October 2019 - Dream Guitars

Big Hollow Client Commission!

DG Updates, General Interest Guitar, Handbuilt Guitars, Incoming

Bevan Frost of Big Hollow Guitars is killing it! He recently delivered a commission for our showroom, and is already fast at work on a commission for one of our clients as well.

Big Hollow 00
Top: Moonspruce, master grade
Back & Sides: Cocobolo
Scale Length: 25.4”
Nut Width: 1-3/4”
String Spacing at bridge: 2-5/16”
Fretwire: Gold EVO
Pickguard: Tigerstripe Celluloid
Finish: Natural
Bridge: Pyramid
Trim: Bloodwood and bold herringbone
Headstock: Slotted with Bird’s Beak
Headstock Inlay: Big Hollow Girl
Headstock Veneer: Cocobolo
Fretboard and bridge: Cocobolo
Pins: Cocobolo
Neck Profile: Medium C, on the slender side
Inlay dots: side and front, 3,5,7,9 12 ( front only)
Case: Ameritage silver series custom fitted
Tuners: Waverly

Bevan: “Here are a couple of shots from the end of the day today. I prepared and glued in the Moonspruce bracing for the back. I also installed the rosette.”

Bevan: “I set the stiffness of the top using the stiffness gauge. This top is stiff, I had to take it down to get the right flex. I cut all my braces out of Moonspruce stock, then glued them on the top. The next day I roughed in the brace carving. Later I will do a final session using the same stiffness gauge to set the stiffness on the top braces. I log the stiffness of each guitar top and use the data to create a benchmark.”

Bevan: “I bend the sides by hand on the iron in the background, but only pretty close to the shape. Then I load the sides in to my bending form, heat them up to 300 degrees, and then let them cool on the form and set to shape. I glue in the braces a bit oversize and then remove material using hand planes until the plate acts like it should. First snow here has lasted about four days. I don’t think the stuff in the shade will melt.”

11/12/19 Updates!

*“I use the thermostat controlled bending iron to get the sides bent 90% of the way”*

*“And then I bake them on a form. The metal helps to make the wood bend cylindrically, without waviness.”*

*“Then the sides get placed in this form, and marked and trimmed for length.”*

*“Headstock overlay. I made this from the same board as the fretboard, so the grain lines are continuous across the nut.”*

*“Cutting the end graft mortise. I use a similar jig for the neck mortise.”*

*“Binding taped in place to mark for length.”*

*“First look at the instrument yields satisfaction. Just add binding.”*

“The binding and purfling are bent by hand to the curves. Often the binding channel needs adjustment after routing, which I do with scrapers and cutters. It can be a bit of a runaround to get the mitered purling lines just right.”

*“But when they are right, they’re right!”*

*“the end graft must be precisely trimmed to length and the adjacent purfling lines get mitered with the outer corner of a chisel.”*

“After the joints all fit the binding and purfling is glued on in 4″-6″ sections. The back binding must be marked and trimmed to length in place, an operation with no room for error on the short side.”

*“A slight scraping yields a fresh face and confirms the binding is installed correctly, as it allows one to see any unclosed gaps.”*

*“4 for 4 on these miters! It didn’t even feel fussy, just flowed right out.”*

*“Closing a couple gaps on the back binding.”*

1/14/20 Update:

2/11/20 Update:

3/10/20 Update!

October 31, 2019/by Logan Wells

Rolling in the Robbins: Incoming R.2ca

DG Updates, General Interest Guitar, Handbuilt Guitars, Incoming, Product Announcement, Uncategorized

The latest build from Tyler Robbins is underway! You won’t want to miss this one; every single one of Tyler’s guitars we’ve seen has floored us, and this one has some top-notch tonewoods to carry that even further, to say nothing of his expressive aesthetic.

Back: Brazilian Rosewood
Top: German Spruce
Rosette: Spruce with teal-orange resin, segmented
Arm Bevel: Brazilian Rosewood
Rib Bevel: Brazilian Rosewood
Binding: Black Rocklite
Fretboard: Brazilian Rosewood
Bridge: Brazilian Rosewood
Nut: 1.75″
Saddle Spacing: 2.187″
Scale: 25.5″, 12 fret body join
Neck: One piece Honduran Mahogany, reinforced with carbon rods
Fret Material: Evo gold Fret wire
Tuners: Gold & Black Gotoh 510 mini

October 29, 2019/by Logan Wells

Doubling Down With Max Spohn!

DG Updates, General Interest Guitar, Handbuilt Guitars, Incoming, Product Announcement

German luthier Max Spohn is hard at work on two commissions for our very own Dream Guitars showroom–and for you if you like what you see. Stay tuned as the builds progress. One is Max’s OM model, decked out in Cocobolo and master grade Swiss Moonspruce, and the other is his newly designed, wide-waisted 00 in Madagascar Rosewood and master grade Italian Spruce. See below for full specs on each.

Model: OM
Back and sides: Cocobolo
Top: Master grade Swiss Moonspruce
Neck: Honduran Mahogany
Fretboard: 14th-fret Ebony fingerboard
Bridge: Rocklite pinless
Binding: Rocklite with black/white purfling Saddle, 2 1/4” compensated Bone
Nut: 1 3/4”
Truss-rod: Stainless steel, double action
Headstock Veneer: Spruce with matching inlays
Back of Headstock Veneer: Cocobolo
Tuning Machines: Scheller with Horn buttons
Fingerboard Radius: 20′′
Scale Length: 25”
Cutaway: Florentine
Rosette: Custom Inlay with Horn and Silver Leaf

Here’s Max: “What’s special on this guitar is the material used for the rosette. The horn pieces are from an African cow and coated with silver leaf on the bottom side to bring out its translucency. This is my take on an old technique originally used for tortoise inlays on furniture where the tortoise was underlaid with gold leaf or a shiny red paper to bring out its colors and texture.”

Model: 00 Wide Waist
Back and sides: Madagascar Rosewood
Soundboard: Master grade Italian Spruce
Neck: Honduran Mahogany
Fretboard: 14th-fret Ebony
Bridge: Rocklite pinless
Binding: Rocklite with black/white purfling
Saddle, 2 1/4” compensated Bone
Nut: 1 3/4”
Truss-rod: Stainless steel, double action
Headstock Veneer: Madagascar Rosewood
Back of Headstock veneer: Madagascar Rosewood
Tuning Machines: Scheller with Ebony buttons
Fingerboard Radius: 20′′
Scale Length: 25”
Rosette: Custom Inlay with fossilized Mammoth Bone
End Graft: Fossilized Mammoth Bone

Here’s Max: “This is my new 00 model with a wider waist to enhance the bass response. I love small-bodied guitars because of their comfortable size and intimate sound. Though I wanted a small guitar with the bass response of a much bigger guitar. The material used for the rosette and end graft on this guitar are Fossilized Mammoth Bone I recently came across. I love playing with texture, opacity, and translucency in my inlay work, and this material really shows it. With a brass leaf coat on the bottom side, you can see the interesting structure of the bone which almost looks like a sponge. And the rusty colors perfectly match the color of the Madagascar Rosewood back and sides.”