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I traded Jason this Big Leaf Maple cutaway, made specifically for him, for his tortilla recipe.
He just made this video to show a bit about the guitar. It's made on his iPhone, but I'm hoping he will also record with this guitar on his new CD. He now has a quiver of Glenn Canin's and Ethan Deutch Guitars, and two of mine to choose from. I think he's using a bit of all of them on the new CD..
Did I mention he's recording a NEW CD? I think it will be really long, like a 1970's style rock double album. I bet there will be inflatable full size latex rubber alien toys and other prizes included in the CD so be the first on your block to get one.
So a few notes:
I was under a lot of pressure getting this guitar ready before I blew out of the US to go into the Federal Witless Protection program in rural Japan. So as a consequence I drank too much coffee on the day I glued the bridge and read my ruler incorrectly. The scale on this guitar is 655 mm, but I accidentally glued the bridge about 6mm to close to the nut! I had to remove the bridge and reglue it. Jason had originally wanted an alien head motif for the rosette, but I was not able to figure out how to do it to my satisfaction, so when the opportunity came to cover a 6mm wide glue line, I thought Bingo! I created an alien head motif on a strip of paper and stuck it under the tap plate to camouflage that different colored line in front of the bridge. Not a very common thing to do and I only did it because Jason is under the control of aliens and he serves their musical purposes.
I also have a feeling he has not been moisturizing his face lately and smeared the lens of the iPhone with some finger grease to give the video that "soft focus" romantic look. But what are buddies for if not to remind one another to use proper face creams.
All kidding aside, I did hear out takes from the new CD he's recording.... and ahh... I was blown away, I can't wait t hear the rest of it.
I'll talk more about the top bracing and the top wood itself if interested. It's a bit different than a usual flamenco bracing pattern. Jason has always been very receptive to guitar makers trying out new ideas. I find it intimidating and challenging to build for him, however he does help push guitar making forward because he will test new ideas and give feed back for refining them. I've watched Glenn Canin's guitars evolve this way for quite a few years, now I'm in position to keep evolving via that method myself.
RE: J. McGuire playing S. Faulk Mapl... (in reply to estebanana)
I'm way passed urinating on braces. I actually eat the brace wood and let it got through my digestive system to enzimatically treat it, and then have it surgically removed. After that it gets sent to Ikea for further processing and I can't tell you the rest, because it is a secret.
RE: J. McGuire playing S. Faulk Mapl... (in reply to estebanana)
No I have a sort of surgically installed ziplock bag closer thing on my stomach. The doctor just unzips it and removes the fan braces after my digestive system breaks down the lignin and vegetal juices. My stomach also has naturally occurring mushroom fungus which tenderizes the braces. All alien technology.
Vomiting would be gross and bad for sales.
Speaking of braces, here is the way I did this one:
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RE: J. McGuire playing S. Faulk Mapl... (in reply to estebanana)
quote:
ait a minute.... those two top pieces aren't matched or are turned around backwards or something... how could such a thing sound so amazing?
Full disclosure:
The top is made from two totally different pieces of spruce, one was much stiffer across the grain than the other. I put the more flexible piece on the treble side. The stiff one is on the bass side. When I planed the top I compensated for each sides stiffness and made it more or less even flexing. Treble side is slighter more flexible in the finished guitar.
The light refraction and grain is completely mismatched on purpose. I wanted to show that you can make a good guitar with wood nobody else would use because it is downgraded cosmetically. I selected it for it's bad looking qualities and not because I thought it was "good looking tonewood" ~ I bought it from The Japan Wood Worker store when they were going out of business last year. The wood had been sitting in a back room for more than twenty years. I picked through a hundred sets and bought ten sets for 5 dollars each. Only five of the sets were original matching sets, the other five I selected by mismatching separate pieces that I thought had mojo. I made Jason's new guitar with the worst looking set. By worst looking I mean by guitar industry standards is was clearly a set that Gibson, Taylor or Ramirez would not have used due to cosmetic factors, but it does make a decent guitar. Or if they did use it they would have done a sunburst finish to hide the mismatching.
It just proved to me personally again that it's not what wood looks like, it's how you intuit using it.
Posts: 14806
Joined: Dec. 14 2004
From: Washington DC
RE: J. McGuire playing S. Faulk Mapl... (in reply to estebanana)
cool guys. I think secretly Jason liked my cool looking maple guitar when I was out his way. too bad you have not yet perfected the detachable headstock
Posts: 1240
Joined: Nov. 6 2008
From: Sydney, Australia
RE: J. McGuire playing S. Faulk Mapl... (in reply to estebanana)
quote:
ORIGINAL: estebanana
Full disclosure:
The top is made from two totally different pieces of spruce, one was much stiffer across the grain than the other. I put the more flexible piece on the treble side. The stiff one is on the bass side. When I planed the top I compensated for each sides stiffness and made it more or less even flexing. Treble side is slighter more flexible in the finished guitar.
It just proved to me personally again that it's not what wood looks like, it's how you intuit using it.
this is awesome.. it's always about the sound and playability.. pretty top is only for resale.. of course I like a pretty rosette..
RE: J. McGuire playing S. Faulk Mapl... (in reply to ralexander)
quote:
I hear a lot of similarity to my Port Orford Faulk blanca, and almost no similarity to my own technique
I heard your entry into the Solea challenge, nice work. I'm glad you followed up on that. It makes you work on your material when you have a project to complete. Keep going. If I had had my own guitar finished sooner I would have made an entry too. It's been about two years since I have practiced much and I have a built myself a guitar so I may start playing again. If I am able I'll take lessons via Skype with the various hot shots on the Foro.
RE: J. McGuire playing S. Faulk Mapl... (in reply to estebanana)
quote:
ORIGINAL: estebanana
Ribnibbler can wish he had this one, but like Gollom say's ."It's mine, my preciousssss! "
Man, that is a huge sound! Especially on the downstroke over the basses with the thumb, you know? Love that! It's kind of how I imagined that guitar would be.
Posts: 3458
Joined: Jul. 12 2009
From: Washington, DC
RE: J. McGuire playing S. Faulk Mapl... (in reply to estebanana)
Hey Stephen,
I really like your beautifully made, dual-use guitar. Great sound! I'm still trying to imagine you playing a cello horizontally on the matted floor.
How do the Japanese in your small town who have heard you play react to flamenco? Do they genuinely think its cool? Are they perplexed by it as too alien?
Looking forward to further dispatches from the gaijin with the guitar. Give some consideration to that as a new monicker: The Gaijin with the Guitar.
Cheers,
Bill
_____________________________
And the end of the fight is a tombstone white, With the name of the late deceased, And the epitaph drear, "A fool lies here, Who tried to hustle the East."
Posts: 797
Joined: Jun. 1 2010
From: Halifax, Nova Scotia
RE: J. McGuire playing S. Faulk Mapl... (in reply to estebanana)
quote:
I heard your entry into the Solea challenge, nice work. I'm glad you followed up on that. It makes you work on your material when you have a project to complete. Keep going. If I had had my own guitar finished sooner I would have made an entry too. It's been about two years since I have practiced much and I have a built myself a guitar so I may start playing again. If I am able I'll take lessons via Skype with the various hot shots on the Foro.
Thanks man, I'm glad I followed through as well. Although, I must say that I stressed over the recording and wasn't as happy with the final result as I wanted to be. Oh well. I might rent some decent mics and take the time to try to capture what the guitar really sounds like.
Really nice sound out of your hybrid guitar - nice to see you with a guitar of your own.
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