Australian/New Zealand Luthiers Forum

Well Orthus the dog is finally "barking".

Specs - Twin necked acoustic lap-slide guitar 630mm scale lengths. Ladder braced top, hybrid X/ladder braced back. Central "neck block" with carbon fibre flying buttress braces anchored to the sides. African Mahogany top, back and sides, mahogany peg blocks, Curly eucalyptus bindings with bwb top, back and side purflings. Brazilian Rosewood peghead veneer, end grafts, nuts, saddles and fret position markers. Sycamore (maple) fretboards bound with Curly eucalyptus, and bridge. Marquetry fret markers to match the rosette. Ebony bridge pins. Gold Gotoh mini tuners with hand made Brazilian Rosewood buttons. Hand rubbed pre-catalysed lacquer finish over Z-poxy resin. A few pics:






There were a few "firsts" for me. One was making matching Brazilian Rosewood tuner buttons and nuts:



Another was making the Brazilian Rosewood fret position markers. The frets were marquetry combinations that match the rosette:




Another was using a maple bridge with Brazilian Rosewood saddles:



A reminder of the inside construction:




And a happy Martha:



The strings went on last Thursday. I put on two sets of D'Addario EJ42 resophonic strings (16-56) and tuned one neck to DADFAD and the other two DADDAD. The sound was awesome - incredible sustain and Cathedral like reverb/overtones with the twin hollow necks and sympathetic strings, very balanced and clear and very loud. I discovered some interesting things though - what 350lbs of string tension with high saddles does to a ladder braced top for a start. I should have played "The Rolling Waves" set on it as behind the bridge it bulged and dipped in front - the bridge stayed perpendicular though. Looking at the bracing pictures I should have put some lengthwise braces on the top in between the ladder brace behind the soundhole and the one in front of the bridge. I have now put in three lengthwise braces joining the lower soundhole and front of bridge ladder braces - one each in line with the middle of each set of strings and one in the guitars centre. I probably could have put a couple of fan braces butting up to the bottom of the lower bout ladder brace, but wanted minimalist and can live with some distortion of the top here for the sound I'm hearing if the rest remains stable. On the to do list for the next one. The other thing I have learned is that with the sympathetic strings and overall tension, tuning down a step makes this a fabulous baritone instrument without having to increase the scale length. The lower neck in CGCCGC (a lot of CGCGCD tuning) and the upper one in CGCEbGC or CGCEGC means I can use both necks to good effect - 260lbs on a 630mm scale length and it sounds good. With the string gauges taken down a little it can work in D tunings as well - I'll try this out later this week..

I suspect that similar but diverse tunings will work better for combination playing than having say Open G and Open D - this is useful if you are performing a repetoire without having to re-tune plus you get the spacey sound and sympathetics.

Here's a couple of sounclips. The first one is the Gospel song "This Little Light of Mine". The lowest neck is in CGCCGC (shades of John Butler) and the upper neck in CGCEGC (Open C). I started off by strumming each neck in turn to give a feel for the sound. The main tune does move between the two necks:

This Little Light of Mine

The second one is more moody showing off the sympathetic strings and the upper neck is in CGCEbGC (C minor) tuning:

It Aint Necessarily So

The tunings are endless and you could get lost forever in this instrument - I'm loving it and so is Martha.

Thanks for looking and listening.

Dave mon I am just completely blown away by your latest and I think greatest instrument to date. WOW!!!!!

The sound clips are incredible and I just listened to it through a big pair of NHTs and was completely impressed!!

You my friend just earned a very rare 6 clapping hands!!!

Dave,

You never cease to amaze me, quite impressive!
I just love all the details, great aesthetics.
And I did notice the curly x-brace cap on the back brace.
Beautiful doubleneck. Martha's a luck girl to have a father like you.
Im sure the smile on her face would have to be priceless.
Bravo!!!

Tom

I could listen to that all day Dave. Thanks for posting those clips. And I love to see how you push the envelope. We all learn and get inspired from seeing your instruments.

What others have said Dave, fantastic in every way and thank you for taking the time to inspire.

Cheers

Kim

Congratulations Dave from a man who loves lap slide. That is one awesome sounding instrument. Thank you for sharing the build as it is especially inspiring to me as i am trying to build one of these instruments too. I agree the tunings would be endless. Such a great instrument to be able to express yourself musically on IMO.

Thanks again for sharing

Alan

Looks great Dave - love the simple bindings and inlays - but I have to wonder; why have twin "necks" at all?

I know zip about lap slides, but it seems to me that if the instrument sits on one's lap, and is never fretted as in a conventional guitar, I would have thought you could have joined those necks together and made one big soundbox under the "fretboards".

Does the fretboard perform any function other than indicative and decorative?

I downloaded the "ain't" clip. lovely sounds coming out!!

Matthew

Your work is usually outstanding Dave but I think you've outdone yourself this time.

Very inspirational stuff.

Bob

Hesh, Tom Allen, Kim and Bob - thanks. Martha and I are having a real blast playing this beastie - he's getting growlier and growlier by the day.

Alan - thanks. I'm looking forward to more pictures of your progress.

Mathew,

I have twin necks - because I can You can vary the instruments range and tonality by moving between the necks and even if you don't play one neck, the strings act as "sympathetics".

A lot of the melody gets played on the high string and to clear the slide-bar from hitting the other strings you tilt it downwards. If the neck had been one piece, playing this way on the top string of the first neck and bottom string of the second would have the edge of the slide bar banging against the neck - hence the gap. The fretboards are largely decorative and markers for where to stop the slide bar. They do add a little stiffness to the hollow necks but not that much. Glad you like the sound.

G'day Dave,

This instrument is way too cool mate. You've outdone yourself for sure.

The maple fretboard and bridge look striking.

I can't quite see by your picture , but do you have upper and lower c.f. butress' ?

Cheers , Craig

A wonderful looking instrument there Dave. Great work from a master of the craft.

Dave,

I can only echo the comments above. Not only the skill you show as a builder but the short period of time from conception to playing. I'm in awe mate!

Just a thought, I know you have an interest in Harp guitars, has anyone made a slide / weissenborn with sympathetic strings?

Sebastiaan

Dave White wrote:A lot of the melody gets played on the high string and to clear the slide-bar from hitting the other strings you tilt it downwards. If the neck had been one piece, playing this way on the top string of the first neck and bottom string of the second would have the edge of the slide bar banging against the neck - hence the gap.

Ah. Now I know more than zip about lap slide

Dave, that's amazing. Its beautiful. Your craftsmanship is always topnotch. And your sense of style first rate. Huzzah!

Craig,

Thanks. Just one pair of cf flying buttress braces to keep the soundhole area more stable. The bottom set I use to stop the long back arch being pulled straight over time (Rick Turner uses a cf top on the centre seam) but this isn't an issue with lap slides - neck re-sets are rare

Martin - thanks.

Sebastian,

Thanks. Yes there are harp-Hawaiian guitars. Scroll down this page and you'll see loads of them.

Matthew - I'm always happy to add knowledge!!

Lillian - Thank you. That's the first Huzzah I've ever had and it's lovely

Dave, my friend, that is outstanding!! Very impressive!! I love the details.

Ron

Dave dude, i just wish i could afford the trip to go and just watch you build my friend, truly awesome, i just love your love of the craft, what a beautiful instrument!

And thanks again for the great soundfiles, ya rock dude!

Your friend Serge

Dave, wish I could see your daughter's face - I'm sure she is grinning ear to ear.

What a cool instrument. Seems like it only took you a few weeks from concept to strings. You are on fire!

Dennis