And so it begins...... AND ENDS!!

taabru45

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!2 strings have a special kind of magic....and so does building guitars apparently...love that the 6er turned out so well....that's gotta feel special...and by the way.....Hi Tom......Steffan
 

adorshki

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Next up, an 000 slot-head mahogany 12-fretter!!! Is there any interest in seeing the progress on that one? I don't wanna bore y'all to tears with the details of this stuff unless it's something you want to see. I'd start a new thread.
If I promise to keep quiet 'till yer done again would that help?
:)
BTW I think you should name her "Shirley".
Or maybe "Euphonia".
 

davismanLV

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I thought I might resurrect this thread as it's been at least five years since this madness started. Said guitar is on a stand and played almost every day. Once of the better sounding guitars we own. The kit purchased after this one had some neck set problems and required surgery to remove the neck and was put on hold for a while. Now that the move is over, maybe some more progress will be made.

This was a fun project and I know we have some newer members who may enjoy the journey from years ago! I'm grateful I chose ImageShack vs. Photobucket or all these photos would be GONE!! Makes me angry all over again! So much lost to the forum forever......

Anyway, the Martin OM kit......
 

Rayk

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Nicely done that was fun to follow , I see tool investment is a must with a kit . Over all it looks great . Did you ever get to post audio or what is your over all report about it’s tone , sustain and playability ? Sorry if I missed it :(
 

Nuuska

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Tom

I just discovered this thread - how fascinating !!!

That quality of work detail, that is seen in pictures is very very respectful.

PLEASE - do show us pictures of next project - I even started to see, what kind accessories are available for my Dremel...
 

davismanLV

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Thanks, Nuuska!! The dremel can be your friend and save your life. It was all a BOLD experiment and we had fun. And for RAY!! I just got a new phone and a new computer and so let me figure out how to record and download that stuff. I have a vid that Don took of me playing but all I want is the sound, not the vid part. Give us a few minutes and then we'll get you some audio, okay? This seems like AGES ago.... wow, how the time flies!!
 

davismanLV

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Resurrecting this zombie thread. Some guy on FB Guild players group was wanting to refinish the back & sides of his Guild that he stripped. Thanks to Dave (Guard Man) for doing the search and finding it because I was having NO LUCK! I'm gonna restring this guitar tomorrow and it sounds even better 8 years later!! Thanks to Dave and walrus for the search help!! Maybe some of the new folks will get a chuckle out of this one...... :p
 

Brucebubs

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My nephew-in-law down in Hobart Tasmania built me this jumbo from a kit.
Solid EIR back & sides, A;pine Spruce top.
16 1/2" lower bout.

yLlBpNsl.jpg


My wife took this shot of me taking my very 1st strum.

Thi
vHxLEEEl.jpg
 

davismanLV

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My nephew-in-law down in Hobart Tasmania built me this jumbo from a kit.
Solid EIR back & sides, A;pine Spruce top.
16 1/2" lower bout.

yLlBpNsl.jpg


My wife took this shot of me taking my very 1st strum.

Thi
vHxLEEEl.jpg
That's a beauty!! It's a little odd to see a Martin shaped headstock with a Taylor shaped bridge!! How does it sound??
 

Brucebubs

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That's a beauty!! It's a little odd to see a Martin shaped headstock with a Taylor shaped bridge!! How does it sound??

There was a Martin like bridge in the kit but I prefer the Taylor shape. We also used 18:1 Grover Sta-Tites I bought from StewMac. My nephew Andrew Curtis used Australian Gidgee wood for the fingerboard and rosette.
He taught himself to inlay on the 12th fret and headstock.

It has fantastic volume and is super responsive but seemed strangely unbalanced to me - I tried dozens of different strings on it and finally dropped gauge down to 11-52's and it suddenly fell into place - easy to play too!

6wxgmHwl.jpg

4cpA16Vl.jpg


Because the lower bout is exactly half way between a Gibson SJ-200 and SJ-185 we decided to call it a 195.
We combined Andrew's surname 'Curtis' with 'Kit Guitar' and came up with Kittis.
It's a 'Reasonably Big Jumbo' so RBJ.
Put it all together and you have the Kittis RBJ 195.

xiXhWLyl.jpg
 
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Brucebubs

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No the soundhole isn't bound Tom.
I see from the inside label that it's coming up to 5 years old now - in that time I've adjusted the truss rod once, that's it.
 
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