I've finished my first guitar

[Dan Wilson]

Hooray! its done!

I've completed my "1816 Martinez Salon Guitar", GAL plan #36 (Scot Tremblay). Pics are on my Facebook album: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=15103&id=100000402275864&....

I used local Pacific Northwest woods. The neck and headstock are from a very large red alder my dad cut down about 35 years ago. The back and sides are from a bigleaf maple that was standing dead in my neighbor's yard. The top is western red cedar. The linings are laminated of hazelnut wood, from a tree in our yard. The bindings, bridge and headstock facing are walnut, left over from a bed frame I made years ago. The rosette and purflings are walnut and hazelnut.

Some things I learned about wood:

Spalted maple is brittle and hard to bend. This was my first experience with wood bending. I used a black iron pipe with a halogen light inside, hooked to a light dimmer switch.

Hazelnut is really easy to bend. If a large enough piece could be found, it would be great for ribs, but the stems of these overgrown shrubs rarely get to 7 inches in diameter. On the other hand, it probably isn't a good tone wood; when tapped, it sounds rather like striking a piece of hard rubber.

The red cedar top displays a fair amount of shop rash. Pressing on it will emboss your fingerprints in the surface. Breathing lightly on it will produce ripples. Don't even think of brushing a fingernail across it. If I use it again, I'll devise some kind of protective padding.

I left a couple of tight knots in the back, which look like eyes. My daughter ran with the idea, and suggested that I name the instrument "Totoro", after a "forest spirit" who is the star of a popular Japanese Anime film.

I started my project with a copy of "Classical Guitar Making: A Modern Approach to Traditional Design" by John S. Bogdanovich. Part way through, I added "Guitarmaking: Tradition and Technology" by Jonathan Natelson and William Cumpiano. The two references were complementary, as each emphasized different aspects of construction.

Thanks are in order to Scot Tremblay, who provided guidance during the construction.

[Dan Wilson]

I'm planning to make a recording of the instrument being played by somebody better than me :-)

Scot Tremblay told me that gut strings work best for the Martinez guitars. Currently, mine is strung with a set of La Bella "Early Romantic Guitar" ERG#1 strings. The wound strings, in particular, have some metallic-sounding harmonics. At first I thought that the strings were buzzing on the frets, but I'm pretty sure they aren't. If I press my fingernail against the loop of the string where it is tied to the bridge, the harmonics damp out.

[Jelma van Amersfoort]

Very nice! I'd like to hear it... maybe you should try gut strings on it too!