News From Scott Classical Guitars

New 2017 Spruce / Maple Concert Guitar for Sale

2017-10-24T19:25:00.000-07:00

This Spruce and Maple instrument was finished in September 2017 and it is now available for sale. It's the first guitar that I've built on spec in several years and is the culmination of much deliberation and experimentation into maple instruments. For more photos and full information please visit the Available Now page: http://www.scottclassicalguitars.com/available_now.html

Thank you, and have a great day.

Used Short Scale Guitar For Sale

2016-05-05T10:49:00.002-07:00

One of my short scale guitars from 2014 just came up for resale. It has a 613.5mm scale length with Euro spruce top, Indian rosewood back and sides and elevated fingerboard. A really great sounding instrument in excellent condition.

See more photos and a full description on the Available Now page: http://www.scottclassicalguitars.com/available_now.html

Thanks!

Now on Facebook

2015-11-09T10:09:00.002-08:00

... I know, it's about time. I'm looking forward to being more connected, so please check it out and like if you're interested.

Facebook Web Address:
https://www.facebook.com/scottclassicalguitars/

and a link has been added at the bottom of each page of my website. You should even find one at the bottom of this page.

Thanks!

2015 Cedar / EI Rosewood at Reverie Classical Guitars

2015-08-04T10:05:00.000-07:00

The guitar before it was
French polished

The latest cedar and Indian rosewood guitar built for the GFA convention in Oklahoma City this June is now available at Reverie Classical Guitars, near Indianapolis. I have known David Conti, the owner, for several years and this is the first of hopefully many of my instruments to be offered through his store.

The guitar may not be on Reverie's website yet, so for more information please contact David directly.

http://www.reverieclassicalguitars.com/Contact.html

Thank you!

Guitars Almost Ready For GFA 2015

2015-06-06T09:46:00.000-07:00

Spruce / wenge bridge after an
application of French polish

The two instruments being built to show and that will be available for purchase at the GFA convention in Oklahoma City this June are almost ready.

For these guitars I worked toward maximum treble sustain and a little more darkness and density of sound than usual. Both were briefly strung in the white last week and first impressions were very positive. Varnishing and French polishing are currently wrapping up and the guitars will be complete in just a few days!


Spruce / wenge guitar about to be pore filled	Cedar / rosewood head stock after pore filling	Spruce / wenge soundboard after first application of French polish

Four Guitars coming soon: Two For GFA 2015 & Two Orders

2015-05-08T10:11:00.000-07:00

The past month has been busy with work on the current batch of four guitars, the most I've begun at once since 2008. Two of the four are now assembled and will be brought to the French polishing stage before I brace the soundboards and assemble the other two.

For the past several years I've been building mostly in batches of two, but I find that changing modes often - like from making rosettes to bracing backs for example - interrupts focus and is somewhat mentally draining. A larger batch of instruments, at least in the beginning stages up to assembly, allows more time to get into the zone at each phase of construction since it's repeated four times, resulting in a more harmonious, gratifying experience.... But if I had to final sand four guitars back to back I think I'd lose it!

Two Will Be Available At The GFA Convention In Oklahoma City This June 23rd - 28th

GFA guitar #1:

European spruce soundboard
Wenge back and sides
648mm scale
Manuel Velazquez tribute rosette
Black ebony head stock veneer and bindings
Stripey Macassar ebony fingerboard
Eelevated fingerboard
Alessi tuners

GFA guitar #2:

Western red cedar soundboard
Indian rosewood back and sides
648mm scale
Torres inspired rosette design
Sound port with movable magnetic cover
Eelevated fingerboard
Alessi tuners
Perhaps an arm rest too?


GFA rosettes	GFA head stocks	Spruce / wenge guitar being assembled

... And Two Orders

Order #1:

Left handed guitar
European haselfichte soundboard
Indian rosewood back and sides
660mm scale
Manuel Velazquez tribute rosette
Amazon rosewood head veneer and bindings
Gilbert tuners

Order #2: Being made for the dealer Grand Salon de Guitare in Montreal. Will be available in the summer.

Western red cedar soundboard
Madagascar rosewood back and sides
650mm scale
Manuel Velazquez tribute rosette
Elevated fingerboard
Sound port with movable cover
Alessi tuners


The head stocks - Amazon rosewood on top (for the spruce lefty), Brazilian rosewood on the bottom (for the cedar / Madagascar rosewood)	the rosettes

Making The Flat String Ramps


First the holes are drilled and slots routed	Bottoms of the slots are squared with a rasp and files


Sides of the ramps are defined with a saw	Ramps cut with a chisel and finished with files

More about these instruments will be posted as they progress...

The Floating Brace

2015-03-10T12:53:00.000-07:00

Floating brace inside a
Miguel Rodriguez guitar

This January I was asked by a customer to install a floating brace into a couple of his guitars (which were built by different luthiers, not me)...

What the heck's a floating brace?

Brace in Rodriguez guitar

The first time I saw a floating brace was in 2004, inside a 1980 Miguel Rodriguez guitar that I was studying. These photos I took of the brace inside that guitar. The brace appeared to be original and after a little research I discovered that Mr. Yuris Zeltins, a guitar repair/restoration specialist in San Diego, was probably the originator of the idea.

Brace in Rodriguez guitar

I'm grateful that Mr. Zeltins was willing to speak with me on the phone in 2004 to answer my questions. The way I understood it, Zeltins invented the floating brace in the 1970's as a preservative measure to prolong the life of guitars who's soundboards were seriously dipping between the bridge and soundhole. Rodriguez, during the 1970's, was gradually making his soundboards thinner, and got the idea from Zeltins by about 1980 to incorporate the floating brace into the design of his guitars (I believe Zeltins said Rodriguez instruments were the first ones he installed the braces into - but don't quote me...). It's fairly common to see soundboards of old guitars, and yes, of plenty of new guitars too, with pretty dramatic concavity in front of the bridge. Since Zeltins's solution is non-intrusive and easily reversible, it's an effective, elegant way of keeping some of those instruments playable for longer without diminishing their value. In fact, if done conscientiously, I've personally found that a floating brace may actually improve the sound of some guitars, and can be used to help eliminate wolf notes.

Brace inside Dammann guitar

Brace ready to install

Brace in place

At left is another guitar that I studied in depth. It's a 1990 Matthias Dammann, one of his early double-tops in which Zeltins installed the floating brace in the early 1990s.

To the right are a couple of photos of the floating brace that I just installed into my recent customer's instrument built by a different luthier in 2014.

How do I know if my guitar could use one??

Think of it first and foremost as a preventive measure. To slow down an under-built guitar's gradual swallowing of itself under string tension. If your guitar needs the extra structural support, then here are a few more considerations:

By preventing soundboard deflection, a floating brace raises the action height considerably. Your guitar must have sufficient saddle exposure and break angle to allow the saddle to be lowered enough to compensate.
Furthermore, the main soundboard resonance is going to be raised by the brace. You want to be sure that raising this frequency is a desirable consequence, and you should have a clear idea of exactly what your target resonant frequency is. This way you can fix any existing wolf notes and avoid creating new ones.
Be aware that the floating brace also increases the sense of string tension for the right hand
And be prepared for a deleterious effect on the guitar's sound, just in case. Although, you'll probably be surprised how little it seems to change the sound.
Finally, will the guitar's soundboard bracing, linings and sides facilitate this kind of thing being installed?

As always, thanks for reading. I hope you found this informative, have a nice day!

In the White & After Finish: A Sound Comparison

2015-01-17T18:33:00.001-08:00

I mentioned a few posts ago that I might try to record some sound samples of one of my guitars in the white (ie. before finishing), and then again after French polishing.
The point would be to convey the effect that the finish can have on the sound of a guitar. I've always found it fun and interesting to hear the same guitar before and after finishing, so hopefully you're able to hear something interesting in these samples and maybe even learn a little something.

Isn't the finish just there to protect the wood?

The fact is that the finishing material (eg. French polished shellac, oil varnish, nitro lacquer, polyurethane varnish...) and the way/thinckness that it's applied drastically impacts the sound of an instrument. Beyond protecting the wood, in the case of my guitars and I believe of any good luthier built guitar, a finish is actually vital for refining the sound - bringing out the resonance, the brilliance, making it louder and more sustaining, and for taming down the raw, boxy tone of unfinished wood.

Too much of a good thing...

However, the amount of finish needed, especially on the soundboard, in order to achieve these positive acoustic outcomes is exceedingly minimal. Applying such a thin film requires it's own skill set and a lot of care. Excessive finish is a major reason why factory built classical guitars rarely sound as open, loud, responsive or dynamic as luthier built instruments do.

French polish is the only good instrument finish that naturally goes on so thin. Using traditional technique it would be almost impossible to build up too much finish. This is of course why French polish is the most accepted finish on a classical guitar, at least on the soundboard. When I've tried to measure my thickest French polish it's in the region of .0005" - .001" thick. An average French polish is easily thinner than that. On the other hand, any brushed or sprayed varnish or lacquer has the opposite tendency and you'd be very lucky to achieve a film as thin as .003". Factory finishes are usually no less than .010" and can be as thick as .040", that's a full millimeter!!

What do you notice?

Some specs of the guitar used for this comparison:

Euro spruce top
Indian rosewood back and sides
613.5mm scale length (short scale)
Oil varnish back, sides & neck, French polish on soundboard

The recordings were made with an LS10 pocket recorder (not the best mics). I was careful to change nothing between the before and after recordings, although they were made about 3 weeks apart. The same strings were used, the same record level, and I was careful to sit in the same spot in the room with the mics in the same location as well.

If you had played this guitar yourself the differences would have been immediately obvious but, as I suspected, in these recordings the differences aren't as easy to pick out.

Beethoven Op.27 #2 - No Finish
Beethoven Op.27 #2 - With Finish
Zamboni Sonata 7 #1 - No Finish
Zamboni Sonata 7 #1 - With Finish

I'd be very interested to know what you notice in the comparison. Feel free to email me with your thoughts.

As always, thanks for reading.

Black Veneer Experiment

2014-11-26T09:52:00.000-08:00

Preamble

Here are a few thoughts, and the results of a recent small experiment I did on the permanence of black dyes in rosette making. Basically, I wanted to know what materials, if any, could replace ebony in my rosettes. Even though I only tested a few potential materials, the results were positive and a little surprising.

Given the current scarcity and endangered status of ebony, and given the amount of material wasted in making thin rosette parts, it isn't very environmentally responsible for me (or anyone, really) to be using ebony in rosettes any more. While up close the beautifully rich and permanently dark look of ebony is hard to match with dyed veneer, further than about 60cm (2 ft.) away, you can't really tell it's ebony, it just looks black. I wanted to know if there's a more sustainable substitute that looks good up close, and has the same darkness and permanence of ebony.

It's easy enough to buy jet black veneer from most veneer suppliers, the most common options are made from Swiss pear wood or basswood that have been dyed black. Another variety is black fiber veneer, which is made from cellulose and resembles a high grade paper product. I've used all of these a little in the past and already knew that the up-close appearance of pear is the most ebony-like, at least when it's new, closely followed by the fiber sheet. Basswood looks alright, though not like ebony. But will the dyes used to make these veneers fade? How long before that happens?

To Test the Veneers...

A piece of opaque plastic was taped over a section of each of these three types of veneer and the samples were placed in a south facing window last October. One year later the plastic was removed in order to observe how much each sample had faded after the year in direct sunlight. Although I actually tested only three samples, I was surprised by the results.

After a Year in the Sun...

The Swiss pear and basswood pieces had faded a lot. Too much in my opinion. This was no surprise since I could easily tell after only a couple of months that they were already fading a lot. What I didn't expect though was that the fiber sheet after a year showed no signs of having faded at all. This was a better result than anticipated.

A Note About Black Fiber Sheets

I've seen inconsistency in the blackness of it, some pieces have looked perfectly fine on the surface, but are actually gray in the middle. So check it out carefully before you use it. It can also be a headache to glue, even with polyurethane glue. It's a good idea to do some tests before using it in your projects.

Afterword

This kind of experiment could of course be expanded to include many colours of dyed and undyed wood, and to include colours produced by traditional/natural means where applicable. For example, there are several natural ways of producing green and black wood veneers, and the permanence of these colours is worth exploring if you're interested in using them. Of course, I'm sure such an experiment has been done by many others before, but I always like to see something for myself before believing it. Perhaps one day I'll give it a go, but I'd be interested to hear about other luthiers' or woodworkers' experiences with colour shifts in natural or dyed wood.... Anyone?

I hope you found this useful, helpful, interesting, or at least mildly entertaining. Thanks for reading.

Since August...

2014-10-26T09:56:00.000-07:00

Once again I have to say that mostly due to the beautiful summer we just had, I wasn't able to make the usual blog posts. Guitar life was super busy however, so here is another mishmash of things since the last post in August.

August 26:

Here are some final photos of the past batch of guitars which are now complete. The one with the rounded heel cap has a spruce top, a 640mm scale length, and was the first guitar I made without an elevated fingerboard in over a year. The cedar instrument pictured here is now available through the dealer Grand Salon de Guitare (Grand Guitar Salon), in Montreal.

Early September:

I made a day trip to a relatively nearby tonewood mill, Acoustic Woods, to buy some cedar soundboard material. They process a ton of local cedar and spruce logs into soundboard blanks, mostly for overseas factories.

Panormo-esque

Also in Early September, I began working on a new batch of instruments. Both have non-standard scale lengths and new head stock shapes.

1) Cedar top, Indian rosewood back/sides, 645mm scale, sound port, elevated FB, Amazon rosewood bindings, head veneer and bridge. This customer has always admired the look of Louis Panormo head stocks, so asked if I could make the head stock of this guitar look like a Panormo. I was at first ambivalent since I've always thought Panormo head stocks look cool, but also a tad sinister and don't match the curves of the rest of the guitar too well. However, after a bit of thought I decided to give it a go, seeing if I could play with the lines to give it a calmer, more matter-of-fact, modern look that might suit the Gilbert tuners it's going to have, as well as jive with the rest of the instrument.

2) European spruce top, Indian rosewood back/sides 613.5mm scale, elevated FB. This client has commissioned several other guitars from me in the past, and for variety asked if I could give this instrument a new head stock shape. Of course I agreed, but had no idea at the time what that shape would be. After carving the Panormo style head pictured above, I really liked the long flat string ramps, the short distance between the tuner slots and the end of the head stock, and the overall bluntness of the design. So this new shape tries to keep those qualities, and also look a little gentler and more friendly.

Both instruments are assembled, finishing will begin soon.


Spruce guitar: sides secured in the heel with wedges, time for tentellones	Cedar guitar: soundboard bracing just glued on	Bracing being shaped

Late September to Early October :

On top of the guitars being built, I did some repairs for a couple of clients. Gluing cracks and refretting a Martin D-16:

... and making an ebony armrest:


Cardboard template made and a piece of ebony selected and cut out	Recess routed away on the bottom of the rest, will be cleaned up with hand tools	Gluing it on


Finish masked, ready to shape with a spoke shave and sanding block	Shaping almost complete	Shaping complete and some wiping varnish applied


Done	Another view

Arm rests like this are a new custom option on my guitars. I was a little slow adopting the feature since I've tried a few on other instruments that were uncomfortable for my right shoulder. After carefully considering all of the possibilities and variables (including the bevel type rest), what you see here is the design I like best. It doesn't cause that shoulder tension that some shapes can. And by holding the player's arm away from the top it has the benefits of allowing that edge of the soundboard to vibrate better, of keeping the finish and the soundboard wood from getting worn, and of softening the pressure point on the right forearm.

Since June...

2014-08-09T20:32:00.000-07:00

Since summer started, it's been difficult to find the time (and enthusiasm - the sun doesn't shine much here in the winter) for making blog posts. But I have been taking photos over the past several weeks, so here is a mishmash of things since June...

June 20th - 25th: The GFA Convention in LA

Marc Teicholz trying one of the guitars

Alexander Dunn trying a guitar

The GFA was great - a lot of fun, many excellent concerts, and plenty of socialization for a guitar maker who spends so much time working alone. As usual, I met many great folks and heard some excellent feedback about my guitars. I always return home worn out, but inspired, and full of new ideas that I would never have come up with if I'd stayed home.

July: Back In The Shop

The cedar guitar about to have
bindings glued on

Spruce guitar just after binding.

Neck shaping - removing most of the
material with a drawknife

The bridges in progress

Spruce guitar after some final sanding

Rosette in spruce top before sealing

Rosette in cedar top after sealing

The cedar guitar with soundboard
sealed, ready for pumice pore filling

The current couple of instruments are nearing completion. Since the last post, their soundboards have been braced, and their sides bent and lined. Next, the bodies were assembled, bindings installed, fingerboards glued on, fretwork and neck shaping were done, bridges made and glued on.... Now for finishing. Both are getting French polished soundboards and oil varnish on the backs, sides, and necks.

I had the cedar / Indian rosewood guitar strung up a few days ago. I was planning to make a recording of the guitar in the white (without pore filler or finish applied) to post here. The sound of a guitar in the white is so different in some ways from a finished guitar, so I though people would like to hear it. The sound is quieter with a beautiful warm, woody glow, but it's less crisp, with no sparkle. I always like to hear it for a short time, but prefer the after finish sound. I'm not sure how well a recording can convey the quality, but thought making some before and after sound samples was worth a try. Unfortunately I ran out of time that day and moved on with finishing. I'll definitely do the recordings with an upcoming guitar soon though.

Last But Not Least: New Guitar Sent To Savage Classical Guitar

A few days ago I sent a new guitar to the dealer Savage Classical Guitar in Bay Shore, NY. It's the cedar / Indian rosewood instrument with elevated fingerboard and a sound port that accompanied me to the GFA. Check it out on the Savage website.

Thanks for reading!

New Rosette - A Small Tribute

2014-07-06T16:55:00.000-07:00

As you may already know, the luthier Manuel Velazquez passed away this past April at the age of 97. If you aren't familiar with his story or his instruments, this article by William Cumpiano will help fill you in: Manuel Velázquez: an appreciation.

I had the good fortune of meeting Don Manuel on a couple of occasions (first at the 2006 Guild of American Luthier's convention, then at the 2011 GFA convention, when he was granted the GFA's Industry Leadership Award), and I found his gracious, humble demeanor, and genuine passion for the guitar moving and very inspiring. So I wanted to do something small in homage of his contribution to the history of the classical guitar.

M. Velazquez's "signature" mosiac,
looks to me like a series of MVs

A rosette from 1951 showing the
central pattern I borrowed

Another Velazquez rosette from 1951

I decided to make a series of rosettes based on a central zig-zag pattern that I've seen on a handful of Velazquez's guitars dating from the early 1950s. I didn't like the idea of copying his signature rosette mosaic that I believe he's used (not exclusively) since the mid 1950s. That seemed too personal. The central pattern I chose to borrow is both interesting and unique - I haven't seen it anywhere else - so it seemed like a great motif to draw on. I'm planning to make a series of guitars (about 14) with this pattern in the rosettes, changing the border elements so each is unique. Below you can see the first two of these rosettes just after they were inlaid into their soundboards.


Zig-zag parts - resting while moisture from the glue evaporates	One of the new rosettes	Another of the new rosettes

This Week At Scott Guitars - A New Batch

2014-06-08T15:39:00.000-07:00

Final thinning a set of sides

I've been gradually working away on a new batch of instruments. They've been a little slow to start since I'm making some new rosette parts at the same time, as well as purchasing wood, tuning machines and other materials.

Necks well under way

A side is in the bender, and some
rosette veneers are being glued. A back
awaits braces in the background.

I had the brilliant idea to make the biggest batch ever of borders and a new center pattern to use in rosettes. The border design was strips of white squares on a black background, and I prepared and glued up enough veneer to make 96 strips (it would take 2 strips to make the borders for one rosette). Long story short, several days into the project, it ended in marquetry disaster. Veneer glue-ups this size take so long for the glue to dry (if using water based glue, which I prefer), they are much more prone to cupping/warping due to uneven glue drying, and are too dense, with too many glue lines for any of my saws to accurately cut. ...So I ended up scrapping the whole works, salvaging just enough material to make borders for the next few rosettes. The center pattern had to be restarted again with new material. It was really upsetting, but I learned the size limit to my method of making wood inlays, and the limit to what my tools can accurately handle. When the parts are finally done and I have some rosettes to show, I'll explain more about the new design and the inspiration behind it.

Two Guitars Complete - See Them At The GFA

2014-05-26T22:30:00.000-07:00

The two guitars that I'll be taking to the GFA convention in June are now complete. Here's a little introduction to the instruments. If you'll be at the convention too, don't hesitate to introduce yourself and try out the guitars. I'd like to hear what you think.

The audio samples were recorded in my workshop with an Olympus LS-10 on the first day the guitars were strung up. Strings on both are D'Addario normal tension composites (EJ-45C). The Brouwer samples were EQ'd a tad to compensate for the microphones' low bass response and hot high end. the Zamboni samples weren't EQ'd at all.

Guitar #1

Cedar soundboard
Indian rosewood back and sides
650mm scale length
Sound port with adjustable magnetic cover
Elevated fingerboard
20th fret E string
Alessi tuning machines
French polish soundboard, oil varnish body & neck

Audio

Zamboni Sonata 7 Cedar Guitar
Brouwer Etude 17 Cedar Guitar

Guitar #2

European spruce soundboard
Curly European maple back and sides
650mm scale length
Elevated fingerboard
20th fret E string
Baljak tuning machines
complete French polish finish

Audio

Zamboni Sonata 7 Spruce Guitar
Brouwer Etude 17 Spruce Guitar

Here are some photos of the maple before, during, and after finishing:


Maple ready for finishing	Coloring coats have been applied	French polishing almost done

Used Guitar For Sale - 2009 Short Scale, Spruce / Indian Rosewood

2014-05-12T14:22:00.000-07:00

Year: 2009
Condition: very good, no repairs
Spruce soundboard
Indian rosewood back and sides
Ebony fingerboard
Mahogany neck
632mm scale length
Sloane tuners
French polish finish recently retouched
Asking: CA$4,100 (US$3,800 exchange 11 May 2014)

Here are a few pictures of this short scale spruce guitar that's now available for sale. I just refreshed the French polish, but the instrument has never required repairs, and the action is still exactly where it was when the guitar was built. It's a really sweet, warm, lyrical sounding guitar with plenty of volume.

Audio samples, more photos and a complete description on the Available Now page.

This Week at Scott Guitars - Necks & Table Saw Jigs

2014-05-04T20:55:00.000-07:00

Neck shaping complete

About to finalize neck thickness and shape

The current batch of instruments is now just a handful of hours away from the start of the finishing stage. They've been fretted, had their necks shaped, and had all scraping of bindings and surfaces done. Early next week I'll do the final sanding, make and glue on the bridges, and get under way with varnishing and French polishing.

Neck shaping complete - this is
the spruce/maple guitar

In the past week I also took a break from the current guitars to do some action and French polish work on a previous client's instrument; and to make a few jigs that I've been thinking about for ages - here are two of the jigs....

Tentellone fence and stop block

I ordered a special tablesaw blade to use for kerfing linings and cutting tentellones without tear-out. One of the new jigs is a simple fence and graduated stop block for cutting tentellones of different widths, the other is a no-brains-required kerfing sled. The photo of the tentellone jig is probably pretty self explanatory. The stop block makes tentellones from 4mm to 9mm wide and registers in the table saw's mitre slot. It is held in place by rare earth magnets inlaid into its bottom. Essentially fuzz-free tentellones can be cut two at a time by stacking two triangular strips together.

Auto-advance kerfing sled

As for the kerfing jig, I knew exactly what I wanted it to do - use the table saw, with some sort of automatically fed indexing fence to quickly (and safely of course) kerf many linings at once without eye, finger, or back strain. I did a quick google search to see what others have done to solve the same problem, and the jig I built is based on one made by Brazilian luthier Antonio Tessarin. It can kerf up to 7" worth of lining strips at once, for me that's 10 individual linings. The long stick of wood with all the vertical notches in the photo is a template stick. It is fastened to the lining stock by tiny nails that protrude through its bottom surface. The nails poke into the lining stock at points that will later be cut away when I saw the wide kerfed slab into individual linings. To make linings with differently spaced kerfs, I'd need to make a different template stick.

Assembly Complete & An Intro To Sound Ports

2014-04-19T01:17:00.000-07:00

The current guitars were both assembled and bound in the past couple of weeks. The cedar / rosewood instrument has a sound port, here are a few words about that.

Some shots of the assembly process:


Necks ready for assembly	The maple back ready for assembly	Gluing on the sound port reinforcement


Magnets being glued into the reinforcement piece inside the guitar	Neck glued to soundboard, sides attached to the heel with wedges, and glued to the soundboard with tentellones	The cedar guitar having its back glued on

Unfortunately, I didn't have a camera handy for the binding and elevated fingerboard gluing stages.

Lacote guitar showing Aguado's
invention. Photo from:
http://guitar-auctions.co.uk/

Lyra guitar ca. 1790. Photo from:
http://www.music-treasures.com/

A sound port is a secondary soundhole, or holes, somewhere on a guitar. The primary reasons for a sound port are to improve the sound that the player hears (really helpful in noisy or acoustically dead spaces), and to increase volume and dynamic range by lowering the impedance of the air inside the body (but this effect is pretty subtle at best). Sound ports have become rather popular on classical guitars since the 1990's; however, as with many seemingly new ideas, the concept of sound ports has been around for much longer. One of Aguado's numerous creative contributions to the guitar was the idea of putting a second soundhole in the back of a guitar, and Lacote, in the 1820's, was the first to build a guitar with the feature. But guitar-like instruments with holes in the back existed earlier than that.

This is the first of my own instruments to receive a sound port. It is located in the side of the upper bout facing the player, and will have a movable cover held on by magnets, so the size of the opening will be adjustable. You can see the magnets in the picture above being epoxied in place. On one hand, I wanted to be a little conservative about the size of the hole, but at the same time, I wanted the hole to be large enough that there was a point to having a movable cover. Now that this guitar is assembled, it's interesting what the sound port does to the resonances of the instrument.

This Week at Scott Guitars

2014-04-06T11:48:00.000-07:00

Been working away on the current batch of two guitars that will be accompanying me to the GFA in L.A. this June. The heels and head stocks are carved, and the necks are ready for assembly. The fingerboards are slotted, one set of sides has been lined, the backs are braced, and the soundboard bracing is mostly complete.

A few mornings ago I also made this new finger plane for shaping fan braces. Until now I've always used a larger, less specialized plane, and a 1/2" chisel to profile soundboard braces. The chisel is a little customized and will still be useful for shaping braces. It has a bevel on one side like a normal chisel, but instead of being flat on the bottom, I gave it a rounded bevel to act like a fulcrum so the depth of cut can be controlled by tweaking the angle between the chisel and brace. Make sense? Maybe not without a picture, I suppose.... Anyways, with this new plane it's impossible for the cut to get out of hand, so I don't need to strain my eyes or my nerves keeping the cut uniform and under control. Also, the edges where the sides meet the sole are heavily rounded so the plane is able to safely shave the entire side of a brace right down to the soundboard. I learned how to make brass planes like this at a workshop taught by Ken Altman at the 2004 Guild of American Luthiers convention. If you're interested, the process is also explained in the Guild's journal, AL#89 p.22. It takes some effort, but can be done completely with woodworking tools.

Thoughts On Tuning Machines

2014-03-20T05:59:00.001-07:00

I realized that I have a lot of tuning machines in the shop right now, so I decided to write a little review comparing and contrasting all of the brands.

The brands and models I'll talk about are:

Gilbert - gold base plates, snakewood buttons, black rollers
Gotoh - 35AR510P-BB
Gotoh - 35G1800H
Sloane - leaf bronze base plates, ebony buttons
Alessi - F5 ebony buttons
Alessi - H2 ebony buttons
Baljak - Mare Ebano

Instead of commenting much on the aesthetics of each brand (since you can get an idea of this yourself by checking out the pictures here), I'll just discuss any noteworthy design features and my opinions about the quality, function, and feel of each set.

For comparison, and for whatever it's worth to you, I weighed each set of tuners. I'd like to emphasize that a lower or higher mass absolutely doesn't make a better or worse set of tuners. Some would argue that tuner mass impacts a guitar's sound. I've tested this on my own instruments and found the amount of weight added or removed at the head stock to make a notable sound difference was far beyond what a set of tuners weighs. Hence, in my opinion, a 46.3 gram weight difference at the head stock (that's the difference between the lightest and heaviest tuners compared here) is definitely not going to noticeably affect an instrument's sound. Similarly, in terms of physical balance, a classical guitar can handle a fair amount of weight in the neck and head stock before feeling unbalanced. While holding a guitar in the flamenco style requires that the instrument be properly balanced, with a very light neck, for classical guitars there isn't the same concern, and 46.3 grams is basically insignificant. However, having said all that, I've talked to many guitarists who swear they can feel a difference once they switch to another set of tuners. Weather the difference is due to a change in mass, or to some other factor is impossible to say, but these opinions can be very personal and difficult to rationalize. It could conceivably be useful to know the mass when you're replacing tuners on an instrument that you're already familiar with. Confusing? Sorry. Let's continue....

String rollers are not all created equal. Gilbert rollers are made from Delrin, a super tough, low friction plastic that turns exceptionally smoothly and silently against the wood of a head stock, so bushings or bearings at the ends of the rollers are unnecessary. Alessi, Baljak, these Sloane (old style), and the low-priced Gotoh 35G1800 have more typical softer plastic rollers. But Alessi and Baljak string holes are brass lined - important for longevity. Gotoh 35AR510 use aluminum rollers, which look kind of odd, but they don't squeak and will look like new probably forever.

Gilbert 139.4 grams

In terms of quality, function, and feel, Gilbert tuners are second to none. What makes their design unique are the black worm gear retainer pieces fastened with screws onto the base plates. These pieces enable the tuners to have absolutely no backlash, an amazingly smooth response when tuning, and a perfectly uniform resistance on all of the knobs. After several years of use, if the moving parts have worn a little, the black worm retainers can be readjusted to take care of any backlash, and to equalize the resistance on all of the knobs. To avoid damaging the small screw threads or black retainer pieces, this adjustment should only be made by the manufacturer.

Gotoh 35AR510P-BB 166.6 grams

Gotoh 35G1800H 152.9 grams
Acceptable tuners for the relatively
low retail price around US$85.
But not comparable with the
other models here.

I think Gotoh's assortment of high end 510 models for classical guitar are a great value. The bearing surfaces are factory coated with a solid lubricating layer (they call it Lubri Plate) and are never supposed to require oiling. I'm particularly impressed with their 35AR510P model - the one with solid aluminum rollers, bushings, and rectangular base plates. Honestly, few of the more costly hand made tuners are built this solidly or function this smoothly.

Old Sloane 148.7 grams

I won't say much about Sloane tuners since I've only used the older version that Stewart MacDonald no longer sells. The ones with plastic, bearingless string rollers. I had real issues with the quality of Sloane before the improvements were made about a year or so ago. It really looks like they've pulled up their socks. I have yet to try the new Sloanes, but I've heard only great reviews.

Alessi F5 120.3 grams

Alessi H2 133.8 grams

I've used many sets of Alessi tuners, and have noticed a few minor construction anomalies that could use smoothing out. Roller lengths have sometimes been inconsistent between sets, knob tension within a set hasn't always been perfectly uniform. But considering their quality-where-it-counts, unpretentious, classy look, and reasonable prices, Alessi has become my go-to and most popular high-end brand. The difference between Alessi F (flamenco) and H (Hauser) models is that the latter have a second bushing at the base plate end of each string roller. In my opinion usually unnecessary, this bushing completely eliminates potential squeaking from rollers rubbing on wood.

Baljak 155.8 grams

Baljak tuners are made very consistently and function nicely, as they should. Due to their distinctive appearance I tend to use them only on certain instruments, when they can complement the overall aesthetic.

To summarize, if you're agreeable to a non-classic, unabashed, modern look, then consider either Gilbert or Gotoh 510 tuners, both of which function wonderfully well, but Gilbert are probably the best of all available brands in that respect. The Sloane tuners that I have experience with have been replaced by a new, improved, slightly more costly product which I have yet to use, but expect would be a good option for the price. Alessi are my go-to hand made tuners since they embody a perfect balance of classy looks, lasting quality, solid, silent function, and reasonable price. Baljak do a good job too balancing this same set of factors, but they have a more distinctive, intriguing look that's perfect for some instruments, yet perhaps overly conspicuous for others.

GFA 2014

2014-03-09T12:05:00.000-07:00

A few days ago I registered for the GFA (Guitar Foundation of America) convention that's going to be held in LA this summer from June 20th to 26th. If you'll be attending too, please stop by the vendor fair to introduce yourself. Even though this week had a lot of distractions from guitar building - like book keeping, communicating with some new customers, shipping a guitar... I managed to get under way on the two guitars that I'll be taking to display at the convention.

Ebony head veneer with inlay strip

Here are some specs of these two instruments:

1) Euro spruce top / Euro maple back and sides
650mm scale
elevated fingerboard
Baljak tuners
tie block inlay and matching head stock inlay strip
full French polish finish

2) Cedar top / Indian rosewood back and sides

The bent sides for both guitars

650mm scale
elevated fingerboard
sound port
Alessi tuners
maybe oil varnish finish

I know a lot of guitarists might assume that the GFA conventions are mostly geared for high level players and competitors. But I've found the atmosphere to be very open, with a lot to offer for everyone - beginner to professional players of any age, music teachers/educators, university students.... Really anyone with a keen interest in the classical guitar will find a lot of stimulation (okay, maybe over-stimulation) and inspiration at these conventions. I hope to see you there!

Two Guitars Complete - Cedar/Rosewood (Now For Sale), Spruce/Wenge

2014-02-25T12:47:00.002-08:00

1) Cedar/Indian Rosewood With Elevated Fingerboard, Now Available - Price: $5,900 CAD

On Friday the 14th I gave this guitar it's last bit of polishing, then installed the tuning machines, strung it up and finalised the action. See the Available Now page for more photos and info. It's always exciting stringing up a new guitar for the first time. I actually did get to play this one a couple of weeks earlier, before it was French polished, so I already knew that it would be excellent. But without finish on, it's impossible to hear the guitar's subtleties. In short, I'm very pleased, this is exactly the result I was hoping for. It has a clearly defined, solid bass that can be so powerful, the treble really sings with remarkable sustain that's the same for every note, and separation is unusual for a cedar instrument. I'll definitely be making many more instruments like this.

Some of this guitar's specs:

western red cedar soundboard
Indian rosewood back and sides
mahogany neck
vertical grain ebony fingerboard
elevated fingerboard
650mm scale length
Gotoh 510 tuning machines
French polish finish

See the Available Now page for more complete info.

2) Spruce/Wenge With Elevated Fingerboard

Ebony head veneer and Baljak
tuners with ebony inlay

Euro spruce top with Haselfichte

This guitar was strung for the first time on Friday the 21st, and to find an owner, it's about to be shipped to Savage Classical Guitar in Bay Shore, New York. To complete the post that I wrote about wenge a few weeks ago (the wood that was used for this guitar's back and sides), here are my latest thoughts...

Final polishing of the varnish is done

Wet sanding the oil varnish

Wenge has very large pores, it lacks the sticky alcohol-soluble resin that rosewood has, and due to its dark/light color stripeyness, it is almost impossible to visually tell when the pores are actually filled. So the wood requires it's own particular pore filling technique. This time around, wenge was the least lovable wood I've ever had to pore fill, no rosewood could compare. But as the different technique becomes refined over a couple more instruments, I imagine it won't be such a big deal.

Ebony bindings, and black cherry
purflings for a straw-yellow color

While I wasn't sure about the appearance of wenge when I started building this guitar, now I'm really digging it. It looks especially awesome under the ultra shiny oil varnish. And of course the sound - wow! It's got its own sound for sure. Very deep and resonant, very powerful and gutsy, very sustaining. These qualities are most noticeable in the bass, which is where I find the back and sides seem to have the greatest impact on a guitar's sound. So all things considered, I can't wait to make many more wenge guitars...!

Interview

2014-02-22T15:59:00.000-08:00

You may recall that a few weeks ago I made a trip to Victoria to visit with Bradford Werner and show him a recent guitar. Bradford Werner is a guitarist and guitar teacher who I've known for quite a few years, since my university music days. He writes a couple of well-read blogs on classical guitar. After the visit we did an interview over email that's now posted on Bradford's site, This is Classical Guitar: Interview and New Guitar by Luthier Douglass Scott.

The Last Two Weeks

2014-02-15T21:07:00.001-08:00

Over the past couple of weeks, the main task has been finishing. Both guitars of the current batch were pore filled, then the cedar instrument got a full French polish finish, while the spruce one had its soundboard French polished but the rest of the guitar is getting an oil varnish finish. I love the durability of oil varnish, and its most amazing deep glossy appearance, and its crisp, loud sound once it's fully cured. To be honest, the only reason I don't use it for all of my guitars is because of the solvent toxicity. Even if it's thinned with pure turpentine, which smells awesome, the vapors are really toxic. Varnishing just can't compete with the peaceful, enjoyable process of French polishing. I've experimented with many products and some non-toxic eco-friendly varnishes too, but unfortunately haven't yet found any of those options to make satisfactory guitar finishes.

So the cedar / Indian rosewood guitar that was built on spec. is now set up and completely finished, and the spruce / wenge one still needs another week or so as oil varnish requires much more drying time between coats. Waiting for varnish to dry was a good opportunity to pick out materials and to join soundboards and backs for the upcoming batch of instruments.

A Word About Wenge

2014-02-06T18:58:00.000-08:00

So, I've had this set of text book perfect millettia laurentii, or African Wenge (pronounced weng-gay), wood in my shop for a handful of years. A couple of months ago I finally found the inspiration to use it, and the perfect instrument to use it on - it's the spruce guitar I'm currently working on, that will be done in about two weeks.

The tap tone was what won my curiosity initially, but I'd heard from a couple of other luthiers that wenge has a great sound. Now using it I'm finding it has a really unique set of properties that will make it a one-of-a-kind tonewood for sure. It's super heavy, but also incredibly stiff and has the most sustaining tap tone. It looks a bit bambooey, which might take some getting used to, but it's also very dark and classy with perfectly even grain - no anomalies or runout at all. On the down side, it gives off the most frightening slivers, and dulls edge tools like knives, planes and scrapers literally instantly. Immensely annoying for the guy making the guitar, so I don't think wenge could possibly be my all-time favorite tonewood, but I'm definitely growing very fond of it nonetheless. Besides, just because I don't love sharpening my knives so often doesn't mean the wood isn't going to make a superb guitar! Wenge is still available in stunning quality and is not CITES listed or trade restricted, but it is unfortunately an endangered species, so I'd be sad but not surprised to see the quality or availability going south in the future.

Based on wenge's qualities I'm expecting this guitar to have a deep, resonant, slightly dark and crisp/articulate sound, a lot like Brazilian rosewood (although the woods are nothing alike). So I decided to pair it with a European spruce top and a very traditional 7-fan bracing pattern for a super classy, refined, colorful sound with character. To give the instrument a harmonious one-of-a-kind presentation, the visual aesthetic is on the theme of depth and resonance too. A lot of dark and rich colors, and limited white to control the amount of visual contrast.

I'll see if I can record some sound samples to post when it's done. The guitar is going to Savage Classical Guitar in Bay Shore, New York.

This Week at Scott Gutiars

2014-02-02T21:36:00.000-08:00

This past week I worked on finishing bridges, fretting, final sanding both guitars, gluing the bridge on to the cedar guitar, and on Friday stringing up the cedar guitar in the white in order to make any last modifications to the resonances before beginning French polishing.

Thursday I made a little field trip to Victoria to visit with Bradford Werner and to show him a recent guitar. A spruce and Madagascar rosewood instrument finished in December. I spent the morning having a great chat and catch-up with him and Marcus Dominelli, then went to Marcus's workshop for some more inspiring guitar talk and to see some of his latest projects. Marcus is another luthier I've known since I started building guitars in the late 90's. Bradford Werner is a guitarist and guitar teacher who I've also known for many years - since my university guitar studying days. He writes a couple of well-read blogs on classical guitar.