Official Luthiers Forum!

There is something fearful and exciting about working on your first commissioned guitar. I can accept may things for my own investigations, but the stakes are higher now!

As luck would have it, my first commission was for my 13th guitar, hence the name "La Suerte"-lucky.

This is a Lutz Spruce, flame maple Torre FE19 style guitar, complete with tornavoz. Bocote trimmings with Ziricote bridge and fingerboard.

I thought that my FE17 was the best sounding guitar that I had made. I was wrong. This one is. I wish that I had the resources to record the sound in a way that can convey it well. I am working to correct that.

I have construction photos which I will add later during the discussion stage, but for now I will get this rolling with some glamour shots.

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

Looks pretty sweet !!! well done.

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Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"

Sweet in deed! Looking forward to your other pic's.

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Michael Lloyd

“I was born to ignorance, yes, and lesser poverties ...
I was born to privilege that I did not see ... I didn’t know it, but my way was paved” – John Gorka

A few more. Front, back, rosette, rosette detail.

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

Soundport, heel detail, headstock front and back. I still do a scarph joint for the headstock.

I really see no need to do the "V" joint other than to show my most excellent joinery skills.

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

Family portrait of my Torres explorations. From left to right: the full size classical in the Courtnall book, the present FE19, FE17, and the SE117. Together these represent 4 of the Torres plantilla sizes. I most like the FE17/19 sizes.

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

Congratulations Douglas! Beautiful job.

Chuck

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"To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong"
- Joseph Chilton Pearce

That looks really great. Nice job on the finish...the maple has a really nice color

looks great. All your guitars do. Is there some kind of plan available for the SE117? Torres was cool.

Looks lovely Douglas.... your customer should be well pleased.

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Dave
Milton, ON

Great work, Doug! I really like he maple. It looks like sugar maple. Is it? The bocote goes well with it too.

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

Doug:
Definitely up to your high standards. I particularly like the crisp design of the bridge. It is hard to believe that you have improved on the tone of your last tarnivoz.

Bob

Beautiful guitar, Doug! I love the old-timey look of that rosette and the Panormo-style head. I hope to hear how she sounds. Also, some detail on your tournavoz. Keep up the excellent work!

Max

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Max Bishop
Brighton, Michigan

Love the subdued look with the maple. Nice wheat!
I stopped numbering instruments so I never worried about #13, whichever one that was...

Thanks for the kind words everyone!

Bob, the improvement in tone over the FE17 exploration is primarily in the bass, which is just as profound but crisper on this guitar. The FE17 had a deep bass but was more airy.

"La Suerte" The Lucky, is a name that came to me to dispel any superstitions that may come along due to its being number 13. I was going to call it "La Chanceuse", my wife being French and all, but this is a Spanish guitar, after all...

Max, as you must know, the tornavoz is quite controversial. Some disparage and ridicule it as being a novelty, trick, or merely an antiquated curiosity. Whatever. The FE17 and FE19 HAD them, so with that in mind I am including them in these guitars as part of my researches. I have received some vital and very much appreciated help offered to me from Gerhard Oldiges. Any success that I have achieved is due to his kind aid. The tornavoz in this guitar is the spare carbon fiber one that I made during the FE17 exploration, but with the copper lining, as seen in the photo. It is made to the dimensions provided by Romanillos in his documentations of FE19.

Filippo, I greatly appreciate the imagery that you have conceived. I fell that to really pull this off I would require the assistance of a lovely model who can play the guitar well, as well as the perfect location! I'll have to work on this and will post the results if ever achieved!

Ken, yes sugar Maple. I have one more sister set that I plan on using for a full on FE17. But the detail work on that one! Yikes!

The SE117 plans are available in the Courtnall book, as well as from LMI. If you build it, use Spruce.

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

Hi Doug

Beautiful work!
Did you also leave out the lower harmonic bar on the "La Suerte" too? (like the FE17 you did last time)
The plan I had (from Romanillos book) did have the lower harmonic bar (with open aperture)

Another question is how did you manage to remove the caul after you have closed the back?

Sen

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Sen CL Goh
http://senguitar.blogspot.com

Doug,

Stunning instrument! Sorry if I missed it all the posts and replies but, what did you use for finish. I love how it turned out.

Congratulations!

_Mike

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_Mike Tracz
MCT Guitars
https://www.instagram.com/mustcreatethings/
https://www.youtube.com/mustcreatethings

Hi Sen,

Yes, I did build it the same way. You can see that in the previous post to yours.

The caul! Yikes. I thought that I was being so clever with that. On the FE17 build I used only the props with the strings. Well, the props came out nice enough, but then the caul...I eventually did get it out, but in three pieces!!!! How many times can you call yourself a short sighted idot before your face is sore from all of the slapping? Best just settle to the task.

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

MIke, Shellac for the top, shellac over a sealer coat of Epiphanes varnish for the rest. The varnish sets the colour of the maple just nice. I tried a sample piece of this maple with just shellac and it wasn't so rich. Also, I left the maple to ixidize in the light and air of the shop for awhile, then very lightly sanded it. The natural darkening that exposed wood experiences was just enough to accentuate the flame, the slight sanding lightened select areas. I am happy with the result, too!

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

Haha, well at least the caul got out finally.
The strings and the support stick (without the caul) was a neat trick though.

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Sen CL Goh
http://senguitar.blogspot.com