Serial Number 042

Left Handed OM Modern Redwood

Started on June 08, 2025; completed on July 14, 2025

This guitar is really about trying out some Redwood that I had recently acquired. I was told that it is at least 40 years old so I am believing that this should sound pretty good once it is done. Also, continuing on with the new options, this guitar will have the laminated braces, and an arm bevel.

With some research, it sounds like Redwood is good across all tonal ranges so matching it up with the right back and sides set would be important. Walnut back and sides seems to be suggested highly for a Redwood soundboard.

I cut out a “D” shaped offset soundhole on this guitar. I am trying to get this configuration better or I need to find some blueprints with this configuration. My concern is the bracing on the soundboard side.

A small bevel has been added at the waist of the opposite side of the soundhole. This was just give the guitar a little more character. A new bevel idea will be used on the next guitar.

Black Limba from new supplier was tried for this guitar build. I did a Wenge lamination as I have been using Bloodwood a lot for the last few guitars. I also felt that a darker colour would be a better contrast than the orange/red colour of the Bloodwood. The Black Limba turned out quite well after finishing.

An Indian Rosewood board from a new supplier is also being used. It was pretty rough cut when I got the pieces but after sanding it smooth, it looks really good. The fingerboard was shorter than what I am used to working with. I only managed to get 20 fret slots out of it before I got to the end while I usually stop around 22 fret slots with a few inches to spare from the regular pieces I get in. It was also tapered already so it could have been semi prepared for use from a previous luthier.

One thing that I have been thinking about for a while is routing a logo into the headstock that is oversized and having a reverse routed logo to fit into the channel. The parts of the logo that are excess of the headstock shape will be routed off. It didn’t quite go as planned but as a first attempt, I don’t think it is terrible. I should have went with the traditional headstock shape on this one being the first attempt.

I also tried a new shape on the bridge. It is one of those ones with the pyramids on each end except I made mine bigger. I didn’t think too much when shaping the pyramids but realized the situation when I went to glue the bridge onto the soundboard.

Despite having made some unforced errors on the neck, the guitar turned out quite decent. I had concerns when working the bridge pin holes; I felt that the soundboard seemed to have a lot of flex to it. But the guitar has good sound to it. With doing the half moon soundhole, I will need to make changes in the build process to make sure that the soundhole is positioned better for future guitars.

SPECS

Body Orchestra Model, left handed

Scale 25.34″

Top Redwood

Back Black Walnut

Sides Black Walnut

Neck Black Limba/Wenge strip

Fingerboard Indian Rosewood

Bridge Rosewood

Tuning Machines Gotoh 381

Strings D’Addario EJ26 Phosphor Bronze