Wood Amp Cabinets
Some day I’d like to build an all-wood enclosure for my amp. These beautiful cabinets from Matchless, Fuchs, and Mesa/Boogie are really inspiring. Check out the nicely figured hardwoods and dovetailed joinery. Those Matchless speaker grills are really cool too.
These amps are not standard production models, but can be built custom at Mesa/Boogie (and possibly at Matchless too?)
The Fuchs Overdrive Supreme is a 10th anniversary limited model, with only 10 being made.
Building an Acoustic Guitar, part 3
Marc at The Wood Whisperer has posted the final part in the video series Birth of a Guitar, documenting Rick Urschel’s classical guitar project. If you’ve been watching, part 2 ended on a cliffhanger, Rick having mistakenly glued on the fretboard before tapering it. Disaster! This video starts with Ricks laborious fix with Japanese saw, chisel, scraper and sandpaper. Then Rick goes on to shaping the neck with a spokeshave, installing fret wire, and positioning the bridge. The finish starts with pore-filling with pumice, then applying 5 coats of shellac and 5 coats of satin polyurethane. Finally, Rick installs the nut, tuning machines, and uses a fancy vacuum press to glue down the bridge – how cool is that!? You can also see Rick’s homemade walnut guitar stand.
The final result is beautiful, and a testament to Rick’s persistence, patience and determination! This really makes me appreciate how much effort goes into building a handmade guitar. Even after all that effort, there’s some kind of “rogue” harmonic thing going on with the open G string that he was unable to figure out. If you have any ideas, contact him!
Take a look:
Luthier in a Candy Store
In years past, Grizzly had an enormous booth at the NAMM trade show demonstrating all their power tools, table saws, planers, sanders, shapers, etc. While they were absent this year, there was still plenty to excite and inspire.
For the aspiring luthier or woodworker, there’s nothing more appetizing than stacks of gorgeously figured exotic hardwoods.
Unique and Unusual Gear at NAMM
Here’s a few products from this year’s NAMM trade show that were surprising, unique, or just downright silly:
New Guitars From Vox
At this year’s NAMM, Vox announced a series of new guitars. These things look beautiful. They’ll be available in April 2010, pricing TBA.
- Scale Length: 638mm (25.125″)
- No. Of Frets: 22
- Nut Width: 43mm (1.7″)
- Bridge Pickup: Coaxe
- Neck Pickup: Coaxe
- Body: Mahogany
- Top: Ash or Maple (depending on finish)
Update May 18, 2011: Also see my in-depth review of the SSC-33, and for more about the CoAxe pickup system, see my interview with Vox R&D’s Eric Kirkland.
I recorded a short NAMM demo of Freddy DeMarco playing the vintage cream SSC-55 single cutaway through a Vox AC-30 amp. The pickups sound really versatile, the build quality feels superb, and the styling is understated and excellent. Take a look: