Headstocks

I seem to have writen about older guitars for some time now, but in fact I am working hard on my own instruments as well. Building my own contemporary guitars provides a nice contrast to the careful restoration of historic instruments, and when my brain becomes too addled with one, I can seek solace in the other.

The past couple of weeks has also seen a couple of commissions being prepared for collection and delivery - it is strange to think they are now in far flung parts of the world.

I have been preparing necks and headstocks for future commissions- 6 in total. I have written before about preparing batches of parts and it is something I find very satisfying to do. Recently, a visitor to the workshop described this as 'mass production' but that is far from the case. I would be happy to prepare a few more necks, but it would hardly compete with the big guitar making factories, and certainly not those that are using CNC equipment to produce virtually finished items. For me, using the simple hand tools of the artisans workshop is an efficient and practical way to make a small batch, such as the necks in the pictures. The relevant tools and jigs are all to hand and the pillar drill (for drilling the machine head barrel holes) is set to correct drilling depths.

The picture below shows 4 of the necks just prior to drilling. Taken late in the evening at the end of the long hot day in the workshop, the colours really do not reflect the beauty of the woods used on the head facings.
From left to right; thuja burr, ziricote, prehistoric bog oak and African ebony. The 2 heads not in the picture are both African blackwood.

Adam's guitar-headstock

I am posting a number of pictures of this guitar, as Adam is unable to visit the workshop and see progress for himself.

I very much enjoy making necks. When all is said and done, a guitar neck is a fairly straightforward bit of carpentry so I can relax and just enjoy working the timber and using the tools. The headstock design is not my own. I first saw it on a guitar by the late Martin Fleeson, and the most famous exponent of the design is the great French maker Daniel Friederich. Last year I was chatting with the German guitar maker Andreas Kirschner and we noted that we both used this design. 'Why not?' laughed Andreas, 'it's the best there is!'
The head facing is some bookmatched cocobolo that I cut recently from some off cuts of large boards that I acquired, many years ago, from Bob Smith at Timberline in Kent. I have about 15 sets of back and ribs of this stuff and all of it is quarter sawn like this head facing. This picture also shows the cedar neck; the black strip in the centre is a carbon fibre rod that I use to add a little extra strength to the neck. The wood for the neck itself is stunning, perfect in fact. The flecks that you can see running across the neck are medullary ray figure and show just how well quartered this neck is.



Here are the string ramps being carved. I love the simple sculptural process of making these ramps. Although they are essentially practical (to provide clearance for the strings as they run down from the nut to the machine heads) they provide an elegance and grace to the finished head. I always enjoy carving through the head facing and revelling the lamination of veneers.