News 2005

Occasional news about new instruments and anything else that may be of interest.

December 28th 2005

Scantling guitar completed

Here are pictures of the Martin Simpson Signature model guitar built with the scantling Brazilian shown in the August 14th news item.

Here are three Martin Simpson signature models. The new scantling guitar is on the left, Martin's present guitar is in the middle, and the experimental guitar with revised bracing, the first spatula bridge and tulipwood binding (as mentioned in News June 24 th of this year) is on the right.

September 9th 2005

Adirondack guitar - Available now

I am now ready to sell the Adirondack guitar as featured in this news page. Information and pictures can be found on my 'available now' page.

August 14th 2005

Scantling preparation

I'm cutting and joining back and sides for another scantling Brazilian rosewood guitar (see news item on scantling Brazilian rosewood February 2004).

From a selection of scantlings I choose likely pieces for back and sides. Here two slices have been cut for the back, the rest are not yet cut. The uncut scantling is dark brown, but the cut pieces are showing pink figuring. Some scantlings turn out to be coloured inside, usually pink or orange or both, others stay brown all the way through.
	Here the back scantling is cut into seven pieces. The side was chalked before cutting so as to make it easy to re-assemble the pieces into their original order.
Six pieces will be used to make the back; here they are laid out in the pattern in which I plan to use them (with the seventh piece laid across the top).
	This is the back showing the wood trimmed and joined around a centre strip (in this case the Simpson model ebony strip with white and red purfling). This gives the appearance of a two piece back. Also shown are the two halves of a matching scantling side ready to be glued up. The back and sides will later be machine sanded to their final thickness.

August 4th 2005

Bridge building

Each guitar has its own dedicated bridge specially built for it. Here is the procedure, showing the building and shaping of my experimental spatula bridge.

	Stage 1. Ebony blank cut to shape and curve of soundboard scribed onto it.
Stage 2. Base of bridge hand-shaped exactly to fit curve of soundboard.
	Stage 3. Bridge lowered to final height and pin holes drilled. The outside holes go right through, the inner four are blind to avoid glue rising through when the bridge is glued to the soundboard. Saddle slot positions are marked out ready for routing.
Stage 4. Routing the saddle slots. Two piece saddles give better intonation over all 6 strings. Highly complex dust extraction system (vacuum cleaner nozzle) visible behind router.
	Stage 5. Both saddle slots having been routed, the semi-circular Highlander pickup housing slot is being cut with a small round-bottomed router bit.
Stage 6. The bridge is chiseled and machine sanded into its rough shape.
	Stage 7. Hand sanded through the grades, the bottom adjusted as required so as to fit soundboard exactly. This is the finished bridge as it will be glued to the guitar.

The different guitar bridges are all shaped using the same procedure. Mandolin and cittern bridges are shaped in more or less the same way, but being a less complicated shape, lacking bridge-pin holes and having a one piece saddle, are simpler to make.

June 24th 2005

Experimental instruments

Building development and experimental instruments is an important part of my work. As well as developing new models it leads to improvements in existing instruments and helps keep me motivated and interested.

As a general rule I build with just one major modification (soundboard material in the case of the Adirondack guitar) so as to limit the variables. Too many variables and I don’t know which of them produced any change in sound.

My latest experiment is a Simpson signature model with revised soundboard bracing, currently in the spray booth. On this occasion I’ve broken my ‘only one’ modification rule by changing the bridge to a new shape. This came about because of an idea I had late in the build that I couldn’t resist trying. The new bridge (shown) is designed to work in conjunction with the bracing and to minimize soundboard lift behind the bridge.
I’ve also bound this guitar with tulip wood. This change is purely cosmetic and will have negligible effect on the sound.

Rumours

The internet is a wonderful medium for spreading rumours. I’ve recently heard that my delivery time is many years, and also that I’ve closed my books altogether. As with news of my death a year or two ago, these rumours are exaggerated. I have not closed my order book, delivery is around 12 to 18 months, and as far as I can tell, I’m still alive.

As proof of this last, here I am with the current issue of the internationally read ‘Hexham Courant’.

Clamping cage

For many years now I’ve used a go-bar clamping cage. I first heard of this system being used in the US, though I’ve since heard the idea comes from Japan. Whatever it’s origin, I can’t now imagine building guitars without it.

The flexible sticks press down by being just too long to fit easily into the available height. I have a variety of stick lengths to accommodate different gluing requirements, and I can raise the gluing platform if necessary.

Here is mine in use, clamping braces to a soundboard. The sticks of different lengths are colour coded and stored alongside the jig. The cage is on casters, so can be wheeled away when not in use. The lower part is used for storage.

May 20th 2005

New Albums

Here are 2 new albums featuring Sobell guitars;

March 18th 2005

Adirondack spruce/Brazilian rosewood guitar

In the Yorkshire folk clubs of the late 1960s I came across very few good guitars. When I saw Stefan Grossman play a small club near Harrogate, he had a vintage Martin the like of which I hadn’t seen before. I think now it was a Brazilian rosewood 000, probably an OM. When he first took it out it was unlike any guitar I’d heard; I was astonished. The sound from other guitars around crept out from somewhere inside, but this seemed to hit you straight off the sound-board. It was my first experience of what new strings and a really good steel string guitar could do.

After all these years I can’t really say how I’d feel now about Stefan Grossman’s Martin. I’m sure it was a great guitar, but I’ve heard an awful lot more good guitars since, and I’d be putting it in a different context. But I can say that the moment I first strung and played this Adirondack guitar, for the first time in decades my mind went straight back to that evening in Yorkshire and the sound I heard there.

My idea in building this guitar, as mentioned in previous bulletins, was to get the classic American sound but with added presence and sustain. I think it does this, and I love it.

Experimentation

New ideas don’t always turn out the way you expect, however experienced you may be. A year or two ago I built an experimental soundboard braced using ideas taken from classical guitar construction, which was so successful I immediately removed and replaced it. But as often happens, finding out what doesn’t work helps you find what does, and in this case the lessons learnt led to the very different bracing system that works so well on the Martin Simpson signature model.

Cocobolo for backs and sides Here are cocobolo sets just arrived, bound and lathed. They’ve been cut to make four piece backs so they can be fully quarter sawn; had I cut them for two piece backs, they would have been well off the quarter towards the edges. Cocobolo is a central American rosewood. It gives a dark, clear bass with good separation right across the strings. It has some of the tonal qualities of Brazilian rosewood. Its appearance varies, this looks great.
		Cocobolo back and sides on 8 string octave mandolin

February 21st 2005

Revised Octave Mandolins and Bouzoukis Today I strung up my latest large bodied octave mandolin, with German spruce top and cocobolo back and sides. It is constructed with my modified neck joint. This can be identified by the fingerboard continuing almost to the sound-hole rather than finishing a centimetre or so back. I have also changed the body shape just a little. The curve leading towards the tail is gentler and the line leading up to the neck is a little more curved. The body is now a little less pear shaped and a little more apple shaped than before.     Cutaway Model 1 Here are Model 1 cutaway sides in the mould. The little knot visible on the left is not a problem as long as it occurs on a straight rather than on a curve. The sides have to be marked out bearing this in mind.   Left handed Parlour guitar Here it is strung and ready to go. Pictures of the front are reversed to show a right-handed guitar (and left-handed case!). The green tint is visible only in natural light and sometimes photography flash light, and is a reaction between Brazilian rosewood and the melamine lacquer.

January 3rd 2005

Adirondack Spruce

Many of the the famous classic US steel string guitars were built with Adirondack spruce soundboards. As it became harder to source, most guitar factories replaced it with the cheaper and readily available Sitka.

Adirondack is stiffer than both Sitka and European spruce and could suit my designs well. Although relatively expensive and difficult to find in suitable widths, it is still available and I’m building an experimental guitar with and Adirondack spruce soundboard.

This guitar will have old Brazilian rosewood back and sides, and a figured Honduras mahogany neck. Because I feel the greater soundboard area will suit the stiffer spruce, I’m building it in my Martin Simpson signature model mould. It be fitted with rosewood binding and birdsfoot and colours trim. Here are the back and sides, first ready to be glued together, and then glued and clamped, and finally fully lined ready for the soundboard

Parlour guitar

This is now lacquered. It’s waiting for final buffing, then the bridge will be glued on and it can be strung up. After which I have only to find a left handed guitarist to play it before I ship it to Alex.