 |
My first guitar is still a delight. Plays and sounds great, giving credit to the extremely tight grain in the center of the sitka spruce top. Almost too tight to even count. Very nice action and intonation. Also, credit to Bill Davis and Anthony Huvard, my mentors, instructors, (Tony, founder) of the Northwest School of Instrument Design. The walnut was a treat to find for my first guitar. The fingerboard and bridge are East Indian rosewood. The bridge tie block is ivory bound and repeats the marquetry inlaid around the soundhole. The Tru Oil (gun stock varnish) finish continues to display the natural beauty of the woods after 34 years.
Some other links at the Hollow Road Guitar Shop, Chuck's Instrument Website:
|
| Check out the density and vertical grain of the growth rings in the quartersawn sitka spruce (below left). See page Classical Guitar: Rosewood with Heart Rosette (Summer 1982). for a tidbit on making marquetry and rosette. On the inside, a 2mm ring of spruce reinforces the mortice, with grain running perpendicular to the grain in the top. The rigid soundhole helps your sound come out like "flat smoke rings" instead of "wobbling smoke rings." I also tried my first hand at inlay with the relief in walnut "DeHart" signature inlaid into the curly maple faceplate (below right). |
 |
 |
| The sides and backs are crafted from walnut (below left). Walnut bindings with maple purflings help to show and protect this beautiful wood. The heel is a Spanish footer, i.e., the sides fit into slots cut into a solid block of wood. The heel is especially fun to carve before gluing in the sides. Below right, a very old photo of the braceworks inside the guitar. |
 |
 |