Back from Totnes School of Guitar Making - new guitar

[rahnooo]

Well the course at Totnes has finally finished after 12 weeks of intensive yet enjoyable whittling, and following Ben's prompting I thought I'd stick a few pics up here so that anyone who's interested can see the result of my efforts.



12 String J200 sized guitar. She started out as a medium jumbo type but kept on growing. European spruce soundboard, indian rosewood back and sides, cocobola bridge and headstock veneer, and mahogany neck. The body shape was loosly based on a 1920's Gibson acoustic, but I think the waist ended up somewhat deeper than that.



Rosewood and maple corner binding, with additional maple purfling on the back, and maple and rosewood purfling on the front to match the sound hole decoration.



Headstock inlay, based on a design from my last cd. White, Gold, and Black pearl along with green and red abalone on a cocobola veneer. Took damn near 40 hours to get that right, but I'm rather chuffed with how it turned out. There's more engraving on the pearl, but doesn't quite come out in the pic.

So there you are. She also sounds like a dream, huge huge sound but balanced with a lot of warmth but still high end clarity. Exactly as I wanted

I know this is a 'lectric guitar forum mainly, but if any forum bro's want hand made acoustics, I can probably offer a good deal ;)

*Rahnooo*

[sambo]

wow! that's gorgeous.

i've been looking at 12 strings recently. always wanted one.


not that i have any money right now, but how much would a replica of that cost then eh?  :)

[WezV]

looks nice!!

[Twinfan]

Wow!  Gorgeous!

[Kilby]

Excellent,

from the above pictures I assume you enjoyed the course.

[jt]

:D Must say i`ve been thinking about doing the Tottnes experiance myself how was it. There web site makes it look really enjoyable.

 :D  8)

PS Doh ! forgot to say the guitar looks great well done !

[38thBeatle]

That looks brilliant. I am impressed.

[TwilightOdyssey]

Well, gorgeous was the first word that came to my mind when I saw the pics, and gorgeous is the word that many people have used, so umma join em:


GORGEOUS!!!

[hunter]

This is great, gorgeous indeed!

Would you say that now you know it all and could build one on your own or would you still require advise from a pro?

[rahnooo]

Thanks for all the kind words guys.

Hunter - I wouldn't go as far to say that I know it all, lutherie is a craft that would take decades of experience to master. But having said that I'm perfectly capable of making guitars to the same standard as the one pictured, and hopefully better. I've got plans for a nice little 12 fret join, 6 string parlour guitar next, as well as a paying commission for a copy of my 12 string.

Sambo - I'd be happy to PM you if you are serious about wanting a 12 string, and have various ideas about making it more manageable financially :)

*Rahnooo*

[indysmith]

looks yummy! i know nothing about acoustics, but it sure is pretty. i always wanted to do thatcourse, but it seemed mighty expensive for 12 weeks.
What BKPs you putting in her? ;)

[sambo]

Sambo - I'd be happy to PM you if you are serious about wanting a 12 string, and have various ideas about making it more manageable financially :)

*Rahnooo*

definitely! PM on the way  :)

[noodleplugerine]

Gorgeous!

Any pics of the instruments made by others in the class - If they're all to this standard, would definetly be a gallery worth looking at!

[indysmith]

^ i wander if you've seen this already;
http://www.totnesschoolofguitarmaking.co.uk/past.htm

[WezV]

the totnes school does seem to be the place to go if you are after perfection from your first build!!

the bailey course will give you a nice guitar but totnes provides so much more (at a price!!!).. mind you its about a grand for a week at the bailey course and about 5k for 12 weeks in totnes so its not really bad value

I could never afford either so am naturally jealous of any one that gets to learn this way  

My advice would be to build a few more before you start pushing stuff for sale... you have a great headstart and it would be a shame to take on commisions too soon before you can garantee the quality you have achieved here.  My advice would be to spend the next year or to building for friends and family at cost or a little profit to give you as much experience as possible.. better that than take on too much too soon. - - - although i will say to all these guys that it might be a rare chance to get a very nice handmade acoustic at the right price - just make sure they understand exactly why they wont by paying the price they would with a pro-luthier (if such a thing exists)