My Custom Guitar Project

[jimmy buffett]

Danny has generously offered to post pictures of my custom guitar project, which I built as a student of Tony Karol in the Toronto area.  Tony is a great guitar builder who takes on about a dozen students each year in addition to his custom guitar orders.

I chose to build a Karol Signature model, with back and sides from Bubinga, and a Lutz Spruce Master Grade top.  This baby has tons of volume, and has delicious tone and note separation.

www.karol-guitars.com

I think she's a true beauty, sounds awesome, and plays nice and smooth.  I took pictures every step of the way, cutting the braces, creating the bracing patterns on the top and back panels, shaping the neck from this huge 8' long mahogany log, creating the rosette, cutting and installing the kerffing and binding, building the fret board and installing the frets, but that would be wayyyy too many pictures, so he'll just post a few.

I recommend this to anyone who ever thought that building their own instrument is something they might enjoy.  It gives you great deal of satisfaction, and will be a wonderful heirloom to pass along.  I was fortunate to find a luthier in my area.  And if you've ever had GAS, wait until you see what happens when you start building your own!  I already purchased a set of quilted mahogany back and sides for my SD 50...

Enjoy the pics...

jimmy

[Danny]

Here is the 1st batch

[attachment deleted by admin]

[Danny]

HERE ARE SOME MORE

[attachment deleted by admin]

[Danny]

THAT IS A VERY NICE  GUITAR  can  the pictures be seen OK ?

[Stephen Basil]

Now that's the perfect project... and what an accomplishment!

Your guitar is a thing of beauty.

[jimmy buffett]

THAT IS A VERY NICE  GUITAR  can  the pictures be seen OK ?

Loud & Clear, Danny...Thanks for your help. 

jimmy

[Danny]

      Sometimes I can see them but others can't, computer error, couldn't be me.

  I think others will feel like I do and want to see more pics of this process, like the neck from a big log and other cool stuff. Just a thought.   Danny

[Stringdancer]

Now thats a beautiful guitar,and I'm really starting to love the cutout on the side of the upper bout that a lot of builders are employing today...the sound hits you right between the eyes.... the only thing better than the photos would be some sound clips...I would love to hear that baby!!

[kdonovan]

WOW   That is sweeeeeet ! Very nice work


kdonovan

[jimmy buffett]

I may be able to work something out, Stringdancer, but it will take some time.

Oh well, another project...

And thank you for your kind comments.

jimmy

[lw216316]

Danny, congradulations on a beautiful guitar. I can only imagine the satisfaction a builder gets from playing their own musical instrument and work of art. It must be a very special moment when played for the first time -
all the planning, expense, work and time invested and the anticipation of  ' How will it sound ? ' - wow, what a moment that must be.

What difficulties did you encounter and how did you overcome them and what did you learn ?

Care to share the detailed dimensions ?

- Larry

[Danny]

Danny, congradulations on a beautiful guitar. I can only imagine the satisfaction a builder gets from playing their own musical instrument and work of art. It must be a very special moment when played for the first time -
all the planning, expense, work and time invested and the anticipation of  ' How will it sound ? ' - wow, what a moment that must be.

What difficulties did you encounter and how did you overcome them and what did you learn ?

Care to share the detailed dimensions ?

- Larry

Hi Larry this is Jimmy's Guitar, I just posted the pics. A lowly blue collar worker ya know    Danny

[bhika]

Very Nice Jimmy. I really like the headstock inlay. Is that something you came up with?

[lw216316]

sorry, had a 'senior' moment - I meant to say Jimmy,  I really did  

I know you don't build them on your Texas ranch cause you got a garden where you plant seeds and grow them. I've seen your garden pictures  

Oh yea, a question for JIMMY -  (see I got it right that time)
The logo on the headstock - any special meaning - since the N is not at true north then I'm wondering if it means something other than north ?

- Larry

[jimmy buffett]

Danny, congradulations on a beautiful guitar. I can only imagine the satisfaction a builder gets from playing their own musical instrument and work of art. It must be a very special moment when played for the first time -
all the planning, expense, work and time invested and the anticipation of  ' How will it sound ? ' - wow, what a moment that must be.

What difficulties did you encounter and how did you overcome them and what did you learn ?

Care to share the detailed dimensions ?
- Larry

Well now, Larry,

I'd need to look up the dimensions, but it is very close to an L body Larrivee, with a 1 3/4" nut. Yes, it was very satisfying, and although it took about 11 months to complete (with once a week visits), I always knew that while getting this guitar home was the goal, I would also miss the time spent with Tony and a bunch of similarly afflicted pickers while putting this all together.  I met some great people and learned many new skills, not to mention increasing my knowledge of how a guitar is put together.

You do tend to wonder how it will sound, but i was always confident about how this would turn out as I had seen and played many of the guitars that have been turned out by Tony's shop.  And absolutely everyone who had built a guitar here told me that their Karol Custom was their favourite.  And believe me, these guys can play!

It was amazing to start to put strings on this instrument for the fist time.  What had started out as a basic pile of lumber was now starting to hum as I put tension on each string.  The other guy who was there that night was listening and his eyes got kinda' wide and you knew the sound was going to be very kind to the ears.  My son played it for 30 seconds and opined that I had "a cannon" in the house.  That sound port does wonders for the volume...

The headstock inlay was inspired by the compass on JB's "Changes in Lattitudes - Changes in Attitudes" LP cover, and as a sailor, the compass image was symbolic of always having way to get yourself home.  Just follow the true North...

As for difficulties, I'd honestly have to say that there were a few, but as my buddy told me, "Tony won't let you build a bad guitar".   Some of the finer procedures caused me to stop breathing a couple of times, but once Tony showed you what you were supposed to do, he'd walk away and leave you to it, and it all worked out.  There was lots of fine cutting, chiseling, routing, shaping braces and creating the rosette, all the while knowing that some day you would have to shape and fit that neck, and set & dress the frets.  Would you get the intonation correct???

All in all, it was a great experience and I learned a lot.  Very satisfying too.  I'm happy to have this guitar, knowing what I accomplished (with a little help from my friend, Tony), and I look forward to building that SD 50 QM some day.  I have two sons who both play and I can't think of anything better to pass on to them some day.  True family heirlooms...

jimmy

[jimmy buffett]

The logo on the headstock - any special meaning - since the N is not at true north then I'm wondering if it means something other than north ?

Frankly, I chose to offset the compass with the "N" slightly off centre for purely esthetic reasons.  It looks nicer, takes up less space on the headstock, and it actually sits pointing slightly vertical when the guitar is across your knee...

jimmy

[Danny]

    I was thinking the same thing, being slightly off gives it a "twist" and comes off nicely. Plus it adds the "What's the story behind that" factor.    Maybe you could write a song in the Canadian tradition about a ship that went off course, do to a magnet being placed too close to the compass or something I don't know, but it is cool that way. Straight up to the top would look too generic.    Danny

[jeremy3220]

Looks great. What kind of finish did you use on it?

[jimmy buffett]

Looks great. What kind of finish did you use on it?

Nitro Laquer...