Neck lammed. Mahogany maple mahogany with a hairline of rosewood veneer on the joins. I dug this veneer out of the back of a cupboard and going by it's age it's probably Brazilian. Always nice to be able to say your guitar has a little Brazilan rosewood in it ;o)

I decided to segment the rosette that got damaged by the plane. I marked it out with a compass and then dremelled out some chunks, and cut pieces of pale cherry to replace them.

I've done another top with a plain walnut rosette too, so Steven can choose his preferred one.

both still need the outer & inner ring cut & inlaid.

Remember those good news-bad news games you played as a kid?

OK, good news back braced & glued in.

Bad news won't have time before Easter hols to get the box closed

good news glued in rosette (with purfling)

bad news, chipped a lump of it out planing it flat. (look closely at 10 o'clock..... )o; )

so.

Options at this point.

forget about it and fill the hole with lots & lots of varnish and then sand flat.

No good, it would look awful.

route it out and start again.

extreme, but may end up being the only solution

I COULD route out the damaged section and then inlay another piece of wood, maybe contrasting, then a couple of other pieces to make it look like it was intended.......

Worst case scenario? rout it all out again & start again, so I think I'll give this a go. I'll do another one with a plain circle rosette and let Steven decide which one he'd like best when they're done.

neck & tail block cut & glued

linings glued to top edge



top cut out & planed a bit......

rosette cut out & laid on the top.....

I'm trying to get as much done as I can before Thursday because then I'll be locked out of my workshop for two weeks (it's tough being a teacher!!)

realistically, I hope to have the back fitted to the body, and the rosette inlaid. Time will tell!!

So, progress on Steven's walnut/spruce guitar......

The back & top are joined, and I got the sides bent too. I LOVE working with walnut, it bends SO easily, looks great and sounds great too, what could be better?

Also, while rummaging through the wood pile I came up with a piece of walnut that would be useless for anything.....

except a pretty special rosette......

the crack in the middle will be cut out and I reckon that this'll look great!!

be a git to plane, but then, rough with the smooth, right?

New commission from Steven in England.

Yay!!

Ok Steven wants a guitar that is VERY similar to something I'd build for myself, so I'm hoping that this will be something REALLY special.

the spec is a 12 fretter, walnut/spruce body the same as the 12 string I'm just finishing, EI Rosewood fretboard & binding.

Timescale? Well, the Easter holidays are all but upon us but I'll try to get something done before Thursday when I get locked out of my workshop for two weeks (ah, the perils of building guitars in your lunch break eh? But still, it's warm, dry and I have free run of the machines!!)

So far I've resawn & planed the wood for the back & sides.

I'll joint both backs and see which one feels stiffest, then match up the sides to go with it.