My inspiration for this guitar came from a plank of walnut given to me amoungst a box of offcuts that a local cabinet maker was throwing out for firewood. It was the perfect size for a fingerboard I thought. On doing some research I discovered that

walnut was not commonly used for fingerboards so, I did a lot more digging around on the net and stumbled across "ToneTech". - I was like a kid in a sweet shop.

 

I didn't want to buy the finest materials and mess it all up so, I opted for the cheapest and armed with a book

on guitar making I decided to give it a go.

 

 I chose "Western red cedar" for the soundboard, "African Mahoghany" for the sides and back, "Brazilian cedar" for the neck and splashed out on some "Ebony"  for the fingerboard.

 

My biggest concern was bending the sides as I didn't want to spend a small fortune on a bending iron so, I made my own.

This consists of an old iron that I turned upside down with a curved metal structure built on top to transfer the heat. This was made from a metal table leg that I cut down the side, spread apart and filled with copper piping and anything metal I could jam in.

 I practiced bending small offcuts of cherry and maple but when it came to bending the African Mahoghany I discovered it was extremely hard to bend so, I gave up and scrounged some maple instead from the cabinet maker. This was to change the whole sound of the guitar as I later found out that maple and red cedar were traditionally used for Flamenco guitars.

 

I stuck with the african mahoghany for the back plate as it was a nice contrast against the maple and for the bracings, linings, bridge and headcrest veneer I used more offcuts from my box of firewood. This resulted in me using maple for the soundboard bracing with maple linings and cherry braces on the back plate with african mahoghany linings.The bridge was made from cherry and the headcrest veneer made from walnut.

 

I bought a bag of veneer offcuts for the rosette.This was a lot tricker than I had imagined but I fumbled my way through.

I have since spent more time practicing these and hopefully it will be better on my next guitar.

 

I opted for a two piece neck as my book said that they were much stronger. It was a lot of work but well worth it.

 

The fingerboard and frets had to be the most difficult.It was at this stage that the whole project went from being a test of my woodworking skills to a musical instrument. I took my time to ensure it was as accurate as possible, which was difficult when I was so close to completion and finally hearing what it sounded like.

 

The excitement of playing it for the first time was amazing. It has a bright treble and bass with a nice sustain which I think is down to the woods I used.