Well, the last couple of blogs have been a bit wordy. So, I thought that it was time to get back to the pictures. The repair load at Guru Guitars continues to take up most of my time, but here are some shots of projects I have going on the side.
A number of years ago I was given this old parlor guitar. The stamp inside the body says Henry L.Mason, who is a maker I'm not familiar with. There is some speculation on the interwebs that these guitars may have been built by the Mason and Hamlin piano company, but I have been unable to verify that. If any one out there has any info I would love to hear it. Based on the bracing pattern I think it was built in the late 1800/early 1900's. It's in pretty bad shape but I've always wanted to resurrect it. It's a simple guitar with minimal appointments but it should be a fun one when it's all together.
The top has quite a few cracks.
The neck is loose.
In fact, It didn't take much to get it out of the dovetail.
The back and sides are in pretty good shape so the plan at this point is to remove the old top and make a new one. The old top has and antiquated style of bracing which was designed before steel strings became popular. The new top will have a more modern X-brace for use with steel strings. It should sound great! Stay tuned!
In addition to the parlor guitar project I have two custom builds going.
The first is a 504 Semi-Hollow with fanned frets for a customer in Japan. Here are some in progress shots.
The body and neck are made from Korina.
Here is a picture of the chambering on the inside of the body.
This guitar has a Quilted Maple top. Here's the top fit into the body before carving.
...and the top with a rough carve.
another shot.
Here's the guitar with the top glued in. The f-hole is inlayed and cut out and decorative purfling is installed around the top. The fingerboard is Macassar Ebony. There is still a lot of work to do but things are looking good!
Finally one more 504. I've been calling it the 504 Jazz Jr. It is an exercise in simplicity. I've had this idea in my head for a while now for a simple, clean guitar which I could produce fairly easily. I was afraid that it might end up being too bland, but I think there are enough details on this to make it cool.
This guitar will have an inlayed pickguard, a simple tailpiece with a floating archtop style bridge and a Johnny Smith neck pickup. The body and neck are Korina. The fingerboard and all of the appointments are Honduras Rosewood.
Well, that's all for now, I'll keep you posted as all of these projects develop. Thanks for reading the blog!
