So I stumbled upon this slab of mahogany..

I travelled to Cambridge from Auckland (Upper North Island, New Zealand) specifically to collect 2 slabs of Rewarewa amongst a collection of other New Zealand native timbers including kohekohe, rata, mangeoa, and totara.

These kind of timbers are somewhat rare (unusual to come by in slabs) and I was a bit dubious as to how this person had them on offer on trademe (New Zealand's Ebay equivalent) for such a low price.

I am always mindful of where timber originates from as the native forests of New Zealand have been completely hammered in the past leaving less than 20% still standing.

It turned out that the seller was an elderly ex forestry miller 50 years ago and he had kept a selection of timbers that he could no longer cope with and just was glad to see them go. He had messed up his Trademe title so it was practically hidden away where no buyers could reach (he had no reserve on the auction and I was the lucky finder). A staggering quantity of native timber was either milled, burnt, or buried early last century in New Zealand to make way for vast areas of farmland.

Anyways.. I was OK with the fact that at least this timber wasn't freshly harvested, that was the main thing. I counted myself pretty lucky to stumble across this one. Rewarewa is an incredible looking wood when cut certain ways and I was keen to use it as a top wood. It has lovely acoustic properties too (I'll post pics below).

To move this along, I was just finishing loading this timber into my trailer when the gentleman said "oh.. you couldn't use some mahogany could you?". I thought, a little bit of mahogany is always a bonus, cool. "This wood came from an old church" he said "and I have no use for it".

We go into the shed round the back and here are these massive slabs of mahogany. I wasn't expecting that. Unfortunately the first of the two slabs was shot-holed with borer but the second smaller one (110cm x 40cm x 10cm) was left clean (to my surprise it appeared quarter sawn too). It was my lucky day.

So I stumbled on this slab of mahogany.. mmm what to do with it? As it was most certainly Honduran mahogany there was only one answer to that question: A Les Paul. I started the build last September and its nearing completion. Video log to be uploaded shortly.

Here are photos of the Rewarewa slab (tall) with the Mahogany next to it. The other photos show the beautiful grain of the Rewarewa (this particular slab had a large component of heart wood, It really was my lucky day)

...I'm in the wrong hemisphere. When I "stumble" across wood, it's usually a pallet.

Nice find.

how old is the church ? they used cuban mahogany ( swietenia mahagoni ) till about the end of the 1890's or early 1900's.

i bet it is the more rare cuban variety.

there is a place here in the usa. bluemoonexoticwood.

spain planted trees on the island of palau in pacifac in around 1800. the had a mission there.

here is some info about it and the company.

but if the church was 100 or so years old ?? i bet it is the rare cuban mahagony...great find too.

i bought a body blank and a neck blank from bluemoonexoticwoods last year...it is beautiful, but it has not been used yet.

here is the info

Over 200 years ago the Spanish created a mission on Palau. Surrounding their buildings they established a grove of Cuban Mahogany, Swietenia mahagoni, the "Wood of Kings". Swietenia mahagoni is the wood that planked the ships of the Spanish Armada. Thomas Sheraton, Thomas Chippendale, and Duncan Phyfe chose Cuban Mahogany for their furniture. It has been among the most prized and valuable timbers since the late 16th century. By 1629 the Spanish began moving their shipyards to Mexico because the accessible trees were gone. As its reputation grew, the supply of wood shrank.

As timber harvest methods became more sophisticated, the inaccessible trees became lumber. By the mid 1700's it was becoming scarce. By the mid 1800's good lumber was becoming rare. By the late 1800's the species had been logged into genetic impoverishment and commercial extinction. This destruction was finished by infestations of the pyralid moth and the ambrosia beetle. By the turn of the 19th century Swietenia mahagoni was little more than a shrub or ornamental tree in its natural range. Fortunately the species thrived on Palau. The efforts of three generations of one Palauan family established groves of Cuban Mahogany around the island. This preserved a stand of timber that never suffered the disasters of its natural range in the Caribbean region.

These Mahogany groves and the other species on the island are now being harvested in a sustainable program that will insure good lumber and genetic stock for reforestation. Blue Moon Exotic Wood offers the first premium supply of Cuban Mahogany in over 100 years. Cuban Mahogany is a timelessly elegant wood for any application.

they have been harvesting since the late 1990's.

either way..if it is cuban or honduran ???

it is a great and very rare find to have the original very old timeless wood.

there was a guy on ebay about 3 months ago who had more than 80,000 us dollars worth of very old cuban mahogany that he wanted to sell for 40,000 dollars...half off....most instrument grade and of large size.

i told tommy rosemond at usacg but at the time he had all the wood he could store.

here is a couple pics of the cuban mahogany i got last year.

the neck blank is ribbon figure and the body blank is cut off the side of the crotch.
the pics really do not do them justice.

http://i1246.photobucket.com/albums/gg617/mabley/nnnmm.jpg

http://i1246.photobucket.com/albums/gg617/mabley/bbbb.jpg

the guy ( very nice guy ) at bluemoon tells me the most beautiful cut is the cathedral cut..but i am more than happy with what i got.

i also found some 100+ years old tiger maple from an old barn.

http://i1246.photobucket.com/albums/gg617/mabley/tigermaple3_1.jpg

and 2 booked matched pieces of old brazilian rosewood for a 2 piece body blank

http://i1246.photobucket.com/albums/gg617/mabley/brzrw.jpg

MORE PICTURES!!!

I'm very excited for this!

You're right, I didn't see it on TM! How/where did he have it listed?

I'd kill for a slab of rewarewa. I was overjoyed to get a piece large enough for a neck!

Beeuteeful stuff! Both the mahogany and the Rewarewa. So far as I can tell, Cuban mahogany is THE mahogany, but sadly, except for rare finds, pretty much all gone. The old-time furniture makers loved it, and if working with the variants available here in modern times is comparable, there's no blaming them--it's justifiably the King of fine woods, IMHO.

how old is the church ? they used cuban mahogany ( swietenia mahagoni ) till about the end of the 1890's or early 1900's.

i bet it is the more rare cuban variety.




I'd be willing to bet it's either african or fijian mahogany in this part of the world. But given it was built so long ago it would be difficult to tell.

Thanks Mabley123 for the historic information and great photos. Brazilian rosewood, beautiful. Yes it is very interesting when great pieces of old timber surface. Its amazing what people have lying around. I bought the slabs around 2 years or more ago and tried to find out possibly what kind of mahogany I had.

The size of the slab was an indication. It was quarter sawn so the size of the tree had to be well over a meter, if not approaching 2m in diameter. I did a little research and as I understand Cuban mahogany grows to a maximum of around 1m in diameter so I ruled that out (I could be very wrong there of course). I also read that Honduran mahogany grows to a diameter of max 2 meters which more matches the dimensions of the tree that this slab came from. The colour of the wood seems to be a bit more deeper red than the photos of the cuban that Mabley123 posted, but now seeing the photo that i just took.. maybe not. Whatever its origins, its a lovely piece which I spent a year thinking about what best way to pay respect to it.

I have seen some Honduran mahogany that my grandfather used to build furniture with and it looked very similar to that.

Kwerk, the timber was listed as 'woodworking items' very obscure title which no one picked up on. It didn't have a photo and the only description he had was native wood for woodworking. It was listed in the category of 'Other'.

I quizzed him on the origins of the timber and he said the native timber came from Northland and all he knew about the mahogany was that it was lying around the mill for as long as he could remember and that he believed it was from a church and that it was "good solid stuff".

I know this is going to seem a bit wasteful to some but I really wanted to somehow use the whole slab because I really didn't want to cut it in half or turn it into a table. I thought the best thing would be a 1-piece Les Paul style guitar and in that way its proportion would be intact. That was a good thing in theory, but an entirely different story in practice. I got my head around it in the end though and very glad with how its gone so far.

I ended up using Puriri in the end for the top, fretboard and headstock. I was originally going to use the Rewarewa but, due to its different density grain pattern, I thought carving the top could be problematic. I'm trying to get the first build video up (should be real soon) but here is a photo of the mahogany grain.

k647UA3AvwgLets see if this works - first video

Wow, that's a fascinating way to build a guitar. Wasteful, yes, maybe, but the all purpose jig you have is amazing.

Love the video

Looking forward to watching video later when I get home - 9min might be a bit too much for me to watch at work. Great back-story to this, NZ really is/was home to some great timber. Thanks for starting the thread. Later ...

Obviously not your first time working wood !
Excellent, really like the custom jigs you made, Curious though about the choice of hand saw on some cuts that looked like a circular saw would have had the capacity.
Also have never before seen someone book-match a top with a handsaw, that was unbelievable, curious though how many hours it took to make that cut?
Always thought a 1 piece LP would be great sounding. Can't wait to hear a clip when done.
Looking forward to the next video-log , thank's for the treat so far.

"Sweet as bro" - fantastic video, I had to remind myself to breathe a few times I was so absorbed. Looking forward to parts II and III ...and the prequel! I see it's not your first one piece build - off to check that one out now. Inspirational stuff - hope I can one day be so competent.

cheers

You're right, I didn't see it on TM! How/where did he have it listed?

I'd kill for a slab of rewarewa. I was overjoyed to get a piece large enough for a neck!


Likewise... And I thought my TM comb was of the fine-toothed variety.

That's a helluva nice piece of rewarewa. You're a lucky fellow.

WOW! Great story on the wood and a beautiful build! Great skills, doing the work like you are. I can't wait to see the finished guitar!

impressionnant !

Nice video - Amazing way to build a guitar.

cuban mahogany can reach diameters of up to a meter and a half....5 feet.

also to me that looks like a ribbon figure...like my neck blank.

the body blank looks better than anything ive seen from gibson in a while.




Common Name(s): Cuban Mahogany, West Indies Mahogany

Scientific Name: Swietenia mahogani

Distribution: Southern Florida and the Caribbean

Tree Size: 65 ft (20 m) tall, 3-5 ft (1.0-1.5 m) trunk diameter

also like i said..if anyone is interested in real cuban mahagony ??

bluemoonexoticwood has it and they are the only known scource of premium grade cuban mahagony..the trees were planted over 200 years ago on the island of palau and became harvestable about 15 years ago.

palau is about 950 miles/1524 kilometers east of the philippines and has no typhoons to knock the trees down so they have grown freely for all this time.

i also have a relly nice piece of ancient kauri from ancient woods.

Lets see if this works - first video

Outdamnstanding! :smile:

Thanks for your kind comments. Yes Iv built a few guitars in the past making many mistakes along the way as you do. I find that no matter how much attention to detail or risk aversion you take, something always unforeseen happens. Great way to learn, yes, but gut-wrenching when it happens of course. The most severe problems I have had, have revolved around power tools. That is the main reason I try to avoid them where possible. Drill presses can be indispensable of course but unfortunately on mine, the chuck wobbles ruling it out of most applications. It does centre itself so I can use it for some things. I'm on the look out for replacement.

Thanks for additional info Mabley123. Real nice piece of swamp kauri there and great photos. Have you made any instruments out of the Cuban mahogany you have? Any photos would be great.

The handsaw cutting though is purely because I don't have a bandsaw. I thought about buying one but then decided that I don't really need it.. yet. The hand saw suits me fine. I actually solely use a handsaw when I'm building too. A sharp handsaw, in my opinion, is as accurate as any power-saw (it just takes longer obviously).

Handsaw cutting length-wise through the Puriri slab took about an hour. Hand-sawing the book-matched piece took me 5 hours (with breaks because my forearms kept blowing out). I just find the hand-sawing process accurate and satisfying.

Also I have found that planing my wood in the rack I made produces a much more even and completely flat (in terms of plane angle) surface than a planer. It eliminates the annoying 'snipe' of a thicknesser and you can easily get rid of bows and warps in addition to handling big slabs.

no i havent had anything made from the mahogany yet...im not skilled enough to do any woodworking but im always on the lookout for nice wood.


i also have some tom holmes pickups on order and it is a 1 year waiting list...so that gives nme about 9 more months to aquire parts for a nice humbucking type guitar.

im getting ready to have a parscaster put together..i have all the parts now and will have rs guitarworks in winchester kentucky..usa put it together for me and cut the nut ect.

your video was great. i wasish i was skilled at making guitars but my eyes are so bad im afraid i would cut off my fingers.

when i was in second grade we still got smallpox vaccinations...i scratched mine and then transfered it into my eye...instant bad eye and ive had problems ever since..i cant see well up close.

like i said the body you have looks like a really nice ribbon figure and is not commonly seen and is very beautiful in person.

man i bet your forearms grew an inch doing all that hand sawing !!!!!!

a 5 hour forearm workout is truly grueling..how long did your forearms stay sore ?? and please dont tell me you didnt get sore !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Up2tLlfPCykThanks Mabley for the message - Yes my forearms shoulders and chest took 4 days to completely recover from working that puriri slab. It was huge! Its a very heavy wood puriri and beautiful beyond words. Its similar to walnut in appearance, waxy and easily worked. The problem is that Puriri tree is attacked by the native Puriri moth, the larvae of which burrow holes throughout the whole tree. Its seldom that one comes across puriri timber and virtually impossible to find clear sections. If you can, however, its stunning. I very nearly almost did with the puriri in this guitar. One section of the top had a slight inclusion which appeared towards the end of carving. It needed filling with resin but hasn't detracted from the finish.

All the best for your partscaster Mabley - sounds an awesome plan.

Here is Part 2

I really like the looks of that rewarera (if I came close to spelling that right).
Great work on the videos too!

Fooking brilliant work! Impeccable workmanship.

Simply Amazing!

Fantastic build and such nice timber.

That's the most amazing build I've ever seen! Can't wait for part 3.

Bill

Your photo should be in the dictionary next to the saying "Master Craftsman".

Chur!

I spotted the Kauri at 0:44...

Dude, this is just inspiring. Incredible craftsmanship. Awesome video. That's going to be a priceless instrument. Kudos.

That's some amazing skills, I'm in awe. The puriri is gorgeous too.

Hey, speaking of kauri, I just need about 170 people to go in with me on this slab (http://www.trademe.co.nz/building-renovation/building-supplies/timber/other/auction-480671340.htm). That's roughly how many one piece bodies I figure you could get out of it. :wink:

Kwerk, have you inquired about the "More slabs in other sizes available"? Maybe there's something less giant.

If not, let me know when you find the other 168 punters.

Nah, I'm just kidding really. I'd love to buy something like that though. A single piece of wood that has to be trucked into place and a shed built over it!

Loved instalment 2! And good use of quality NZ music also

Just amazing! Great woods, great videos and awesome talent. I'm inspired. More, more!

Thanks guys. Yeah those kauri slabs look awesome! Congratulations kwerk on the challenge win, genius idea and lovely sound too. I like the pallet idea too. Even good old radiata pine can sound pretty nice. We are pretty blessed in NZ with our indigenous pines.

Anyone tried Kahikatea? I haven't been able to locate any recycled stuff. Its supposed to be beautiful as a top wood. Miro could be a needle in a haystack but it was used extensively like matai back in the day.

Kahikatea is good, I used it in my first tele. Pretty similar to radiata in density, with a similar colour but far less noticeable grain. Has no smell when you're working it. Occasionally you'll find a crazy bit of stump wood, but in general it's pretty bland looking stuff.

I was lucky to get an amazing bit of stump wood a few years ago that I'm still deciding what to do with, but I've never seen anything since that looks remotely like it.

http://i1104.photobucket.com/albums/h323/kamerawerk/kahikatea2-1.jpghttp://i1104.photobucket.com/albums/h323/kamerawerk/kahikatea1-1.jpg

beautiful piece - good find there kwerk. Its like treasure hunting in a way. Its a difficult thing finding a nice bit of wood. Having said that, I had a pretty ragged bit of swamp kauri that turned into the best looking and sounding strat I ever made. Sometimes you just have to finish a guitar and see what happens when you light it up.. its a cool thing.

Ok, just watched part ii - very difficult to stop myself from using straying into non "family friendly" language. Amazing stuff - I'm sure I've learnt a lot from this and hopefully be able to put some of it into action some day. Cheers.

oh yeah, did I mention I have serious wood envy?

Thanks modernguy.. ha yeah wood envy.. and we were once one and the same with gondwana and all.

We got the wood and the birds - you guys got every other cool creature under the sun.. nice

That's the most amazing build I've ever seen! Can't wait for part 3.

Bill

This is exactly what I was going to say. THE BEST EVER. Your video implies that you knew exactly what you needed to do, in exactly the right order, every step of the way and did every one of those steps flawlessly. I will be watching for the finished instrument. BTW, I learned a lot from watching your vids.

Thanks, sincerely.
Rex

This is exactly what I was going to say. THE BEST EVER. Your video implies that you knew exactly what you needed to do, in exactly the right order, every step of the way and did every one of those steps flawlessly. I will be watching for the finished instrument. BTW, I learned a lot from watching your vids.

Thanks, sincerely.
Rex

Thank you Rex (and fordfanjpn!) for the kind comments. Glad the videos have been useful. I hopefully should have the 3rd video done in a few weeks and the guitar finished. There is still much work to be done but in the meantime I will post some progress photos soon.

Thanks again

elams1894 - these videos and the build of a one piece LP style guitar are amazing. You sir, are a very talented and dedicated luthier and woodworker. I am glad you have posted these threads and youtube videos. Thank you.

elams1894 - these videos and the build of a one piece LP style guitar are amazing. You sir, are a very talented and dedicated luthier and woodworker. I am glad you have posted these threads and youtube videos. Thank you.

+1

Holy Crap! Words fail me... That is absolutely fantastic! I am deeply impressed with your ability to accurately plan so many steps, angles, etc... See: words fail me! :shock:

elams1894 - these videos and the build of a one piece LP style guitar are amazing. You sir, are a very talented and dedicated luthier and woodworker. I am glad you have posted these threads and youtube videos. Thank you.

Thanks mgdesigns for checking out the vids and for the kind comments.

You know guys, on second thought all he's really doing is taking a great big piece of wood and cutting off everything that's not a Les Paul. What's so hard about that:lol:??

Ducking and Running...
Rex

P.S. Obviously joking. I remain - awestruck.

This is a sculpture of a Les Paul !! Me likeeeee..

Got the frets in and crowned and also the nut (I'll wait until its all strung up before I cut nut down to final height). Sorry there are no photos of the fret install but I have footage for the vid. A final sand and then ready for shellac.

This is really gorgeous work, sir. Are you going to put a roundover on the body?

that's far out.

This is really gorgeous work, sir. Are you going to put a roundover on the body?

Thanks.. Thats a good question. I think i'll just lightly blunt the edges and leave it at that. I guess without the binding It leaves the top open for chipping but I'll just have to be careful I guess. I like the look of a top without binding but can see its advantages.
Cheers.

Waouw !!! Amazing thread and build
Congrats, and thanks for the nice videos

Beautiful work!
As I wipe the drool off my chin!http://img.alibaba.com/images/eng/style/icon/emoticons_drool.gif

I can't wait to watch these videos after work. This is awesome.

Curse you and your neverending supply of paua.

Beautiful guitar. Any idea how I can source some NZ lumber over here in the states? My wife studied abroad in NZ and I'd love to build her a guitar with NZ wood in it...

~Mo

That is a gorgeous piece of wood you "stumbled" upon and you have done it proud. When I first read the title, it could have just as easily read, "I was walking thru the woods one day and I stumbled upon a nekkid supermodel!":twisted:

Oh man! This is going to be sweet!

Curse you and your neverending supply of paua.

Beautiful guitar. Any idea how I can source some NZ lumber over here in the states? My wife studied abroad in NZ and I'd love to build her a guitar with NZ wood in it...

~Mo

Hi Mo.. Yes we are a bit spoiled in this corner of the world. Luckily the authorities here in New Zealand have prohibited the logging of anymore native and indigenous timber and have tight restrictions on the harvesting of paua. That is a great thing as NZ's diverse forests (as in most forested countries) have been decimated in previous centuries (and to the present sadly of course) for the purpose of farming. Thank goodness we have retained at least some lovely forest tracts, only approximately 20% of what we had originally though. Indigenous New Zealand forest trees take centuries to mature and for this reason they absolutely need to be reforested and protected for future generations.

The incredibly fortuitous thing here is that a proportion of the cleared forest (a huge amount was merely sadly burnt) was bulldozed or dragged into swampy valleys and streams and covered with earth. The swamps preserved the timber in absence of oxygen.

This has been well publicised with ancient kauri in particular. Enormous logs are dragged out of swamps in Northland on a regular basis. This resource is becoming slim, however and is reflected in the ridiculous prices asked for it internationally. There is no doubt that swamp kauri is an incredible wood for guitars but there are equally fantastic sounding New Zealand woods. Some farmers are now recovering these logs as they can appreciated their value and beauty. The share volume of native timber harvested for building last century has very luckily provided us with the opportunity to at least acquire some recycled or recovered New Zealand native timber.

Unfortunately it is very hard to come by in quality pieces even in New Zealand and it is becoming very expensive as traders and opportunists realise its value. It really would be as scarce as hens teeth trying to source quality examples of NZ timber in the States other than ancient kauri I would imagine. I would be happy to help you out if you are looking for something in particular. Send me a message with what you are after and I'll have a rummage around.

That is a gorgeous piece of wood you "stumbled" upon and you have done it proud. When I first read the title, it could have just as easily read, "I was walking thru the woods one day and I stumbled upon a nekkid supermodel!":twisted:

Well.. yeah a funny thing happened to me just the other day.. ha ha yeah I wish

Your killing me....lets see video #3!!!!:razz::razz::razz:

Usually with build videos I get a bit bored watching the standard processes and templates, your videos are great, totally unique and very well filmed. The idea of building a one piece Les Paul would terrify most people never mind one without a whole workshop full of cnc equipment! I love the idea of binding the fingerboard with the neck wood, very different. and the woods look great, your attention to detail is great and I can only assume you have shares in the double sided tape company! lol You've certainly inspired me to tackle my next build differently. Looking forward to part 3! :)

Usually with build videos I get a bit bored watching the standard processes and templates, your videos are great, totally unique and very well filmed. The idea of building a one piece Les Paul would terrify most people never mind one without a whole workshop full of cnc equipment! I love the idea of binding the fingerboard with the neck wood, very different. and the woods look great, your attention to detail is great and I can only assume you have shares in the double sided tape company! lol You've certainly inspired me to tackle my next build differently. Looking forward to part 3! :)

Thanks Pete, ha yes double sided tape - without doubt the most handy thing in my tool kit. A decent router and double sided tape... the worlds your oyster! Considering the amount it costs I really should be buying shares.. nice

Fantastic build, really enjoying it. You are an inspiration to all builders who don't have the full Norm Abrams' toolkit. You are NZ's answer to Scatterlee I think! I hope you are planning to put absolutely top-class pickups on this.

Regards

JC

Fantastic build, really enjoying it. You are an inspiration to all builders who don't have the full Norm Abrams' toolkit. You are NZ's answer to Scatterlee I think! I hope you are planning to put absolutely top-class pickups on this.

Regards

JC

Thanks JC. Funny you should mention actually (about the pickups). Yes the pick ups will be pretty unique. I have been making pickups for sometime now (you will laugh long and hard at my incredibly high tech pickup winder, but it works better than anything iv used) and its been really bugging me lately how user un-friendly those little plastic humbucker bobbins are. Its got to the point where I simply must do something about it and Iv decided to make my own custom bobbins. Has anyone else wondered why there hasn't been a better bobbin out there or is it just me?

Seen as my guitar is made from 1 piece of wood, I really like the idea of 1-piece bobbins. Seemed fairly straight forward to me in theory, but the more i thought about it the more complicated it became. Aint that just the way. Never the less I have come up with a plan for a template that should work (should). I have some photos lying around that I'll post of my pickup bobbin plan.

Here are a couple photos of my bobbin plan. Sorry about the fuzziness but you get the idea. One photo is a rough sketch of the bobbin obviously and the other is a jig design. I'll give it crack anyhow and let you know how it goes.

Here is my state of the art pick up winder, international patents apply. I'm not sure if the world is ready for this kind of technology.

Comes with ultra slow winding capability... and thats about all really

As a side note, and this is 100% true, there was an exhibit in Te papa (The National Museum of New Zealand) of a piece of the exact carpet shown in this photo. It was listed as 'Kiwiana'. That is 100% true! I love the 70's!

Wow! Speechless!!! Amazing work dude! Hope you don't mind, I've cross posted your videos on NZGuitars: http://www.nzguitars.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=23134 a lot of the crew will be fascinated to see your build!!

Good to see you using a respirator when you're working with the paua. Stuff'll kill ya.

As a side note, and this is 100% true, there was an exhibit in Te papa (The National Museum of New Zealand) of a piece of the exact carpet shown in this photo. It was listed as 'Kiwiana'. That is 100% true! I love the 70's!

Ha, love that carpet! As an aside, when we first bought the house we're currently in (about 16 years ago) the previous owners left behind a rug/wall hanging of Lake Taupo ...probably from the 70s too. The colours have faded a bit but there was no way I could throw it out - too kitsch!

Also, I too was thinking only this afternoon about how double-sided tape would be in my personal list of most useful inventions of the 20th Century. I have no idea what I'd do without it. Looking forward to part iii of the video. Cheers.

Wow! Speechless!!! Amazing work dude! Hope you don't mind, I've cross posted your videos on NZGuitars: http://www.nzguitars.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=23134 a lot of the crew will be fascinated to see your build!!

Cool, thanks for that Jeremy. I'll get a login sorted too.

Cheers.
G

Good to see you using a respirator when you're working with the paua. Stuff'll kill ya.

Indeed, can't let that stuff into the lungs. Same with the carbon. I used to work carbon fibre in a previous life and man that stuff is brutal! Matai gets me the most though. One sanding pass and I'm sneezing the rest of the day.

Ha, love that carpet! As an aside, when we first bought the house we're currently in (about 16 years ago) the previous owners left behind a rug/wall hanging of Lake Taupo ...probably from the 70s too. The colours have faded a bit but there was no way I could throw it out - too kitsch

Awesome! That is super cool!

Not too far to go now. Here are some progress photos so far. Got the shellac on and French polished. Onto the pickups, knobs and wiring.

3rd video not too far away.

Just a couple more pics

Not too far to go now. Here are some progress photos so far. Got the shellac on and French polished. Onto the pickups, knobs and wiring.

3rd video not too far away.

The neck/body transition is beautiful !

Just beautiful.

Yup, that's simply gorgeous. Can't wait for part 3.

That is one fantastic looking guitar!

Holy jeez... this build is pretty far from anything I normally like, yet I'm still completely fascinated. The videos are extremely well-done, and the craftsmanship? Sheesh.

I particularly like the recessed FB.

Excellent work!

Just a couple more pics

That is just breathtaking. Looks from the photos like there's no edge binding? Makes it reminiscient of my favorite Gibby, The Paul (aka The Walnut Wonder)... though much higher-class! :)

Holy cripes man! This build gives me hope that I can build an instrument of that craftsmanship some day. Way to go, and can't wait for part 3!

Thanks for your kind comments on the build so far, its been quite a process but I have finally got the last video made. Please excuse my guitar playing at the end.

It seems at this stage that Youtube hasn't pulled the copyright card on me. Fingers crossed it stays that way. Cheers

xHNaH_JK4cM

Absolutely fantastic! I loved your one piece pickup bobbins. Overall a very high quality build and great videos too :)

Absolutely fantastic! I loved your one piece pickup bobbins. Overall a very high quality build and great videos too :)

Thanks James. Hope your Rimu tele is still going great!

Awesome.

Wow! True craftsmanship. She's a beauty! Congratulations.

Awesome.

Wow! True craftsmanship. She's a beauty! Congratulations.


Thanks guys, much appreciated!

Outstanding job!

I really enjoyed that. Amazing technique & mad skills! Beautiful guitar.

Outstanding and beautiful !

Wow - I'm simultaneously uplifted/inspired and deflated ... man you've got some skills. Fantastic build, some innovative jigs ...and nice video editing too! Thanks for sharing that. Enjoy that guitar. Cheers.

Ooooh! I've been looking forward to part 3!

I especially enjoyed watching your nut, pickup and knob processes. So many "Oh wow" moments throughout this build. Congratulations and thanks so much for sharing in such an entertaining and well edited way.

ps. You should offer apprenticeships.

Good to see the protective gear coming out when you were working on the carbon...

I loved the bobbins. When will we see a tangata whenua guitar with only Kiwi timbers?

Utterly speechless. You have a very creative gift there, man, this blows me away!

I wondered why my mouth was dry after watching that, but it turned out it had been open the entire time :wink:

+1 the natives. You're in the perfect spot for Swamp Kauri.

EDIT: I see from reading JA158's rimu thread you've alredy done several. Would love to see pics!

I'm not sure what I like more, the guitar or the videos. Fantastic filming and editing. Great job all around!

outstanding

One day I'll be able to do that. Thanks for the inspiration, and the amazing videos! The guitar came out gorgeous.

The vid makes it look like everything came together perfectly. Were there any hiccups/errors along the way that had to be addressed?

Fantastic stuff, very clean and well thought out work, my mouth hit the floor upon seeing the finished product!

The Puriri looks great, I might have to see if I can get my hands on some!

Outstanding job!

Thanks Glen!

I really enjoyed that. Amazing technique & mad skills! Beautiful guitar.
Thanks nosmo! I actually was just starting my knobs when you posted yours and your pics were a great help - I liked the brass collets you used and immediately ripped apart some old knobs I had found on an old tube radio. That was cool.

Outstanding and beautiful !
Cheers holyoli!

Wow - I'm simultaneously uplifted/inspired and deflated ... man you've got some skills. Fantastic build, some innovative jigs ...and nice video editing too! Thanks for sharing that. Enjoy that guitar. Cheers.
Thanks modernguy, the guitar is to settling down with the strings and starting to sound real nice. A nice rounded full tone, I'm super stoked!

Ooooh! I've been looking forward to part 3!

I especially enjoyed watching your nut, pickup and knob processes. So many "Oh wow" moments throughout this build. Congratulations and thanks so much for sharing in such an entertaining and well edited way.

ps. You should offer apprenticeships.
Thanks for your kind words and for checking out the vids!

Good to see the protective gear coming out when you were working on the carbon...

I loved the bobbins. When will we see a tangata whenua guitar with only Kiwi timbers?
Thanks Nick! This build was actually my first using mahagany (beautiful to work thats for sure). I have some real nice figured swamp kauri, maire and rewarewa which will be great for the next build. Thanks for checking out the vids and nice eagle eye on the kauri tree in vid 1!!

Utterly speechless. You have a very creative gift there, man, this blows me away!

I wondered why my mouth was dry after watching that, but it turned out it had been open the entire time :wink:

+1 the natives. You're in the perfect spot for Swamp Kauri.

EDIT: I see from reading JA158's rimu thread you've alredy done several. Would love to see pics!
Thanks for the kind comments Kwerk. I'll try to find some photos of the pohutukawa guitar. I was real lucky with that wood!!

I'm not sure what I like more, the guitar or the videos. Fantastic filming and editing. Great job all around!

outstanding
Thanks kgilb and quarterstaff!

One day I'll be able to do that. Thanks for the inspiration, and the amazing videos! The guitar came out gorgeous.

The vid makes it look like everything came together perfectly. Were there any hiccups/errors along the way that had to be addressed?
Thanks UGG!

Yes indeed there were many things that either went wrong or that I didn't expect or think of. I believe that guitar building has to be one of the greatest problem solving exercises that you can face. It seems that no matter how well you think it through, there always seems to be something unforseen that happens which forces you to come up with something new. A real brain exercise, its great. Being one piece I had to think long and hard about what I was going to do as 1 mistake and she was over.

The mahogany routing went pretty well, though the area around the neck on the top-side was difficult to nut out. Getting the paua inlays cut out was a massive challenge in the end. The shell is curved way more than the fret board so finding a large piece that was thick enough was hard. I ended up redoing a single piece 8 times! It took days! The same with the knobs and the bobbins. Cutting them out to the correct size went well, though the same can't can't be said for drilling the holes. The drill bit kept wandering and I was nearly going to abandon the whole idea. I found a solution in the end but it was frustrating.

A real problem was how to get the fretboard glued onto the neck while still being able to clean resin out of the fret slots but the old cut up mt bike tyre worked great.

I learned heaps from this forum and without reading many of the great build threads in the past I would have had no show. So much thanks to all the contributors to this website for all their little tricks and solutions!



Fantastic stuff, very clean and well thought out work, my mouth hit the floor upon seeing the finished product!

The Puriri looks great, I might have to see if I can get my hands on some!
Thanks lightbluemk2, puriri really is a beautiful timber.

I've wrestled with whole paua shells before for inlay. Laminated sheets are sooooo good and pretty cheap to boot. I've got stuff from these guys - their 1mm white MoP is supurb.

http://www.mopsupplies.com/laminated_shell_sheets.html

I've wrestled with whole paua shells before for inlay. Laminated sheets are sooooo good and pretty cheap to boot. I've got stuff from these guys - their 1mm white MoP is supurb.

http://www.mopsupplies.com/laminated_shell_sheets.html

Thanks for the info Nick, looks a great site for inlay material!

I have some real nice figured swamp kauri, maire and rewarewa which will be great for the next build.

I'll be looking forward to that one. My next will be rimu, rewarewa and maire. Just finalising my design.

YOU MAKE ME SICK!!!!

All that telent and you have to go and build a beautiful guitar like that! How dare you!

Then to top it off with such great video documentation!

Uggg!

:wink:

Thanks for posting!! Amazing guitar!! I suspect that I will be re-watching the videos a few more times

mXr0pmcE21Q&featureFinally got a sound check sorted for my guitar.

Put it through a few tasty pedals by 'mcpherson stompboxes'

all i can say is WOW THAT IS AWSOME:mrgreen:

GODBLESS

You must be very proud!

WOW!... This build is basically the answer to the age old question, "If Michelangelo had wanted to build a Les Paul, how would he have done it?"

really love it, but theres something about a LP without binding that seems odd to me

Sounds mean!

I haven't used the word 'epic' for quite awhile, but I think this build demands that I end the hiatus.
I'm guessing you must have built the amp too, yes? Sounds great!

Thanks guys!

Really appreciate the great comments. Re amp: I built the JTM45 Clone in the 3rd video with my decidedly average playing, I really didn't do it any justice ha!

I was luckily enough to be able to take it around to a friend who makes excellent pedals. He is much much better at playing than I ever will be and we ran it through his little 18 watt amp that he built himself. The pedals were built by him also, all point to point.

Really stoked with the tone (over the moon actually). Massive problems arose with the wiring as the wood had conductivity in levels which just made it hum and hiss like crazy. I ripped everything out, shielded absolutely everything with copper (including pickups, wire, plugs, in addition to cavity's, the works!). Worked real well and its as quiet as a mouse now.

Again thanks to all those that contribute to this forum. I learned so many tips off threads from guys like scatter lee, preeb, kwerk, adirondak5, nickjd to name a few. The wealth of information made available here is absolutely mind blowing and without those tips and build techniques I'd stil be wondering how to put a neck together.

A seriously massive thanks.