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Hesh's Unfinished Masterpiece has given me courage to post some shots of the latest (almost finished) OM we're doing.
It has:
Sycamore back/sides/neck
Sitka top
Bubinga bindings and center lam in neck
Texas ebony fretboard, bridge and headplate
Boxwood pins.

Now, what do you think, should we put a small teardrop pickguard of tortoise shell, go black, or clear?











Thanks for looking, and giving input!

Steve

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From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

Very nice Steve. I like the Texas ebony. Is it available commercially?

Steve,

Wow - that's lovely. The sycamore looks stunning and the bubinga bindings and neck stripe are the business!! The neck looks whiter in the pics, more like maple - how did you do that? It fits in really well with the body. Love it !!

No or clear pickguard by the way.

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Dave White
De Faoite Stringed Instruments
". . . the one thing a machine just can't do is give you character and personalities and sometimes that comes with flaws, but it always comes with humanity" Monty Don talking about hand weaving, "Mastercrafts", Weaving, BBC March 2010

Thanks Barry. Yes, it can be found. I was just at Clark's, almost running through their yard, so didn't notice any. (Which of course doesn't mean they don't have it--give 'em a call.)
I buy it from a small yard in Mt. Enterprise, of all places.
They always seem to have a few sticks around.
Come up some Friday and we'll drive up there.

Steve

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From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

Hi Dave, was typing a response to Barry while you were commenting.
Thanks mucho, amigo!
The neck---ahh, yes, almost a disappointment.
Both the back/sides and neck stock came from East Texas trees, just not the same tree. You are right, it is a good bit paler, quite close to maple, or what you would call Sycamore.
More variety in the species than I first knew.
It's a bit better match than mahogany would have been...I think... but perhaps the Bubinga ties it all together.

Thanks for the input!

Steve

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From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

Looking great, as usual, Steve. Love the bubinga binding. I'm getting ready to do one in sycamore, also, and I might go bubinga as well.

Did you add ANY stain to the body? I didn't expect sycamore to look that dark.

Ron

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OLD MAN formerly (and formally) known as:

Ron Wisdom

Somewhere in the middle of Arkansas......

Gorgeous as always, Steve! And congrats on the Texas Highways article. I just read it, way cool!

So (side topic) are you going to the LINT Master's Class on 2/28? I've never made a LINT meeting, as I'm always working, but I may make this one.

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Wes McMillian
Santo, TX
http://www.wesmcmillian.com

Looks great Steve!

Ya know sycamore is a great looking wood! I don't know why its not used more.

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Lance@LuthiersForum.com

Killer guitar Steve my friend - very classy!!!

As for a pick guard I would go Tor-tis or clear with this beauty.

Beautiful guitar as always Steve!

It also has a very cool, dry sound. At least the sycamore OM's I've played have.

Very nice indeed, as per your usual effort. I like the sycamore, too, which reminds me of lacewood in figure. Hopefully, it was easier to work than lacewood, which I tried on one project and then swore never to use again.

Regarding a pickguard, if you must use one, perhaps tortoise would be nice and kind of match the binding in color, but clear might work better.

Steve,

No disappointment - I meant it as a compliment. I love the way the neck looks and think it goes beautifully with the body and gives more interest imho than if it had been a match for the b/s wood. You've got a good "designers" eye - even if it sometimes operates on a subliminal level

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Dave White
De Faoite Stringed Instruments
". . . the one thing a machine just can't do is give you character and personalities and sometimes that comes with flaws, but it always comes with humanity" Monty Don talking about hand weaving, "Mastercrafts", Weaving, BBC March 2010

Uhh, clear! Why would anyone want a distraction form such a nice guitar?

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Expectation is the source of all misery; comparison the thief of joy.
http://redrivercanoe.ca/

I degree. Clear! What a beauty!

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

Way Nice
Clear pickguard

That's looking great, Steve. The bubinga trim is very handsome on the sycamore body, and compliments the Texas ebony FB nicely, too. And the sycamore itself is gorgeous - very striking! That guitar will turn a lot of heads.

To others seeing, perhaps for the first time, how great a sycamore guitar can look, here's a shameless plug: Come on over to the classifieds, and you, too could have a beautiful set of sycamore to build with!

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Todd Rose
Ithaca, NY

https://www.dreamingrosesecobnb.com/todds-art-music

https://www.facebook.com/ToddRoseGuitars/

What a beauty!

I don't like clear pickguards, they look weird when the guitar gets worn around the outside of it. Besides, the vintage Martin OM pickguard shape is about my favourite pickguard shape. I'd pick a tor-tis color that matches, nothing too loud though. That, or nothing, would be my choice.

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin

That is very nice Steve. Great job!

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"An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is an adventure wrongly considered." G. K. Chesterton.

Steve, 14 fret with a slot head, with a gorgeous three piece back (love 3 piece backs), Kinnaird build quality and aesthetics. You've got the colour palette just right again, you really are getting quite good at this guitar building malarkey aren't you.

What's not to like about this, and no, no pickguard please, or a clear one if you must, don't spoil the lines.

Colin

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

Fellas, you're awfully kind...as usual.
Let me answer the Q's-
Ron--no, there's no stain to the body. Tony did smear it down with epoxy, though, which always imparts a slight amber tint.

Wes, thanks for that! And yes, we'll be making it to this year's LINT masterclass. Don't want to miss Siminoff.

Steve, I've never tried Lacewood, so there's no basis for comparison. But I will say that this particular set of Sycamore wrestled me a bit. It seemed reluctant to bend.

Dave, subliminal design work? I like that. Probably my best work isn't done consciously....

The rest of you, my thanks again for your kind remarks.
Now as for the pickguard, I see we have no consensus.
Maybe I'll let the (future) customer pick it out. That way he/she will be happy with the choice.

Spoken like a true coward, huh?

Steve

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From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

Beautiful work, Steve. I love that sycamore. Have you used it on a neck before? Any carbon in there?

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Ken Franklin
clumsy yet persistent
https://www.kenfranklinukulele.com

Beautiful guitar, great selection of colors. The sycamore has a gorgeous figure, and I like
the three piece back. Do you know if any of our suppliers have "texas ebony"? I like the grain
and color a lot.

From the second shot, it looks like there are dark borders on the bubinga slice in the middle of
the neck. Is that fiber, a dark veneer, or am I seeing things?

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Gene

Politicians and diapers must be changed often, and for the same reason- Mark Twain

Nice guitar, Steve, and stunning use of stunning wood on the back. A wood dealer just told me he had some sycamore available. I was clueless, but now I know I'll go buy some for sure. Regarding the pickguard, I have a hunch you should try to match your headstock plate. Or use a piece of your sycamore. But what suits my taste might not suit your taste. To you, it might look like a brown hole in the face of a nice instrument. There's one way to know for sure: Cut out several "fingerboards" from scrap paper or shirt box cardboard. Get a cheap set of watercolors or felt markers, and draw the colors and figure of various woods to the best of your ability. Tape them lightly in place, one by one, place the guitar on its stand, and step back across the room. In about thirty minutes of comparison, you'll know which solution "speaks" to you.

Patrick
P.S. Did I say I also love the bindings? Very nice all around.

Steve,

Thanks for posting these pictures!.....beautiful!

This is the first guitar I've seen made from American Sycamore. I know Sycamore was beautiful but I've also read there is a large discrepancy in tangential vs radial expansion due to moisture. I assumed it was too unstable for use as a tone wood.

Growing up we had a huge sycamore tree in our front yard that was planted by my great grandmother. It eventually was cut after it was struck by lightening. My dad drug a large log from this tree out in the pasture underneath a large oak tree. I would sure love to get wood from this tree to build a guitar but it's likely rotten.....or spalted! <smile> I'll check on it.

Can anyone describe how a guitar sounds with sycamore back and sides? What wood is it simiar to in the tone it produces?

Thanks again for posting that picture and that is a fine looking guitar!

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Formerly known as Adaboy.......