ordered wood today...

[Brian Evans]

So I guess I am building some guitars this fall. Planning is started on two builds. I ordered from a new supplier to me, Bow River Woods, mostly because they are in Canada, sell in CDN bucks and have free shipping anywhere in Canada. For a Canadian, these are nice things. They have a nice on-line store with pictures of each specific wood set, which is nice and seems to be the coming thing.

I got two Engleman tops, one Professional Grade +, whatever that means, and one Grade 1A. I got one back and side set, absolutely stunning quilted maple. The plan is to build one traditional non-cutaway archtop, 17", with the maple and the better top, and build one nylon string fan braced archtop with the other top and locally sourced wood, an interesting hardwood of some nice but dark colour. Maybe Mahogany. If the nylon string guitar works I will probably give it to a friend of mine who is a very good jazz player who plays highly improvisational music and composes weird stuff for classical guitar. I am looking at putting a Barbera transducer pickup in it, after I found out that is what Benedetto puts in his nylon string guitars.

Questions that remain are largely what to use for the necks. I am leaning towards a Spanish Cedar neck for the nylon string, which I am going to build as light as I dare, but I don't know what to use for the maple (other than maple, I guess). And all the fittings, bindings, purflings and everything else...

Brian

[Barry Daniels]

Very ambitious. I recommend completing one guitar before starting the second because you will learn a lot from the first one that will benefit the second, even though they are very different designs.

[Brian Evans]

The advice seems to go both ways - do batches, do one at a time. In this case, I will be doing them one at a time, but in phases - carve both tops to a certain stage, then backs, then move towards finishing, bending both rims at the same general time will help a lot (I tend to get into a rhythm with sides). I am really looking forward to this, the wood has shipped! There are so many stages in guitar construction, particularly archtop, where simply setting up for the work takes a day or two. At least for me....

[Gordon Bellerose]

I've bought wood from Bow River and they are great to deal with.
That was before the online store, and they sent me pics of 3 or 4 sets by email.
When I got the wood I was very impressed, especially with the maple.

I didn't realize you were from Canada. May I ask where?
I'm from Edmonton.

[Brian Evans]

I'm in Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia. Edit: I added that to the name block, sorry I didn't think of that earlier. I think it's nice to know where people are at!