Australian/New Zealand Luthiers Forum

Hi All,
I have finally finished my #1 Acoustic,Thanks to everyone on this forum that offered advice and direction,especially John The Woodrat.
This guitar plays very well has an exceptional tone, warm lows with sweet highs,very even response,I couldnt ask for more,it looks like my Cole Clark will be spending a lot of time in it's case from now on,specs are as follows:


Silky Oak (Grevillea Robusta ) OM 14 fret to body

Neck Joint: Mortise & Tenon Bolt on
Top: Western Red Cedar
Back & Sides: Silky Oak (Grevillea Robusta )
Bracing : Australian Red Cedar
Bridge: EI Rosewood
Rosette: 10mm solid band of Silky oak
Binding: Australian Red Mahogany
Neck: Silky Oak Reinforced with 5mm Carbon Fibre rod following the neck taper either side of the truss rod.
Head plate: Silky Oak
Fingerboard: Cooba ( Acacia Salicina)
Frets: 21 Medium Evo Gold . copper, tin, iron and titanium (chemical composition CuSn15Fe1Ti0.1)
Machine Heads: Gold Gotoh SG360-07 1:16 Gear ratio
Nut : 45mm wide Graphtech
Scale Length: 648mm 25.5”
Saddle: Bone
Finish: Soundboard Tru oil,everything else is Howards Orange Tung Oil.


Thanks For Looking, I'm off to start #2
Cheers Tod

It looks beautiful, elegant and flawless, much better than my first was. Well done.

What a great looking guitar!
I like the binding colour which makes a nice "picture frame" for the silky oak.
And I also like the stripes of the top, it looks really good.

Hi Tod
That looks like a beauty - very blonde. The workmanship looks great. I especially like the figure in the neck and the satin finish. What are you planning for number 2?
cheers
Mark

Nice work Tod...nothing beats the satisfaction that comes with completing your first build.

Thanks for the kind replies,It's not really flawless though Inoz,there are a couple of workmanship issues that i will need to address with #2,but overall there is no problems that would affect tone or playability, It's really a credit to the members on the ANZLF without the advice and direction it wouldn't have happened, and especially thankyou to Bob for hosting such a valuable resource.

Mark, #2 and 3 are already on the bench #2 is Australian blackwood B&S bunya top aust red cedar neck, #3 is Sassafras B&S Bunya top.

Thanks Tod

Very sweet guitar Tod for a first effort. You will learn as you build more instruments and find your way of building a guitar. It is a great hobby and there is always something new to try in the quest to build a better instrument.

Congratulations!

Cheers

Alan

Thanks Alan, I will be happy if I ever get the ability to be able produce an instrument that is just close to what I have seen from you,but that is my objective, to one day be one of the guru's on the forum and give back to new builders.

Cheers and thanks Tod

Hi all

I'm planning to start my first guitar in the next month, just in the process of gathering tools etc. I have some ten year old silky oak that I milled and have been woundering if it's good for back sides and neck material. After looking at your silky oak guitar my decision is made. It looks great, good one.

Just a few questions about the neck, what is the reason for the 5mm Carbon Fibre rod following the neck taper.
Also is has the neck timber been quater sawn.

Thanks heaps.

Adam

It looks great Tod,
I like your list of timbers used as well, a fair bit of Aussie diversity there.

Thanks Rob, Old post, I have just finished # 3

Adam, The Silky Oak is a fantastic tonewood for back and sides, Laravee Guitars have used it for many builds and it gets great reviews, this one was my first but is still my go to guitar due to the warm beautiful tone.
The neck is silky Oak and Quarter sawn, due to it's low stiffness and density, I epoxied in the two CF rods to add strength ( stiffnesss ), and I am glad that I did, I have the truss rod adjusted to max and it could still do with a little more angle, my advice would be to use a denser timber for the neck, but if you decide on Silky Oak definately use the Carbon Fibre reinforcement.