1995 neck mahogany

1995 Model 0 with Brazilian rosewood back

Old dark dense mahogany

Honduras rosewood

Information about St Luke’s Hospice here:  https://www.stlukeshospice.org.uk/

Truss-rods can fail. Sometimes because of over-tightening, sometimes when the hexagonal keyway has been rounded (with an undersized or worn allen key), sometimes when they rust and seize after being kept in damp conditions, and sometimes because they were under-engineered in the first place.  And sometimes for no obvious reason.

I now grease all truss-rod threads, so that even should the guitar be kept in damp conditions (which of course it shouldn’t for several reasons), the threads should not rust. And should turn more easily in all conditions.

Daniel Clark recently sent me his 1989 Model 1 guitar with a non-functioning truss-rod.  This truss-rod was made of a steel rod in an aluminium channel, as were most at the time of building. One end of the rod is fixed to the end of the channel, the other is threaded with a long Allen nut working against the other end of the channel.

Tightening the long nut against the threaded end of the rod shortens it, and as the channel is of fixed length, the channel has to curve. Because the truss-rod is tightly enclosed, it bends in its entirety with the longer channel back to the outside of the shorter rod, bending the neck with it.

Old type steel and aluminium truss-rod

Modern truss-rods are simpler and more compact.  The rod is threaded at both ends, one standard and one reverse thread, and runs through long nuts attached to each end of a narrow flat steel bar. So turning the rod (with an Allen key in the rounded end) one way shortens it (and the other way lengthens it) against the fixed length bar, thus bending it.

Not only does this have less work to do (not having to bend the sides of the channel), it also eliminates the problem caused by different expansion rates of steel and aluminium. It also permits pulling the neck forward if required.

Modern double action all steel truss-rod

When Daniel’s guitar arrived, turning the long Allen nut was effortless but had no effect.  So the truss-rod had to come out.

The standard procedure is to remove the fingerboard (complete with frets), so the truss-rod can be changed, replacing the fingerboard afterwards.  My problem with this method  is that it damages the finish, not only between the fingerboard and the neck but also, more importantly, between the upper portion of the fingerboard and the soundboard. Touching up old finish on a soundboard is a problem, it will always show.  So I decided on a different method.

Rather than remove the whole fingerboard, I take out the frets and cut a slot in the fingerboard above the truss-rod so I can remove and replace it. I do this with a router mounted on a simple plywood jig.

1. Here is the jig mounted over the fingerboard.  I removed the frets and routed out the area above the broken truss rod, enabling me to lever it out. The mahogany neck is visible at the bottom of the slot. The old truss-rod is alongside.

4. I trimmed the ebony insert down to match the level of the existing fingerboard, cut the fret slots in it, and replaced the centre Mother of Pearl dots.

5. The old frets were worn, so after checking the fretboard is level, I replaced them with Evo Gold fretwire.  This is much harder than the original nickel silver and will last much longer without pitting.

6. Now strung up, it needed just a tweak on the truss-rod, and it’s perfect.  The only way the repair shows is that the new ebony is a little blacker than the original, but a quick oiling minimizes even this. With the 3rd and 4th strings over the joins, it is almost impossible to see. And no damage to the finish.

Click on the image to see a larger version.

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Douglas Fir is a lovely honey coloured softwood.  When close grained, it makes excellent guitar soundboards. These give a strong, characterful bass and a clear treble.  Being light and stiff, Douglas Fir also makes excellent brace wood.  Here are rough cut bracewood pieces resting just above my warm workshop stove.

It has been suggested that when Stradivari first set up building violins he was short of well seasoned spruce (he will have used Italian spruce coming from the north), so put less seasoned wood into his chimney, letting the hot fumes ran past the face of the soundboard wood and drying it reasonably quickly. Kilned wood is dried much faster by high temperatures which changes the chemistry of the wood in a way air drying and the relatively slow drying in the passing warm fumes from a stove or fire do not.

I should add, I don’t know how reliable the Stradivari theory is.

When having a classical guitar built (in a time before I was building instruments), the sides picked were hanging in front of a radiator, so drying in a similar fashion.

Having bought three blocks of Douglas Fir for braces, I cut the first into slightly oversize pieces, taped them together and placed them on my warm workshop stove, left on day and night. They were edge on to the heat, allowing the warm air to run past the face of each brace in much the same way as Stradivari is thought to have dried his spruce.

After a few weeks, the wood is dry and resonant, ringing beautifully when tapped.

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A new instrument is begun long before its actual build.  This Anniversary D model guitar will be built several months from now, but the soundboard and back will be braced and set aside in advance.

Here is the Douglas Fir soundboard with ebony logo inlaid, and also shown is the headstock with it’s Birdseye maple logo.

Hexham is a delightful small market town. One of its charms is a group of knitted toys on the market square post box, regularly replaced with a new set.  It says something about Hexham that these toys stay out day and night unmolested.

Today’s selection

This weekend is the second Hexham Bluegrass festival weekend.  Light rain on and off, but the bandstand in the Abbey Grounds is a great setting whatever the weather.  These photos were taken not long after they set up, plenty more people arriving later.

The Saturday Bandstand session opened with the Byker Hillbillies

German spruce soundboard

As well as the Douglas Fir/Brazilian rosewood guitar below, I am also selling a development New World guitar.

It has back and sides of Katalox, also known as Mexican Ebony.  I came across it when visiting Keystone Guitar Tonewoods in Essex a dozen or so years ago.  I was intrigued by its ringing tap tone and close grained dark appearance, so bought a couple of sets.  They sat on a shelf in my warm shop, air-drying and half forgotten for over a decade, until last year when I took them down, tapped them again, and couldn’t resist building one into a guitar.

The soundboard is close grained German spruce, with my inlaid ebony logo on the shoulder.

It has my preferred Highlander pickup fitted.

I strung the New World guitar in November 2023 and was captivated by the rich, smooth and even sound. The bass is strong and smooth, the treble strong and clear without a hint of edginess.  I love it; this is a guitar for life.

I shall build more Katalox guitars, though it can be hard to find.  I found only two sets on offer in Europe and bought them both.  So I now have another three sets.

Katalox has another advantage: it isn’t listed on any CITES appendix so exporting is easier.

Katalox back and sides

Specification New World K

Price

The New World K is priced as a New World African Blackwood at £11,250.00. While unmarked, it has been with me for seven months so the cost is £10,500.00 including Hiscox Artist Line case and Highlander pickup.

US price is $15,000 including shipping and insurance.  Katalox is not CITES listed so shipping is straightforward.  As with the Douglas Fir MS, this is an opportunity to buy from me without the usual wait.