I've had this project waiting. It won't have a model number. Just a name; The Black Pearl.

I really like how my parlor looks with the black MOP purfling and tuner knobs, so this guitar will get the same treatment. Plus a whole lot more.

I bought this CL neck a while ago. I will build the rest of the guitar around this.

I'm going to replace the white neck binding with black. It'll also get a black TUSQ nut. I'm also going to remove the abalone fret board inlays and replace them with black MOP. I'll also be re-fretting the neck with gold EVOs.

You may remember this bowl. It came with my original 1619. I also splashed a mold off it. This is the lightest, thinnest bowl I've ever seen. As near as I can tell this was molded using vacuum infusion. This should make for a really light, nice sounding guitar.

I'll top the guitar with torrefied Adirondack and torrefied Adi A-braces. I realized that I've built a few torrefied Adi A-brace Os, but that I don't own one myself. I like my parlor, but I can't play it standing up.

I never did use the unfinished rosette I got from the MS. As you may recall I was originally going to use that on Daren's 1528, even going so far as to cut out the abalone inlay pieces from feathers I bought online. So, I'm going to use it on this one, but it'll get black MOP.

I'm also going to use an carved ebony CL bridge and compensated black saddle.

I probably won't cover all the phases of the build, like bracing the top. Just the new stuff, like removing and replacing the fret board inlays.

Before the neck can be mounted to the bowl, the bowl needs a neck block.

I'm using a Stewmac bolt-on neck block. It's really made for a Martin-style guitar, but with a few mods it'll work here.

The top hole is fine. The bottom hole too far down and the angle at the bottom needs to be adjusted. It also needs to be notched at the top for the K-bar truss rod.

I've already modified the neck block to work here. I notched the top and drillled a new hole. I'll fill or cover the old hole before I glue the neck block into the bowl.

Neck bolted to block.

Neck block clamped into bowl for test fitting. After the block is glued to the bowl, I'll glue in the same reverse kerfed mahogany that I used on Patch's parlor.

First order of business is to mask off the neck block area, then scuff it up in preparation for gluing.

Third hole in the neck block is sealed with a mahogany plug I made.

Neck block is masked and being glued into place. (sorry for the blurry pic)

Masking is peeled off. I'll let this cure for 24 hours, then start in on the kerfed lining.

Neck block is glued. Kerfed lining is being glued. The photo below shows the wetted lining being clamped to pre-shape the lining.

I did that this morning. The wood was dry this afternoon, so I moved forward with gluing them into place.

The lining is glued.

I opened up the slot in the top of the bowl. Neck heel fits top of guitar well.

Yes, the thought of doing a shiny bowl has crossed my mind. I still haven't decided.

Speaking of bowls, here's the latest progress.

I added a reinforcement layer to the bottom of the bowl where the lower strap button molly will be mounted. After the resin cured, I drilled a hole for the molly and the jack.

I had originally planned to use a molly on the upper bout, but after a few quick measurements I realized that there might be some interference with the neck block. Instead I glued a mahogany block to the neck block and bowl. It's not too pretty, but it'll get the job done.

I also marked and cut out the hole in the side for the OP-Pro pre-amp.

With this, the bowl is pretty much done and ready to have a top mounted and purfling/binding installed.

There was one last job that I needed to do to the bowl before it's ready to close -- labels.

I decided to give it a model number after all. It's the 1619-X. Natch, I used the classic Custom Legend gold foil label.

As I wrote previously I needed a label to hide the third bolt hole in the neck block, so I added a variant of my 'Rebuilt by" label.

The top is built and ready to be joined with the bowl. I'll be setting up for that job tomorrow.

After that, it's time to route the grooves for the binding/purfling, and then the bowl is mostly done except for masking the bridge and finishing.

Now, if only my pearl order from the land down under would arrive. Until then, I'm in a holding pattern.

Here's the obligatory top-being-glued-photo. :D

JK. Actually, what this photo shows is setting the neck angle while gluing on the top.

Unlike re-topping an OEM guitar, I needed to establish the correct neck angle. I used the same technique as I used on Jen Chapin's 1613.

I clamped the neck, then weighted the bowl with a sand bag. I adjusted the legs to set the neck angle. Once the top was glued, I used my original bowl bend jig and rubber bands to clamp the top to the bowl.

This is really a picture of quality and detail.

Carry on.

First coat of clear is on the top.

I initially thought it was a sample supplied by some third party. But after looking at my 1619 pics I saw that the unpainted sections of the bowl look the same as the bare bowl.

There were several generations of hand-laid cloth bowls. I detailed these in The History of the Bowl thread.

1965-1967-ish, 2-ply cloth bowl hand-laid over male mold. Covered with clear plastic, apply vacuum and scrape excess resin. High-quality, but time-consuming to produce, thus very high cost.

1968-1981, 2-ply cloth bowl hand-laid in a female mold. Early models used no vacuum. These are the cloth bowls you're used to seeing. The weave of the cloth is very visible when looking inside the bowl. Later models used, either vacuum or vacuum-infused inside the female mold. This is what the inside of the 1619 bowl looks like. As far as I know, they're still making cloth bowls this way. This is style of bowl I'm using on the Black Pearl.

The 1619 was a factory engineering model. It had a hole cut into the bowl that allowed access to the inside of the guitar without loosening the strings.

Interestingly, the braces on that guitar look like they were prototypical. The main transverse brace isn't notched and the fan braces are plain 1/8" stock that hasn't been milled. Also, there is only a piece of 1/8" stock reinforcing the joint between the upper part of the A-braces and the lower fan braces.

In the pic below you can see the 1619 A-braces on the left and a production 1985 1717 A-braces. I've done a 1978 1617 which had the same style seen on the 1985. On later models, the fiberglass joint reinforcement was superceded by a perforated aluminumm piece.

Clear coats are done. I'll set the bowl aside for a couple of weeks and concentrate on the neck.

First job is to remove the frets. Plenty of heat ensured easy removal with no chip-out.

Next, remove the white binding. I did damage the finish slightly during the process, but it will be invisible once it's done.

I decided to conduct some tests on removing the fret board inlays. I have a junky Balladeer of very early vintage, whose neck is thoroughly thrashed -- IOW, a perfect medium for testing.

Knowing that Ovation highly favors the use of epoxy, it occurred to me that the fret board inlays were probably glued using epoxy. The normal process for removing an inlay is to route out the center, then use a chisel, etc., to separate the shell from the fret board. I've seen a Stewmac demonstrating this on a Martin D-45. I thought that would be pretty difficult on these inlays.

Instead, I thought I'd drill out the center of the inlay using a Forstner bit, then heat up area using one of my small modeling irons to soften the epoxy, then gently pry out the inlay using an Xacto knife.

In this photo I've already removed one of the inlays at the 12th fret.

Hole is being drilled in the other 12th fret inlay. Sorry about the lighting. MOP is really difficult to photograph.

Hole is drilled until I just touch the ebony.

Heat being applied. This is the smaller of the two irons. I found that the larger one works better as it doesn't lose heat as fast as the smaller one.

Inlay being pried out.

Part of the inlay broke. You can see the thin layer of glue holding the inlay into place.

Final result: a nice clean hole ready to receive a new inlay. I had done four of the inlays on this fret board. By this time, I was comfortable enough to move onto the CL neck.

First job was to remove the dots. The CL dots are smaller than the Balladeer dots, so I had to be extra careful to drill them as close to center as I could. Abalone is softer than white MOP, so when the drill broke through to the ebony most of the dot crumbled leaving behind a clean hole.

First diamond. It, too, came out cleanly.

Holes drilled in all the diamonds and squares.

And, all the inlays are out. To be honest, I was more than a little nervous about this step, but it wasn't too bad. It only took me about 90 minutes to get all the inlays out cleanly.

Nice clean holes with no chip-out of the ebony. Ready for the new inlays. One thing I noticed was that some of the inlay holes are deeper than the back MOP replacements. The inlays will need to stand slightly proud of the fret board so they can be sanded level. I'll buy some ebony veneer from Rockler's to make spacers under the inlays.

Most of the old inlays came out in one piece.

New inlays are set into place so I can decide which one goes where. I'm really digging the look of the new inlay pieces. These are only available with the notches cut into them. I wasn't sure whether I would like them, but after seeing them all together in the fret board, I've decided that I do like them.

The black MOP pieces seem to have a darker side and a brighter side. I'm kind of leaning toward the brighter side. The diamonds are a little bit different shape than the old diamonds, so I'll need to sand them a little bit so they fit into the holes.

After looking at the inlays with the light side out I decided to flip them all over to see what the fret board would look like with the dark side out.

I also sanded the diamonds to fit into the holes and spaced out under the inlays where necessary so they all stand slightly proud of the surface. I was going to buy some ebony veneer, but at $32 a pop, it's a little too rich for my blood. I only needed about 2 square inches. So, I used 1/64" plywood that I dyed black using a sharpie.

One of the things I like about the light side out is that the inlays really stand out against the ebony. What I didn't like was they really stand out against the ebony. They reminded me of white MOP, not black MOP. Plus it had a blue tint that clashed with the color of the walnut on the head stock.

The dark side out is a lot more muted, which is what I liked about the black MOP purfling in the first place. You can still see the iridescence of the inlays, but you have to be at the right angle.

There are a couple of dots, such as the two at the 12th and 15th frets that are slightly mis-matched in color, so I'll see if I can find something a little closer. Once that's done, it'll be time to glue the inlays.

I sanded down the inlays. They're not perfect. I made a few mistakes. But, on the whole I'm happy. So, I'm pressing forward.

Moustache binding made and being glued into place.

Moustache binding is scraped. Side binding with side-marker dots is glued and scraped.

Next job is to fix the dings in the neck, then polish it. I'm polishing the neck before I install the frets because it'll be easier to mask the fret board before the frets are installed.

Fixing the dings on the neck required that I fill a ding with epoxy, then set the neck aside for 24 hours while the glue cures. That left a lot of down time.

So, I decided to start cutting out the pieces of shell needed for the rosette. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to buy any black MOP shell feathers. White MOP? Sure. Abalone? Yep. But no one sells black MOP shell feathers.

So, I had to make do with shell veneer, or shell paper. (See: Black MOP Veneer)

First three pieces cut.

Half way done.

This shot reveals a little of the shell iridescence.

All the pieces are cut. You're seeing gaps because the loose pieces are just sitting in the groove in the back of the rosette.

More iridescence.

While I was working on these, I was also sanding the dings on the neck. At this point, all of the dings are fixed and I've polished the neck. It's ready for frets, which I'll be doing next.

After that, it's time to get back to the body and sand/polish the top.

Neck is done. The photo below is missing the nut, but I added it after the photo was taken.

It's time to get back to the body. First job there is to level and polish the top.

Mostly I use Stewmac's Deadblow Fretting Hammer.

I also run a bead of Titebond carpenter's glue in the slot before hammering the frets down.

Top and binding are polished.

Bowl is textured. It's not done using the same technique as the factory, but it is a reasonable facsimile.

The bridge is glued down.

Except for the rosette, the basic construction is done.

Please stand by...

It's been a week since my last update, but I've been busy.

The factory uses specialized equipment to assemble the old style CL rosettes. The problem is to securely clamp each of the 16 shell segments so they remain in alignment to each other and to the oak leaf pattern in the rosette casing.

I designed a 3D printed caul to clamp each piece of shell into place. Here is the base. Because of the size limitation of the AnyCubic Photon printer, I had to break the bed into four sections.

Here are the clamping arms.

Clamping arms assembled and inserted into the base. I'll stretch small rubber bands from the hooks in the base over the notch in the arms to provide the clamping force. At least, that's the idea.

This is the 1/4" birch plywood ring that will hold the four base sections together.

Base sections glued to plywood ring.

Rosette placed into base.

Paper mock-up of shell sections and clamping arms placed into base.

Next job is to see how it works. I've got a couple of rosettes I pulled off project guitars and some spare shell sections. I'll use these to practice.

Houston, we've got a problem...

I finished printing the replacement feet. Here's the general idea of how it should work.

Since I'm working with epoxy, I thought it might be a good idea to apply a generous coat of parting wax to the base and to the feet. I'll let these parts harden overnight, then glue the two pieces above.

I got the first two test pieces glued. All in all I'm happy with the results. One of the pieces got a tiny little air bubble. I figure that happened because I was too stingy with the glue.



To add depth and kick up the color on any shell, it's best to paint the back with black. I did this using Testor's flat black. The paint wasn't quite dry when I took this pic.

There was a little bleed-through of the paint under the seam of the shell that had the air bubble, which is another indication of glue starvation.

A good trick to prevent bleeding is to use the base color, clear, in this case, over the joint before painting the backing color. I'll use that on the next test.

Here's what it looks like after the clear and black backing coat. The joint ends up being much cleaner.

Yes, the backing color will affect the final look of the shell. Most of the time, black is used to increase the depth of the shell.

The rosette pieces have been finalized and are being glued into place.

We'll see tomorrow what it looks like.

I'll let the epoxy finish curing overnight, then tomorrow I'll seal the joints with clear and apply the black.

While that's drying I might as well install all the hardware. :D

Yes, this caul works really well for both cutting/fitting the shell pieces and later for gluing them to the rosette casing. As you probably recall one of the problems we had cutting out the shell pieces was not disturbing the relationship between the shells we'd cut before.

Being able to clamp each piece as you go makes the joints more precise. When it came time to glue, it was really nice to be able to manuever the new piece into place and not have to worrry about disturbing the previous pieces.

I'm really glad I spent the time and effort to make this tool. I can't imagine how I'd have done this without it.

All done. I'll let the pics speak for themselves.