The Luthier Community

sustaireblues wrote:Grant the slope shoulder that I built I believe is based on the old martin 12 fret model. JJ Donahue sent me a tracing of the drawing he got from John Hall of bluescreek fame and he's a martin repair guy. JJ did a 12 string build thread here on the forum from this drawing. I can trace my copy for you if you wish. Now I believe the Gibson J-45 is pretty much considered a slope shoulder 14 fretter, so you might want to check that out. Stew-mac carries some plans for that drawn by Michael Collins taken from a 1957 model.

Get building!

Joe

Joe, thenks. Ya, the more drawings and other information I can assemble, the better. I do have a copy of a 12 string plan that looks like a slope shoulder shape. It is 12 frets to the body.

G

Grant, I have the Michael Collins 1957 J-45 plans and am gearing up for building that. It is 14 frets and a 24.75 in scale. I'd be happy to share the plans with you. I, like Dennis, prefer that shape for a dread.

Thanks Fred, Yes I would like to see that plan sometime, if possible.

Well, I have no patience, so I went looking for some of the wood that I will need. Several months ago I had resawn some white cedar tops, but I was not completely satisfied with them. So I had this big log laying outside. It is hollow, but has 8" of good wood on one side. So I cut off a 22" long section and split out a billet with a perfectly quartered edge. Then I trued it up a bit.

I used this cool Grandfors Swedish carving axe that Kevin from Winnipeg gave me when he was down to build the canoe. I have coveted this axe for a long time in the Lee Valley catalog, but never could quite muster up the balls to pay the price. I almost fell over when he gave me this very axe that had been his for years...means way more to me than if I had bought it.

Another shot of the billet


And a view of the end showing the quartering


I took it down to the bandsaw and ran it through a few times until I had the face well cleaned up, then slabbed off a few slices

A couple of these should make a fine top, very uniform close grain lines.

And here is the African blackwood that I am thinking of using for the back

A few small checks that will need to be CA'ed, but that is not unusual for AB

On another note, here is the back that I am thinking of using for the size 2 Martin copy

If you would rather I use something more mundane, just say so

And any other suggestions are always welcome. I will put this wood on the "to build with" shelf and wait another 3 or 4 weeks for the cedar to dry.

G

Always love to see you get into your woodpile!! That is some spectacular stuff. and talk about being right on quarter

I've no doubt you will make the right choice for a build-tough choice.

MikeZ

Well, if that doesn't inspire you, I don't know what will!

Gorgeous material, and cool projects ahead!

Dennis

The white cedar looks really nice! ABW looks great too. Excited to see this one!