Ladder Braced Grand Concert, Build #7

[Dennis Mitchell]

Damn...look at Joe go! Don't make me come up there......

[Joe Sustaire]

Thanks Tom and Dennis!

Ron, I used these tuners on the pair of Ditson guitars I built, there pretty cheap and have the looks that fit for a vintage 20's to 30's era guitar which is what I like. Function-wise they work about like the old tuners did also, okay but not super smooth, and a little bit of slop on the occasional key. So definitely not Waverlys, (not that I've ever had any.) The Grover Sta-Tites function better, but if you want the 3 on a plate vintage look, they work at a reasonable price.

I think next time I'm going to go with the Grovers and change the metal beans for some ebony ones like Chris Paulick showed. I love the smoothness and open gear of the grovers but have always been bugged by the metal beans.

Thanks guys,
Joe

[Ron]

Thanks Joe
thats is what I was asking for ..good info !thanks for taking the time man..

Ron

[Joe Sustaire]

All right, you know how it goes, 1 step forward 2 steps back.
I got the finish done and start final fitting of the neck, checking the alignment and flossing back and forth. Go to tighten it up one more time and hear a small crack. Pull off the neck and have a nice crack in front of the bottom barrel nut.



So I take some pics and post them on the OLF seeking repair advice. I went there because they had recently had a thread about reinforcing the Cumpiano tenon joint because of just this type of failure. This neck was already built but for sure next time it will have maple splines in the tenon. Maple side caps on the tenon or splines on each side of the bolt holes seems to be the recommended procedure.

Anyway cutting splines or removing tenon material for maple caps would have been difficult at this point because my fretboard was already on. So I plugged the lower holes with dowels and epoxy and used a 1/4" hanger bolt for the lower fastener. Not as elegant but functional.


It worked and feels solid so the guitar is together and playing! At last!!!

Just to re-fresh your memory, this is the bracing on the top.

So this is different than anything I've done. The top is pretty thin and so is the bracing so I decided to try a tail-piece on this one. I just used an old one that I had, a little rusty but classy.

And here are a bunch of photos...



I cut this floating bridge down from a rosewood Martin bridge I'd gotten off ebay one time. I think it turned out pretty elegant.




You can see here where I spliced in the wood to save this neck from my inattentive sanding!




And the good news...it seems to be very responsive. All the strings and notes seem even and loud. Sounds good bare fingered and with picks also, so maybe I got a winner!
I'll let it settle in and do some fine tuning and then maybe I can figure out how to post some sound.

Thanks for paying attention,
Joe

[Ron]

Nice Job Joe..love it...
wish it was mine....

[Dennis Leahy]

Very cool, Joe! Looks like it was always meant to have that tailpiece on it. An instant classic!

Dennis

[JMPBuffalo]

I agree with Ron and Dennis, Joe, it looks like a classy and classic guitar!

Joe

[DaveWhite]

Joe,

Nice recovery and that little beauty looks great - I bet she really growls !!