verhoevenc Posted April 16, 2006 Report Share Posted April 16, 2006 (edited) So I found this builder who, to my knowledge, not many people know about. The site seems small and self done, he seems to crank out only a small few instruments over time, but none the less I have found him to be extremely inventive in his wood choice, body shapes, techniques, etc. I would thoroughly recommend reading his Bio (boring as that sounds I liked it), almost all the builds in the gallery section have thorough process pics, there's a "modern single cut" (like a teufel) carve tutorial, and there's some just really inventive building, inspiring stuff, and beautiful instruments that from the small scale look of things I don't think many people have gotten to see. So I share with you the man that takes my new "Favorite Luthier" spot: Scott French Some of the things I thought were coolest you can see in his "features" section. They include the "tuning fork" style hollowing that gives little weight, but stability, individual nut elements, and this one guitar that used a body blank that had the treble half as black limba, and the bass half as i think it was cedar? I hope ya'll like it as much as I do. Chris - DO NOT HOT-LINK TO PICS NOT OWNED BY YOU AND ON YOUR OWN SERVER. Use the URL tag instead to provide a link to the pic. Edited April 16, 2006 by Setch Quote Link to comment
brian d Posted April 16, 2006 Report Share Posted April 16, 2006 great site, chris. I love the way he avoids the cavity cover....seems easier than trying to match the grain. Might be a challenge feeding all the electronics through the pickup cavity though. I know that's standard with semi acoustics. btw I couldn't find the carve tutorial you mentioned....where do I find it. Regards, Brian. Quote Link to comment
verhoevenc Posted April 16, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 16, 2006 Yeah, his cavity-less body idea is cool... but if you look at most of the instruments... he doesn't USE the idea? He still has the cavity covers. As for the tut you go to "Gallery->Luthery->Tutorial-Carve Top" but it doesn't have words yet, just pictures. Although he says there will be words soon, although they're not really needed, pretty self explanatory through the photos. Chris Quote Link to comment
Nitefly SA Posted April 16, 2006 Report Share Posted April 16, 2006 http://www.scottfrench.com/?m=Gallery&s=Cu...SS%20Guitar&g=m I really like this design, might have to steal it... cool finish if it werent for the pube burst Quote Link to comment
Setch Posted April 16, 2006 Report Share Posted April 16, 2006 Scott does great work, he posts fairly regularly on the MIMF. Quote Link to comment
verhoevenc Posted April 16, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 16, 2006 You should tell him to transfer over here. The MIMF forum annoys me (the way it's laid out) Chris Quote Link to comment
Setch Posted April 16, 2006 Report Share Posted April 16, 2006 Yeah... because the layout is the important bit right....? Quote Link to comment
verhoevenc Posted April 16, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 16, 2006 but it's so difficult to navigate?! Chris Quote Link to comment
whitey Posted April 16, 2006 Report Share Posted April 16, 2006 (edited) this man is amazing,there must be a small handfull of people who would have thoght of this body layout,compared to the huge group of ''aw no...will i have mahogany?no,maple?no...'' Edited April 17, 2006 by whitey Quote Link to comment
GregP Posted April 17, 2006 Report Share Posted April 17, 2006 I also don't understand the cavity-less design. How does he get at the electronics if they need replacing or upgrading? I can see installing-- put them on the top before gluing, thread the wires through the neck cavity or whatnot... but later upgrades/replacements? Greg Quote Link to comment
thegarehanman Posted April 17, 2006 Report Share Posted April 17, 2006 He probably feeds everything through the humbucker routes. You can't attach the electronics on before gluing the top though, that would raise all sorts of problems when you try finish it. Quote Link to comment
Daniel Sorbera Posted April 17, 2006 Report Share Posted April 17, 2006 On this bass, the nut is the coolest thing i've ever seen. Does anyone know if you can buy those? Or did he make them? Quote Link to comment
fryovanni Posted April 17, 2006 Report Share Posted April 17, 2006 Nifty small shop. I like some of his ideas. It was kinda odd reading that he does not like the use of jigs and routers(or at least the sound of them). Looking at this carved tops it looks like he routes the topography(which is a very good way to go IMO) then planes and scrapes. Must have got over the noise, or got frustrated drilling. I am sure he has changed opinions and methods since some of his statements. I dig the work, the site, and seems to have nice ideas. Two thumbs up. Marty pointed out a little local guitar show this weekend that we are going to stop by. It will be filled with local luthiers that allways make me feel like my work is chump change. Here is the link for any of you fellas that might be close to Portland. Show (Chris, I hope you don't mind me posting this in your thread) Peace,Rich Quote Link to comment
GregP Posted April 17, 2006 Report Share Posted April 17, 2006 He probably feeds everything through the humbucker routes That's exactly what he says he does. You people must have been too dazzled by the photos to read it properly. I read it fine, and acknowledged such in my post. Now tell me, Mick... how are you getting your hand and arm into the neck pickup cavity, through the body of the guitar, past the 2 'tuning fork dividers' and at the knobs and such, in order to retrieve the electronics? I'm not saying it's completely impossible-- though most of his guitars DO feature rear-access, I see at least one that does not. What I'm saying is that I'm missing a link here somewhere, because I can't see any way it could be done. In the one guitar that it seems to have worked for, the "tuning forks" are also noticeably smaller, thus increasing the access space. Obviously it CAN'T be his hand, so the only thing I can imagine is putting a string and weight on the electronic, threading the string through the electronic hole, and then pulling it through. I'd have to get someone else to do it for me, as I hate those kinds of operations. Even threading a needle drives me nuts. Does all the component-to-component wiring happen in the neck cavity, with long wires going back and forth, or does he somehow wire up a harness, thread the whole thing through the neck cavity, and then one-by-one pull the individual components (hoping he has the correct pots and switches for the correct holes)? I'm just curious as to how he does it (again, remembering that I've acknowledged he's done it-- I just can't see how). Greg Quote Link to comment
thegarehanman Posted April 17, 2006 Report Share Posted April 17, 2006 It's hard, but very much possible. You drop thin, stiff wire or thread threw the hole you wish to have a pot in, tie the thread around the pot shaft, and pull it through...exactly like Greg suggested. Like I said, it's hard, but it can be done. The tricky part is when you have multiple pots and switches. Then you have to prewire it and pull them all into the guitar at once...or have obscenely long wiring. Oh, and mickguard...I'm mildly dazzled, but the biggest reason that I didn't read(or notice?) was because reading is simply unamerican. One of his guitars that was posted on mimf was particularly interesting. It was only like 3/4" thick, but had the same method of wiring...no cavity cover. The coolest part was that it had a mercury filled switch as a pickup selector, so the angle the guitar was tilted determined the pickups that were selected. peace, russ Quote Link to comment
Guitarfrenzy Posted April 17, 2006 Report Share Posted April 17, 2006 Nice looking instruments, I like it when someone does something new design wise and still make it work. Very nice!! Quote Link to comment
Scott French Posted April 17, 2006 Report Share Posted April 17, 2006 It can be tough, but it's not even close to impossible. Many old archtop and hollowbody electrics didn't have any back access and had to be fed through the pickups routes then manipulated through the f-holes. I guess this is one step harder since I don't have f-holes but after doing it a few times it's still pretty easy. Some people use hollow tubes, I use wires fed through the pot holes. You need to plan ahead and build the wiring harness in a way that makes feeding it through possible. Not too difficult, but it takes planning. FYI: the reason a lot of the ideas don't match the guitars is because the ideas are new and the guitars on the site are old. New guitars will match as many of the new ideas and my customers will allow but at this point I am still finishing off some stuff I started before a lot of these plans were layed. RE: Noise and tools... you have to chose you battles. Doing all the planing by hand intead of using a sander or grinder gives you a sore hand/arm. I can deal with that (and some planing blisters) but I'd rather sit through 15 minutes of router noise than 2 hours of gouging. Thanks for the interest everyone. Quote Link to comment
verhoevenc Posted April 17, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 17, 2006 Welcome to our humble.... arguementative at times.... abode! Glad to see my e-mail to you including where my luthery niche resides sparked your interest to join! Chris Quote Link to comment
Scott French Posted April 17, 2006 Report Share Posted April 17, 2006 Actually I clicked around the links you gave me to check things out then closeed it all down. I didn't join until this thread popped up in my site's weblogs. Wanted to clear some stuff up! Thanks for started the thread! Quote Link to comment
fryovanni Posted April 17, 2006 Report Share Posted April 17, 2006 RE: Noise and tools... you have to chose you battles. Doing all the planing by hand intead of using a sander or grinder gives you a sore hand/arm. I can deal with that (and some planing blisters) but I'd rather sit through 15 minutes of router noise than 2 hours of gouging. Makes sense to me. Sometimes it is better to just get the bulk of it out of the way. Then you can be nice and fresh for careful final shaping. Welcome to the board. I hope to see you around. Peace,Rich Quote Link to comment
verhoevenc Posted April 17, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 17, 2006 Regardless of the reasons, glad you could join us. Chris Quote Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.