. I think yours is cool.

Thanks Tom. I had originally designed it flatter but the customer wanted it a little deeper and rounder on the horn.
I'm trying to avoid making eye contact with your avatar or I might get hypnotized into buying one of those guitars

Sean, lol. That was my first reaction when he described the guitar he wanted but now I'm getting kinda into it

quote:

Maybe next you could make a maccaferri hybrid style flamenco. Maccaferri size body with flamenco neck and bridge. I wonder how it would sound

quote:

There are Selmer-Maccaferri style guitars wich are meant to be used with nylon strings, some of them have more classical guitar style necks than the typical Selmer-Maccaferri style, though the body meets at the 14th fret and it is a bit thinner.
The nylon string has become a bit of a fashion in manouche swing lately and they sound cool

So a hybrid like that is likely very possible

Yes Mario Maccaferri was a classical guitarist and designed the nylon string version with a resonator before developing the "modele jazz". The resonators have pretty much gone out of style.

quote:

Looks kind of gypsy guitar. Did jason ask you for that? ^^ He often tested such little exceptional models. I think you might wanna send it to him for some nice testing footage.

I'm still waiting for an order from Jason

I think this guitar would probably be right up his alley. Unfortunately it's going to Los Angeles not San Francisco..

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Andy Culpepper, luthier
http://www.andyculpepper.com

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 29 2012 17:32:58

TANúñez

Posts: 2559
Joined: Jul. 10 2003
From: TEXAS

RE: Starting a crazy-cool negra (in reply to Andy Culpepper)

quote:

I'm trying to avoid making eye contact with your avatar or I might get hypnotized into buying one of those guitars

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Tom Núñez
www.instagram.com/tanunezguitars

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 29 2012 18:32:43

odinz

Posts: 407
Joined: May 26 2010
From: Sarpsborg,Norway

RE: Starting a crazy-cool negra (in reply to TANúñez)

TANúñez,

Have you noticed too that each one of the pictures f the Prof. looks like a mugshot where he makes a sex face because he enjoys having his mugshot taken?

Andy,

What are these resonators you talk about? I knew Maccaferri did classical, but modern makers have started to do the "Django" design altered with nylon strings and stuff, some of my friends in the gypsy jazz community have taken a liking to it, and several players have started to use them, one said that the nylon strings let them use more kinds of techniques and smoother and thicker sound and because of that they can make different music that with a steel string model.

I think a hybrid that does both flamenco and gypsy jazz well would be cool, but I wonder how it could be pulled off though

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 29 2012 19:02:40

Andy Culpepper

Posts: 3023
Joined: Mar. 30 2009
From: NY, USA

RE: Starting a crazy-cool negra (in reply to odinz)

quote:

Andy,

What are these resonators you talk about? I knew Maccaferri did classical, but modern makers have started to do the "Django" design altered with nylon strings and stuff, some of my friends in the gypsy jazz community have taken a liking to it, and several players have started to use them, one said that the nylon strings let them use more kinds of techniques and smoother and thicker sound and because of that they can make different music that with a steel string model.

I think a hybrid that does both flamenco and gypsy jazz well would be cool, but I wonder how it could be pulled off though

It's a cool idea.. a regular flamenco guitar is probably not a bad start if you're trying to come somewhat close to a gypsy jazz sound. e.g. a lot of punch and emphasis on the fundamentals and midrange.

You can read up about the resonator here:
http://www.lutherie.net/resonate.html

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Andy Culpepper, luthier
http://www.andyculpepper.com

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date May 1 2012 23:58:18

Andy Culpepper

Posts: 3023
Joined: Mar. 30 2009
From: NY, USA

RE: Starting a crazy-cool negra (in reply to Andy Culpepper)

Just did a post on making the cutaway if anyone is interested. Pretty basic stuff but I had to make it up as I went along because I couldn't really find anything out there.

http://andyculpepperguitars.wordpress.com/2012/05/02/making-the-cutaway/

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Andy Culpepper, luthier
http://www.andyculpepper.com

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date May 2 2012 23:19:17

TANúñez

Posts: 2559
Joined: Jul. 10 2003
From: TEXAS

RE: Starting a crazy-cool negra (in reply to Andy Culpepper)

Really cool Andy. Can't wait to see it when it's finished.

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Tom Núñez
www.instagram.com/tanunezguitars

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date May 3 2012 1:11:36

Andy Culpepper

Posts: 3023
Joined: Mar. 30 2009
From: NY, USA

RE: Starting a crazy-cool negra (in reply to Andy Culpepper)

Here's a new post about putting in the armrest insert and the pickup...
http://andyculpepperguitars.wordpress.com/2012/05/10/armrest-bevel-part-i-and-pickup/

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Andy Culpepper, luthier
http://www.andyculpepper.com

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date May 10 2012 23:25:09

Andy Culpepper

Posts: 3023
Joined: Mar. 30 2009
From: NY, USA

RE: Starting a crazy-cool negra (in reply to Andy Culpepper)

Here's how the guitar is shaping up...
http://andyculpepperguitars.wordpress.com/2012/05/16/armrest-bevel-part-ii-and-bindings/

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Andy Culpepper, luthier
http://www.andyculpepper.com

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date May 16 2012 23:33:28

Tomrocker

Posts: 404
Joined: Apr. 18 2010
From: Italy

RE: Starting a crazy-cool negra (in reply to Andy Culpepper)

Go Andy Go;)

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This is hard stuff!
Don't give up...
And don't make it a race.
Enjoy the ray of sunshine that comes with every new step in knowledge.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date May 17 2012 15:55:48

ralexander

Posts: 797
Joined: Jun. 1 2010
From: Halifax, Nova Scotia

RE: Starting a crazy-cool negra (in reply to Andy Culpepper)

That is awesome. Nice to see someone going beyond the boundaries, so to speak. I had a custom made jumbo steel string with a similar bevel (more of the Kevin Ryan style) and it was a wonderful addition to that particular guitar.

I like your style, dude

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date May 17 2012 16:27:55

at_leo_87

Posts: 3055
Joined: Aug. 30 2008
From: Boston, MA, U.S.A

RE: Starting a crazy-cool negra (in reply to Andy Culpepper)

looking good! i like how the arm rest matches the lining.

i never played a guitar with an arm rest before. i wonder how it feels. what kind of pickups are those?

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date May 17 2012 18:21:07

Andy Culpepper

Posts: 3023
Joined: Mar. 30 2009
From: NY, USA

RE: Starting a crazy-cool negra (in reply to Andy Culpepper)

Thanks guys.
Anthony, the armrest feels pretty nice. It's a little weird at first because it feels like the guitar isn't even there. But I think for a marathon session it would help with relaxation and preventing any numbness or poor circulation in the right arm.
The pickup is a Trance Audio Amulet transducer. It's actually made for steel string but I talked to the company and they encouraged me to try it. My customer has had good experience with it. Unfortunately I won't be able to test it because he won't send me the special 5-pin cable and outboard preamp

Here are a couple of shots of the guitar after the first session of FP:
http://andyculpepperguitars.wordpress.com/2012/05/23/first-coat-of-finish/

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Andy Culpepper, luthier
http://www.andyculpepper.com

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date May 23 2012 22:36:03

Andy Culpepper

Posts: 3023
Joined: Mar. 30 2009
From: NY, USA

RE: Starting a crazy-cool negra (in reply to Andy Culpepper)

And all finished....
I'm pretty happy with the sound and the playability is superb. I will make a video tomorrow.
I'm looking forward to getting back to more traditional guitars but the next guy on my list decided he also wanted a cutaway and electronics

http://andyculpepperguitars.wordpress.com/2012/06/14/25-finished/

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Andy Culpepper, luthier
http://www.andyculpepper.com

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jun. 14 2012 23:28:12

rombsix

Posts: 7815
Joined: Jan. 11 2006
From: Beirut, Lebanon

RE: Starting a crazy-cool negra (in reply to Andy Culpepper)

Man, that armrest looks sexy as hell. When I get you to make me a guitar (soon nshallah), I think I will need one of those. The issue with vessel / nerve compression on my right forearm / arm when playing guitar really bugs me, and I think the armrest would make a significant difference (I hope / think). But I'll get back to you on the matter once we get down to real business. Might even go back to that issue of slightly shorter scale length.

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Ramzi

http://www.youtube.com/rombsix

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jun. 14 2012 23:37:35

Andy Culpepper

Posts: 3023
Joined: Mar. 30 2009
From: NY, USA

RE: Starting a crazy-cool negra (in reply to rombsix)

Thanks Ramzi. I also notice the same problem with my right arm, sometimes leading to tingling/numbness while playing. I think the arm rest bevel does a pretty good job of alleviating that but it does also bring your arm in further and I have a tendency to play a little closer to the soundhole than I would otherwise. Personally I might opt for a raised armrest that goes on top of the guitar.

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Andy Culpepper, luthier
http://www.andyculpepper.com

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jun. 15 2012 13:25:39

Andy Culpepper

Posts: 3023
Joined: Mar. 30 2009
From: NY, USA

Finished a crazy-cool negra (in reply to Andy Culpepper)

Here's a video.. the quality deteriorated somewhat after splicing, exporting, YT, etc. but the sound is decent. I think it has the classic cedar sound...

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Andy Culpepper, luthier
http://www.andyculpepper.com

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jun. 15 2012 16:23:10

KMMI77

Posts: 1821
Joined: Jul. 26 2009
From: The land down under

RE: Starting a crazy-cool negra (in reply to Andy Culpepper)

Hey Andy,

Sweet sounding guitar mate. It must be strange feeling the beveled edge after years of feeling the normal design. I think it's a cool idea though.

Maybe Ramzi can come up with a new type of surgery? A beveled leg to stop my leg from going to sleep when crossed for too long

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jun. 15 2012 20:37:54