Roy's Guitar, Chapter 18, Inlaying the Neck

The neck is at the pearl inlaying stage. For the headstock on this guitar the Marshwood Logo will be inlayed out of mother-of-pearl. First the logo is re-sized on the computer to the appropriate scale and printed. It is glued onto the two mother-of-pearl pieces which have been also joined together to form a larger piece. Small access holes (for the saw) are drilled into the pearl. Using the saw the parts not wanted are cut out. It is good to set up some kind of vacuum for this task. Once the logo is completely cut out files and sandpaper are used to smooth lines and saw marks. The finished logo. Next we will inlay this into the headstock.. Stay tuned...

Roy's Guitars, Chapter 17

Roy's Guitar body is 90% complete, the tremolo system and control cavity covers have been made, all the accesses (knob, switch, etc) have also been routed or drilled. Some small adjustments still need to be made to the cover plates. Magnets will be installed so that when you look at the back of the guitar one will not see any screws. This should have a cleaner look. The body has been sanded to about 100 grit and will eventually be sanded to 220. After that it will be time to spray lacquer.

Roy's Guitar, Update

On the player's side of the neck there are small position markers, these have now been installed in Roy's neck (close-up picture). Tortoise shell material (synthetic, not real shell) was chosen and looks right at home with the color-tones we have established. The mother-of-pearl blocks for the position markers on the fretboard are on the way and should arrive next week. Once the blocks are inlayed on the fretboard the neck shaping can begin. The body has been carved and scuff-sanded. The neck has been fitted into the neck pocket.

Marshwood Guitars makes it on the front page!

Thanks to the staff of Golden Transcript for spending a rainy afternoon talking to me about Marshwood Guitars. You can see the article at: http://www.milehighnews.com/Articles-i-2009-04-23-210483.114125_Sixstring_serenade.html

Just a couple corrections: 1.) I actually made my first guitar (an archtop guitar) at a luthiery school in 2000. A two month intensive course. 2.) I don't remember saying the word "worthless" in reference to an instrument with set-up issues, seems too harsh to me, in guitar making there are no mistakes only repairs. 3.) I also wanted to mention that Roy Ponce is a professional guitarist for the band Brainchild. 4.) To put it in prospective my favorite guitar is a 1985 Ibanez Artist AS-200, for those of you who know what that means, it is a good goal to create something better.

Carving The Rufus

Carving can take time. I wish I could carve at the speed of this film. It is, however, one of the more rewarding tasks in guitar building. Watch those shavings build up! After I was finished rough carving a sander was used to knock it smooth. I will then go back with scrapers to even out problem areas.

Recording with a Marshwood

Here I am at the computer recording the guitar parts for the film, Carving the Rufus.

The Carving Process

For the past couple weeks I have been carving Roy's top and both sides of The Rufus. Using the Wagner Safety Plane on the drill press I roughed carved the top leaving what looks like stair stepping (picture). Once completed it is time for the small hand planes. The carving process can take some time. Especially in the case of Roy's guitar, the figured walnut is very hard.