Maple Guitar

[Rob Luter]

Mark Crenshaw has been posting some really nice guitars so I thought I'd throw mine up. I made it in 1983 as a Senior Project in college (Industrial Design Major) I got an "A"! The body is a single piece of Maple I got at a lumber yard in Kalamazoo. The neck is a castoff from the old Gibson Guitar factory. All the hardware was salvaged from a late '60s Gibson Les Paul model. The pickguard and truss rod cover are Birch.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2781/4345854769_c6abb22f42_b.jpg

[Hans Braul]

Sweet! I trust the frets are slightly worn from much playing?

[Rob Luter]

Surprisingly not. They wear very well. It has a few other playmates that get some attention too.

[David Christopher]

very nice Rob, Ive built a few in my day too

[John Thompson]

Though not into musical instruments of any nature personally... very nice looking guitar.

[Jim Becker]

The maple in that body is really "wow"...nice work!

[Bill Wyko]

Awesome job you've done there.

My BIL's father builds acoustic guitars, they sound better than anything I've ever heard. Funny thing is, he can't play.:eek: His sons are in a band though and play incredibly well. :D

[David Keller NC]

This is the quote that really got my attention "All the hardware was salvaged from a late '60s Gibson Les Paul model."

Interesting how times change, eh? I suspect none of us would even consider the possibility of salvaging any hardware off of a late 60's Gibson Les Paul - because even a beat up one is worth thousands.

[Rob Luter]

I know what you mean Dave. At the time I was living in Kalamazoo, where the Les Pauls were originally made. Surplus/used Gibson pickups and hardware used to be as common in Kalamazoo as Stanley #4 planes are in New England. I'd see the stuff at garage sales all the time. The pickups and bridge/tailpiece on this guitar came from a '69 Les Paul Deluxe like this:

http://z.about.com/w/experts/Electric-Guitars-3419/2009/08/Les-Paul-Deluxe.jpg
A guy had "improved" it by routing it out for full size humbucking pickups and changing it to Gold plated hardware. Many of the Deluxes were routed out that way, so much so that finding one from that era with original Mini-humbuckers is a rare treat.

[Mark Crenshaw]

Hey Rob. Very nice guitar! A testament to your craftsmanship is that it still looks great 27 years later...I bet it's developed it's own unique voice over the years...having the vintage Gibson parts and all. Solid maple is unique, too.

Nice job on the wooden accessories...bet there weren't many guys doing that back in the day.

Any chance we could hear how it sounds? Please? More pics maybe?

Peace,
Mark

[Rob Luter]

Hey Rob. Very nice guitar! A testament to your craftsmanship is that it still looks great 27 years later...I bet it's developed it's own unique voice over the years...having the vintage Gibson parts and all. Solid maple is unique, too.

Nice job on the wooden accessories...bet there weren't many guys doing that back in the day.

Any chance we could hear how it sounds? Please? More pics maybe?

Peace,
Mark

Thanks for the kind words. I really don't have the means to make and post a recording, but I can tell you it's quite bright. Maple neck, body, and fingerboard makes for a pretty spanky sort of sound. Add the bright Mini Humbuckers and it's a bit like a Telecaster on steroids and without the hum. I need to start playing it more. I pulled it out of the closet to take the pic after seeing your handywork. I've got some other "factory made" instruments that are my daily players (shown below). I'd take some more shots but I'm afraid if you saw the "craftsmanship" close up I'd lose all credibility! When I made it I was a poverty stricken college student living in married student housing. I didn't have a shop or own any woodworking tools. I begged a little shop time at the school and made do with the stuff they had. A drill press and forstener bit was used as a router substitute. The body was cut out on a band saw and the shaping was done with rasps and a stationary belt sander. I can't tell you how long it took to get it all smoothed out.

Now that I've got a decent shop set up at home I've been tempted to make a Telecaster clone. I'd like to have a set neck version with P90s (like I really need another guitar).

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3599/3562739066_95d951ebba_b.jpg

[David Keller NC]

Wow - Nice hollow bodies. I suspect that some of the creekers that are reluctant to buy even mid-range tools would get some serious sticker shock when they heard what one of those cost. To say nothing of the high-end ones. There's a maker that I can't recall at the moment that had the reputation of "best in the world" before he passed away about 10 years ago. An example of his work goes for right around what a modest house in the burbs costs.

[David Christopher]

Rob, you have some beautiful guitars....heres a few of mine
I made the ones on the bottom except for the country gent in the middle

[Rob Luter]

Rob, you have some beautiful guitars....heres a few of mine
I made the ones on the bottom except for the country gent in the middle

Nice stuff! I had a Strat just like the Ivory one at left. Regrettably it was stolen from my home in a break-in last spring.



Wow - Nice hollow bodies. I suspect that some of the creekers that are reluctant to buy even mid-range tools would get some serious sticker shock when they heard what one of those cost. To say nothing of the high-end ones. There's a maker that I can't recall at the moment that had the reputation of "best in the world" before he passed away about 10 years ago. An example of his work goes for right around what a modest house in the burbs costs.

Thanks. Professional grade instruments have gotten completely out of hand lately. I was fortunate to get some pretty good deals on mine. When the economy was booming the prices on guitars went with it. A new Les Paul costs 2 to 3 times what it did in the early 1990s and hollowbody archtops can get completely out of hand. One manufacturer bucking the trend is Heritage Guitar of Kalamazoo. These are former Gibson guys who chose not to relocate to Nashville. They build them like they did "back in the day" at the old Gibson Parsons Street Plant. They are suprisingly affordable, um, in relative terms.

[David Christopher]

Rob, what style music do you play ??? maybe Chet ??

[David Keller NC]

Rob - I remember what the guy's name is now - D'Angelico, and his apprentice, D'Aquisto. It's one case where the apprentice (D'Aquisto) is considered to have eclipsed the master in capabilities. A few of the one-off, totally hand-made D'Aquistos from the late 1980's and early 1990's have recently exceeded $150,000 in the collecter's market.

I did take a look at Heritage's site. For whatever reason, they don't list prices for their hollow-bodies, but I'm assuming that they're well in excess of $4,000 each.

[Rob Luter]

Rob - I remember what the guy's name is now - D'Angelico, and his apprentice, D'Aquisto. It's one case where the apprentice (D'Aquisto) is considered to have eclipsed the master in capabilities. A few of the one-off, totally hand-made D'Aquistos from the late 1980's and early 1990's have recently exceeded $150,000 in the collecter's market.

I did take a look at Heritage's site. For whatever reason, they don't list prices for their hollow-bodies, but I'm assuming that they're well in excess of $4,000 each.

John D'Angelico and Jimmy D'Aquisto made some sweet stuff. Nothing that a mere mortal like me is worthy of using.

Heritage goes to market through dealers and they don't show prices on their website. Wolfe Guitars in Florida is one of their largest dealers and has some prices on his site. You can easily get into a Heritage archtop for under $4K.

[Rob Luter]

Rob, what style music do you play ??? maybe Chet ??

Chet is one of my favorites, but Travis style picking kicks my butt. My personal style tends to lean towards blues, something like a blend of poorly executed Freddie King and Robben Ford combined with 60's and 70's rock and roll :o. Like I tell my on-line guitar buddies: Compared to most of you I suck at guitar, but I'm working hard and sucking a little less every day. It's tough to find time to practice and tougher to find guys my age that want to jam occasionally.

[Brad Westcott]

I have been helping a buddy with his acoustic guitar.

I had no idea that there are SO MANY specialty tools for this kind of work.

I could go into the poor house trying to pay for all the tools required.

Nice work, by the way. I love the wood body!