# milled walnut



## slabmaster (Mar 30, 2008)

Here is a guitar i am making out of some walnut i mill a couple years ago.


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## Mizer (Mar 11, 2010)

Very nice! Looks like you are getting close to putting on a finish. It would also be nice to see a couple more pics of it.


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## slabmaster (Mar 30, 2008)

*walnut*

Yes, I'm getting ready to put a french polish on this one. It has a cedar top, ash bridge and maple fretboard.I have more pictures but can't post them on this computer. I used another one to post that picture. I'm troubleshooting to find out why my computer won't respond when i click on to the manage attachments box to post pictures. When i do i only get a red stopsign with a hand in the middle. Most my guitars are built with wood i milled from my 2 wood lots. I will post more pictures of my guitars when i get this problem corrected.


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## slabmaster (Mar 30, 2008)

*more pictures*

Here is the other side of the walnut guitar.


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## cody.sheridan-2008 (May 23, 2010)

Awesome work man! I have always considered making a guitar but the problem is it would just sit in a corner!

It may be worth putting some pics up in the project showcase section.


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

That is awesome. I love it. Please be sure to post pictures when you get the finish on it. Heck, give us a link to how the guitar sounds. Great job so far man.
Ken


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## slabmaster (Mar 30, 2008)

*guitar*

I'll be sure to post more pictures when it's strung up. There's no greater pleasure than hearing them sing for the first time even though they get better with age. There is no way to get the real sound produced from a guitar on a recording. They really have to be heard in real life to get the real sound produced from them. But i can tell you that all of the ones i have built so far have exceeded any factory made guitars i've played and that's why i build them by hand.


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## Ledhead (Aug 3, 2009)

I can't wait to see it all finished. This obviously isn't your first guitar, it looks fantastic so far. Do you build them for yourself or to sell?


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## TexasTimbers (Oct 17, 2006)

It's a beauty for sure. I'm with the others about looking forward to seeing the finish. I also noticed the piece in the background. I have no idea what it is but it looks interesting - is it some type of instrument also? 






















.


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## splinter2 (Dec 5, 2009)

Man that is Beautiful, My Son would love to play it, as he's play's he has several Taylor being his Latest one....


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## slabmaster (Mar 30, 2008)

*guitar*

The piece in the background is another neck for another guitar i'm building. Actually i'm finishing up 5 guitars that i have been building since last winter. 2 ash, 2 walnut, and 1 curly maple bodied guitars.


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## djg (Dec 24, 2009)

Very nice. I like the way you used the sap wood. I'm guessing that's air dried walnut? My understanding is kiln dried lumber converts walnut sap wood to dark brown. Maybe not all forms of kiln drying though.
The amount of talent it takes to may something like that, it simply amazes me. If I tried to make one it probably would come out like Tiny Tim's :laughing:.


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## slabmaster (Mar 30, 2008)

*walnut guitar*



djg said:


> Very nice. I like the way you used the sap wood. I'm guessing that's air dried walnut? My understanding is kiln dried lumber converts walnut sap wood to dark brown. Maybe not all forms of kiln drying though.
> The amount of talent it takes to may something like that, it simply amazes me. If I tried to make one it probably would come out like Tiny Tim's :laughing:.


 Yes, it's air dried walnut. I like the sapwood contrast on alot of my guitars as most are built on a Native American Theme. I also build flutes out of the trees i fell. To get the good white sapwood on my boards, i mill them as soon as the tree is felled.I find that the longer the log sits after felling, the more brown the sapwood becomes.Probably the tannic acid reaction that walnut has plenty of. I wil be looking to sell guitars by commision next fall and they will be taylored for the buyer as far as shape, sound and wood sellection goes. Thanks for the complements everyone!:smile:


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## H. A. S. (Sep 23, 2010)

VERY sharp! I made a few solid body basses, back a hundred years ago, didn't have the patience to make acoustics. Hardest part for me was getting the frets perfect, but then again; they're never really perfect.:thumbsup:


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## Rick C. (Dec 17, 2008)

WOW:thumbsup:, I've been considering building my own simply because I'm a southpaw and finding what I want at a reasonable price is hard. I looked at kits and all those were for right handers.Beautiful work


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## slabmaster (Mar 30, 2008)

Rick C. said:


> WOW:thumbsup:, I've been considering building my own simply because I'm a southpaw and finding what I want at a reasonable price is hard. I looked at kits and all those were for right handers.Beautiful work


 Thanks Rick. With acoustic guitars there isn't any difference on the construction except the 2 braces behind the bridge and they just need to be reversed. If you get a kit, it can be done real easy. I've never built from a kit so i don't know if those braces are pre-glued or not but if they are, they can be heated and removed from there location and reinstalled. You might want to give it a shot.


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## djg (Dec 24, 2009)

Two more questions. Do you have any stability issues with air dried lumber? and 2, I was wondering if the finished instrument would have a mellower sound because of the extra moisture in air dried lumber vs. kiln dried? Maybe no difference, but it seems to me that drier lumber would produce a harsher sound.


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## slabmaster (Mar 30, 2008)

*air dried lumber*



djg said:


> Two more questions. Do you have any stability issues with air dried lumber? and 2, I was wondering if the finished instrument would have a mellower sound because of the extra moisture in air dried lumber vs. kiln dried? Maybe no difference, but it seems to me that drier lumber would produce a harsher sound.


 Air dried lumber seems to be the most perfered lumber for instrument building. Probably because of the tone transmitted through the cells on air dried wood. When the wood cells are dried faster with kiln dried lumber, they are not as desirable as far as the tone produced by them. Stability is relative as the wood used for guitars is real thin and reaches acclimation real fast to the humidity that the guitar is built in.I keep my shop right at 45 percent when building the box which is very important for as far as stibility goes.


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