12 Fret Slope Shoulder Dread

[Dennis Leahy]

Joe,

Sorry to hear that the guy reneged on the deal. This is a fine instrument, and you will find a buyer and it will be more worthwhile to you - maybe you'll make enough extra to hit a pawn shop or Ebay and find an old Gibson to restore.

Bridge looks great!

What did you buy for a new drill press? I have a cheap one, and 'choke up' on the bits and use very little spindle movement to minimize runout, but occasionally it still drives me nuts.

Dennis

[WaddyT]

Bummer, Joe! His loss! This is going to be a good one!

[Joe Sustaire]

Thanks Waddy and Dennis! I am looking forward to seeing how this one sounds. I've never liked the traditional boxy dread but this slop shoulder 12 fret has me excited. Will sure be interesting to see how much it differs from the small body builds I've done before. And yeah I think there will be more local interest in this from the bluegrassers than there has been in the blues boxes I'm drawn to.

Someone posted a thread at the OLF about an online sale on the 17" Professional Craftsman drill press a couple of weeks or so ago. It retails at sears for $595 and I got it for $325 total, including tax. Since there were so many things I just couldn't do with all the wobble in mine and I had lots of room on the old sears card, I just had to go for it. I tell you it's like stepping out of the dark ages!

Joe

ps. Todd Stock thought that it's made by Orion, very similar to the one they make for Steel City.

[WaddyT]

Congratulations on the Drill Press. I have an old, really old, older than me, drill press. A Delta/Milwaukee. It's a 15" swing, and barely big enough, even for classical guitars. Plus it does not have nice features like a table with a rack and pinion on it, or a gizmo for switching speeds, or anything automatic. However, it works for me. If it goes, I'll probably find one of those Joe. Sounds really nice. I've had pretty good luck with Craftsman large tools over the years. The hand tools have always been OK too. It's their little electric tools that have been lacking, mostly. I have a Craftsman RA saw that I've had since about 1969 or 70 that I still use regularly, and I love it. It's been a great saw. Oh yeah I also have an old Sears model 6" swing metalworking lathe that was built in the 1930's that my father bought used, before I was born in 1944. It still works great. He was a very good hobby machinist, and used it proudly for many years and for many projects, until he got a South Bend 9" swing when his company closed. I sold that sucker. It was too big to deal with.

[stevens]

Hi Joe,

Been doing some catch up on your build.

I do like what I see. Nice job.

Careful, you could end up like me with 20+ guitars sitting around.

So, fish glue for the top and hyde glue for the balance ?

Steve

[Joe Sustaire]

Well I kind of got behind on my documentation here....
But long story short it turned into a guitar....

















I followed Haan's advice and used an airbrush to stain the top, worked much better than rubbing it on like I had been doing. Much more even tones and gradations. Stained the back and sides with an oil based walnut stain wiped on.

Finish is Minwax Wipe On Poly, rubbed on with a bit of paper towel, about 6 coats. Tried it on the neck and liked how it worked so did the body also. Golden Age tuners from stewmac and yes the bridge is glued on with HHG.

But best yet, it sounds good! Very pleased with how it's playing and sounds, bit of a change from the smaller and thinner bodies I usually build.

Thanks for watching,
Joe

[Fred Blom]

Everything about this guitar says, "hold me, play me." It has wonderful detail from the smiley volute to the golden hues in all the wood and the eye-catching bindings and tail graft to the slope shape. The headstock and heel cap are nearly hologram 3-D. Wish I could play it. As was said once, the guy who backed out of the deal lost a gem. Beautiful, Joe.

[Green Mountain Guitars]

That is awsome Joe! Is there any way that we can get a sound file of it? Short video maybe?

Glen