First Acoustic finally finished

[Barry Rowland]

Modeled after an OM-14 Martin.

This started out as a flat pile of wood and the plans from
luthiers forum.

The neck was pre-shaped but I still had to shape the
headstock, profile neck and sand to finish. And the ebony
bridge was a cnc unit.

Indian rosewood for back and sides.
Carpathian spruce for the top.
Ebony for bridge, fingerboard, and headstock.
Mahogany neck, with 2 carbon fiber inserts for stiffness.
Red heart pearl rosette inlay.
White pearl for fingerboard fret markers and "R" in the headstock.
Tiger stripe maple for bindings, back inlay, and body tail piece inlay.
Stitka Spruce for all internal bracing.
Hide glue every where, except for the fingerboard and back,
front and side box glue up.
Z-poxy 30 min epoxy for wood filler.
8 coats of Tru-oil varnish, polished out with buffing wheel.

8 months to build.....whew!!!

http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/3722/om1infrtstandingshp3596ud9.jpg

http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/5605/om1outbakreflect1shp355sv9.jpg

http://img212.imageshack.us/img212/5285/om1outtailshp3565vi0.jpg

http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/4282/om1outhdstksideangleshpvf6.jpg

http://img212.imageshack.us/img212/4676/om1infrtshp3596rb3.jpg

http://img519.imageshack.us/img519/728/om1inbakshp3596lu6.jpg

http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/1407/om1inbaksideshp3594iw5.jpg



Working on a Dreadnought style now.

[Larry Fox]

WOW!!!! That is incredible. That may very well be the finest gloss finish I have ever seen - very nicely done.

[glenn bradley]

Very nice looking instrument. Great details. Did you build your own forms for the bending?

[alex grams]

The only thing I can say about that is 'awesome'.

I would love to see some pics of the process.

Where were your major bottlenecks? Did you have any pieces that came out wrong you had to do over? Very very impressive.

[Stephen Ash]

That is spectacular! I'd also like to see some build pix if they're available. And... does it sound as nice as it looks?

-Steve

[Mark Hulette]

When are going to polish it? :D:D:D

Extremely nice work! Maybe some day it will be the 'in' thing in Nashville to have a "Rowland"!! Thanks for sharing.

[Tony Cox]

That looks wonderful. You should feel proud everytime you pick it up to play.

[Jacob Griffith]

Excellent work.....what satisfaction you must have!

[J. Z. Guest]

It sure is beautiful.

How does it sound. Can you post a sound clip?

[Eric Roberge]

Barry,
You should be very proud! :)
Thanks for sharing your finished project, looks phenomenal!
E-

[Michael Sobik]

That is just beautiful. Congratulations on finishing up such a great guitar.

[John Thompson]

Beautiful... that kid on American Idol that has the guitar probably could use that to dress himself up a bit. The guitar might get him a few extra votes. :)

Sarge..

[Jim Kountz]

Looks like an excellent job you did on this guitar, the finish is amazing and your binding and inlay work if perfect. True test of course is tone, how does it sound? I would be very interested in seeing the dreadnought when you get it built too.
Fantastic job!!

[Jim Becker]

Wow...beautiful work!

[Christopher Stahl]

I love it. Excellent work! I keep wanting to build an acoustic guitar, one of these days.

[Jeffrey Makiel]

Making musical instruments is well beyond my capacity. And, your example reinforces my assumption. Well done!

-Jeff :)

[gary Zimmel]

Beautiful craftsmanship Barry. You should be proud.

Thanks for the post.

[Alan Frazier]

Very nice, I just finished building my first acoustic last night.

[Bill Wyko]

Absolutely beautiful job. My BIL's father took a class in Phoenix to build his 3 sons and his daughter guitars. The were amazing. My BIL has an acoustic he bought for over 1k and the one his dad made sounds much better. It seems that when you put your passion in it they just sound better. I'll bet yours is the same way, I'm betting it sounds beautiful.

[Jack Roberts]

OH WOW!! Barry, that is beautiful!

[Roger Gilmore]

wow, I'm speechless

[Marc Casebolt]

Very nice looking work. I know how much labor and love goes into something like that. I watched my son build two of them a few years ago. It takes lots of patience and a strong desire to get it right. I hope it sounds as good as it looks.

Marc

[george wilson]

An excellent job. I don't know how familiar you are with tru oil. I tried it on a violin back in the 70's.The bridge of the violin (the feet of the bridge) sank clear through the finish,squeezing all the tru oil out from under the feet. I assure you,the finish was quite dry. That made me afraid that laying in a case would also print the finish.Tru oil is a very beautiful finish,but I'd avoid it. If you leave your guitar on a stand for long,the stand may sink into the finish.

Also avoid Behlen's Rock Hard varnish. It printed while in a case. I actually talked to a chemist at Behlen's,as to why the varnish wasn't "rock Hard" he told me the varnish wasn't hard. They just gave it that name because it resisted alcohol!! What a load of baloney!! I had to refinish the instrument.

[Jonathan Spool]

Barry,
Very beautiful instument! Are you happy with the tone and action?
That represents a lot of time and work!

[Jim Rimmer]

WOW!!!! I may have to give up woodworking.;)

[Mark Boyette]

wow.. that is truely beautiful. very very nice job!
Body looks like a Taylor 814 with the rosewood and those go for over $3,000. How does she sound? i bet it sounds as good as it looks.
something to be proud of.
Mark.

[Brian Peters]

Absolutely stunning. A true work of art. The finish is beautiful, like glass. What kind of finish did you use? Mind sharing the schedule? Post finishing did you polish it up if so with what? Have any photos of the build and progress along the way. And recommendations to someone that has never built a guitar before how to get started? I have all the tools, cnc router the works to make one but know nothing about making musical instruments, just custom cabinetry and arch. millwork. :p But it has been a long time dream to make one just for the sake of the craft.

[Don Eddard]

Bravo. It looks stunning. Brilliant job.

[Angie Orfanedes]

Great job. Bet it sounds great, too.

[Ken Higginbotham]

Amazing work. Baffles me how you can stay focused for that long :)

[Mike Langford]

Fantastic job Barry.....The fit and finish is superb!

Is it going to be "acoustic only" or will you be installing an under saddle transducer and preamp?

You could install a direct-out transducer (rear strap button/jack) and use an external preamp like the L.R.Braggs Para Acoustic D.I......that way you wouldn't have to cut a large hole in the side of that beautifully finished rosewood!! ;)

Please post us some build pics if you have any........