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Patch's Parlor Build...

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Patch
Posted 2018-02-04 6:10 PM (#541081 - in reply to #537422)
Subject: RE: Patch's Parlor Build...



Joined:
May 2006
Posts: 4221

Location: Steeler Nation, Hudson Valley Contingent

Dan, you know I'm not in a hurry, so be sure to hang on to it until Moody gets a good look at it. Between the two of you, maybe you can post a sound clip or something. I'm playing the odds here and saying there's a good chance at least one of you can probably make it sound better than I can.

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arumako
Posted 2018-02-04 7:19 PM (#541082 - in reply to #537422)
Subject: Re: Patch's Parlor Build...



Joined:
October 2012
Posts: 1018

Location: Yokohama, Japan
WOW Dan! Stunning work as usual. But this is a basically a complete build from the bowl-on-up (apart from the neck?). You've really perfected your craft. I can sense Patch's excitement all the way over here in Japan, and can't wait to see/hear the completed instrument! By the way, the redwood top looks uncharacteristically "brown". Is that because it is a "sinker" top? Thanks for sharing Dan!
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moody, p.i.
Posted 2018-02-04 11:06 PM (#541083 - in reply to #537422)
Subject: Re: Patch's Parlor Build...


Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 15651

Location: SoCal
Dan, where did the bridge come from? Doesn't look like an Ovation bridge.
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DanSavage
Posted 2018-02-05 10:09 AM (#541087 - in reply to #541083)
Subject: Re: Patch's Parlor Build...



Joined:
June 2012
Posts: 2303

Location: Lake Forest, CA
Patch,
I was thinking about letting Paul have the guitar for a few days so he can play it at his leisure. Before I do that I'll shoot a short video so you can hear how it sounds.

Ken,
Yep. Apart from the neck and the pre-molded bowl, it's pretty much a scratch-built Ovation. Yes. the darker color is because it's a sinker redwood top.

Paul,
You're right. The bridge is a Stewmac classical guitar unit. It'll get a glossy finish like most classical guitar bridges.

Edited by DanSavage 2018-02-05 10:13 AM
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Love O Fair
Posted 2018-02-09 6:36 PM (#541131 - in reply to #537422)
Subject: Re: Patch's Parlor Build...



Joined:
February 2016
Posts: 1768

Location: When??
Dan.. that teaser post you tossed in a while back about your next project-- don't just assume it went over our heads forgotten. I've been sitting here waiting the whole time and could really use a restroom break.

In the meantime, it's looking like the wood on Patch's new baby is really gonna finish up nice! I assume the naphtha completely evaporates and doesn't stain at all? Another nifty trick learned from Savage University! And I never knew that nylon string guitars have gloss bridges, per se. Never noticed. Is that traditional?

Oh, great. Well.. forget the restroom break. No.. no.. it's okay. I needed a new office chair anyway.

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DanSavage
Posted 2018-02-16 10:49 AM (#541241 - in reply to #537422)
Subject: RE: Patch's Parlor Build...



Joined:
June 2012
Posts: 2303

Location: Lake Forest, CA
Hi Al,

Yes, naptha evaporates without leaving a stain. It also doesn't cause the wood to swell or shrink and it doesn't affect any of the glue joints. Others use mineral spirits, which is also pretty benign.

Yep. Glossy bridges are pretty much standard on most classical guitars.
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DanSavage
Posted 2018-02-17 10:01 AM (#541260 - in reply to #537422)
Subject: RE: Patch's Parlor Build...



Joined:
June 2012
Posts: 2303

Location: Lake Forest, CA

Final neck alignment/fitting is (finally) done. This part took a while because the neck angle was completely wrong for this guitar. Not only was it wrong, but it was too long. Instead of it being a 14-fret to the body neck, it was a 14.1-fret to the body. This mean that I had to take material off from the inside of the heel to bring the 14th fret into the proper position so it is right above the neck/body joint. It was about 1/8" too long. And, crooked, too.

Now it fits really nice.

Bridge location is being masked.

Mask off the bowl. Time to start the finishing process.



First coat of clear. I probably won't be posting too many pics while I apply the finish.

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Patch
Posted 2018-02-17 12:24 PM (#541262 - in reply to #537422)
Subject: RE: Patch's Parlor Build...



Joined:
May 2006
Posts: 4221

Location: Steeler Nation, Hudson Valley Contingent

This is starting to look EXACTLY like I thought it would. Dan and I had similar concerns about the darkness of the SRW top having too much color, but it is shaping up (Get it? ) to be what I hoped both in shade and grain.

Just as importantly from an aesthetic perspective, the rosewood binding and bridge are going to have some serious POP when finished and glossed. With the abalone serving as a counterpoint, they will sum up to a striking, but elegant, juxtaposition from dark (top) to light (purfling) to darker (binding/bridge).

Me? Getting excited? Why would you think that?

BTW Dan, you had no way of knowing this, but I find it borderline providential that my birthday is in a few weeks. No pressure or anything......

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2wheeldrummer
Posted 2018-02-17 2:02 PM (#541263 - in reply to #537422)
Subject: Re: Patch's Parlor Build...



Joined:
February 2014
Posts: 699

Location: moline,illinois
That looks gorgeous,you are a lucky man Patch.
The rich darkness of the top is beautiful and the woodgrain is really standing out.


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moody, p.i.
Posted 2018-02-17 7:09 PM (#541270 - in reply to #537422)
Subject: Re: Patch's Parlor Build...


Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 15651

Location: SoCal
Nice. Gonna be fun having it over for a sleep over for a few days. Dan, I've been using Savarez Corum 504J's on my 1113. You should try a set on it.
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DanSavage
Posted 2018-02-17 8:55 PM (#541273 - in reply to #537422)
Subject: Re: Patch's Parlor Build...



Joined:
June 2012
Posts: 2303

Location: Lake Forest, CA
Patch,
As a rough guess I'm a few weeks away from finishing, so it may work out.

Thanks for the suggestion, Paul. I'll pick up a set and give them a shot.
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moody, p.i.
Posted 2018-02-17 11:31 PM (#541274 - in reply to #537422)
Subject: Re: Patch's Parlor Build...


Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 15651

Location: SoCal
Dan, I think Sam Ashe up here carries them. I need a set so I'll check and see about getting one for Patch's guitar as well......
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tpa
Posted 2018-02-18 1:34 PM (#541278 - in reply to #537422)
Subject: Re: Patch's Parlor Build...


Joined:
December 2004
Posts: 552

Location: Denmark
Small guitar, big art.
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d'ovation
Posted 2018-02-18 2:32 PM (#541279 - in reply to #541260)
Subject: RE: Patch's Parlor Build...


Joined:
December 2003
Posts: 846

Location: Canada

DanSavage - 2018-02-17 10:01 AM

Final neck alignment/fitting is (finally) done. This part took a while because the neck angle was completely wrong for this guitar. Not only was it wrong, but it was too long. Instead of it being a 14-fret to the body neck, it was a 14.1-fret to the body. This mean that I had to take material off from the inside of the heel to bring the 14th fret into the proper position so it is right above the neck/body joint. It was about 1/8" too long. And, crooked, too.

Now it fits really nice.

Bridge location is being masked.

Is the fret spacing on the neck not a function of scale? If so, then I assume that bridge placement is crucial to get the scale spot on. With a shortened neck, or this new body-neck match in general, what is your approach to get the position of the saddle right?

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DanSavage
Posted 2018-02-18 6:19 PM (#541283 - in reply to #541279)
Subject: RE: Patch's Parlor Build...



Joined:
June 2012
Posts: 2303

Location: Lake Forest, CA

d'ovation - 2018-02-18 12:32 PM
Is the fret spacing on the neck not a function of scale? If so, then I assume that bridge placement is crucial to get the scale spot on. With a shortened neck, or this new body-neck match in general, what is your approach to get the position of the saddle right?



Good question. Looking back at what I wrote, I can see how this might not make sense.

Yes, the fret spacing on the neck is a function of scale, as is the bridge/saddle location. The fret spacing standard of 14-fret Ovations is made for scale of 25.25".

So that Patch can breathe easy, I'll say now that I carefully measured the bridge location relative to the neck so that the scale length (and, more importantly the intonation) is preserved. (I always align the bridge to the neck)

The problem wasn't that the fret board was too long. Rather, that the fret board was located in the wrong spot on the neck. Possibly. I can't really say what happened at the factory. Only that the 14th fret was not located at the neck/body joint. It was 1/8" away from it.

I don't have the top any more, so I can't measure whether the bridge was located in the correct spot relative to the neck, or if it was jigged in place on the top which would have made the scale on this guitar too long by about 3/32".

Here's a couple of pics that compares this neck (after alignment/fitting) to a CL neck. I lined up the nuts, and the frets are even with each other all the way up the fret board.

Here's my 1624 neck joint. Notice that the center of the 14th fret aligns with the neck/body joint, same as the CL neck above.



Here's a close-up of an early pic of this neck while it was still attached to the body. Notice that the lower edge of the 14th fret is pretty close to the neck/body joint, not the center of the fret.

This means that the heel of the neck is too long.

So, there were two things to do: relocate the fret board, or grind the heel down.

I didn't really have to do this work. In fact, unless I have to, I usually try to not mess with the heel.

I could have simply located the bridge so that it was in the right spot relative to the neck, but I needed to take material off the heel to align the neck and set the neck angle anyway, so I figured why not fix this at the same time.

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DetlefMichel
Posted 2018-03-17 8:18 AM (#541672 - in reply to #537422)
Subject: Re: Patch's Parlor Build...



Joined:
May 2011
Posts: 751

Location: Muenster/Germany
Any progress? This last post was a bad cliffhanger
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Patch
Posted 2018-03-17 11:48 AM (#541675 - in reply to #541672)
Subject: Re: Patch's Parlor Build...



Joined:
May 2006
Posts: 4221

Location: Steeler Nation, Hudson Valley Contingent

DetlefMichel - 2018-03-17 9:18 AM Any progress? This last post was a bad cliffhanger

I talked to Dan last weekend. He's been busy, but making steady progress. The top will be finished anytime now. After that, all that's left is to paint the bowl and check for finishing touches.

He passed on a little detail I didn't know: He had the top shaved just a bit thinner than Ovation would have. He thinks it will work well with the A-bracing, and so far, he says it rings like a bell when tapped.

It's just as well that it's taking a little longer though, considering it has to travel from California to NY. I would have worried myself into a hospital if it was traveling through all the weather we've had recently.

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DanSavage
Posted 2018-03-17 4:25 PM (#541679 - in reply to #537422)
Subject: RE: Patch's Parlor Build...



Joined:
June 2012
Posts: 2303

Location: Lake Forest, CA

As Patch wrote, the top is mostly done. I'll probably polish once more before I glue on the neck and bridge.



Speaking of the bridge, that's done, too. I'll polish it up a little bit before I glue it on.



The bowl is textured. It's not an exact duplicate of the factory texture, but it's a close approximation.



There's a couple of minor dings on the back of the neck that I'm now ready to address. Once these are filled and leveled, I'll give the neck a quick polish, then it's time to align and glue the neck, then the bridge.

I had unbelievable luck. I was able to actually find another set of hen's teeth -- NOS Schaller 541 gold tuners. One goes onto Patch's parlor and the other goes into my stash for future use.

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DanSavage
Posted 2018-03-24 9:22 PM (#541851 - in reply to #537422)
Subject: RE: Patch's Parlor Build...



Joined:
June 2012
Posts: 2303

Location: Lake Forest, CA

Moving right along...

I put a final polish on the top. I filled the dings in the neck and polished it. I also did a quick polish on the bridge.

Now it's time to start putting it all together. (Woo hoo!)



Neck and body are masked in preparation for joining. Neck is aligned and glued into place using Hysol 0151. I mixed in some West Systems 423 graphite powder to blacken the 0151.



Masking is removed. I'll let this cure until tomorrow, then I'll pull the guitar out and prepare for gluing the bridge. (You should be getting excited now, Patch. In a couple of days it's going to be a playable guitar)



Edited by DanSavage 2018-03-24 9:36 PM
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arumako
Posted 2018-03-24 11:21 PM (#541854 - in reply to #537422)
Subject: Re: Patch's Parlor Build...



Joined:
October 2012
Posts: 1018

Location: Yokohama, Japan
STUNNING! Really enjoying and learning from this build Dan! Thanks for always sharing your work with grace and "easy to follow articulation! WOW!
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Patch
Posted 2018-03-25 7:56 AM (#541857 - in reply to #537422)
Subject: RE: Patch's Parlor Build...



Joined:
May 2006
Posts: 4221

Location: Steeler Nation, Hudson Valley Contingent

"WOO HOO" INDEED!

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Jonmark Stone
Posted 2018-03-25 8:07 AM (#541858 - in reply to #541857)
Subject: Re: Patch's Parlor Build...


Joined:
May 2008
Posts: 1553

Location: Indiana
Beautiful.
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marenostrum
Posted 2018-03-25 10:13 AM (#541859 - in reply to #537422)
Subject: Re: Patch's Parlor Build...



Joined:
August 2007
Posts: 1008

Location: Tuscany, Italy
That's a beauty, Dan. Pity you are so far away from here.......
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DetlefMichel
Posted 2018-03-26 10:17 AM (#541876 - in reply to #541859)
Subject: Re: Patch's Parlor Build...



Joined:
May 2011
Posts: 751

Location: Muenster/Germany
O don´t know what impresses me more: the work or the result. What a guitar! Thank you for this ducumentation, I learned a lot again (for instance the epic fixing construction...).
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DanSavage
Posted 2018-03-27 2:24 AM (#541878 - in reply to #537422)
Subject: RE: Patch's Parlor Build...



Joined:
June 2012
Posts: 2303

Location: Lake Forest, CA

Thanks, everyone. I'm glad you're enjoying the build.

I pulled the guitar out of the fixture and prepared to glue the fret board extension and bridge.

I masked the top around the fret board extension. Next, I carefully cut the bridge masking to expose the bare wood.



I masked around the bridge location.



Fret board extension and bridge are glued and clamped. I left these to cure overnight.



The construction of the guitar is basically done.

Now it's time to install the hardware and electronics, then make a saddle and new nut.

After that, the only thing left is to string it up and play it!!

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