Necks in finishing.
Posted By carter on December 6, 2013
Posted By carter on December 6, 2013
Posted By carter on December 4, 2013
Every guitarist, young or old, beginner or seasoned pro, wants the same thing: a custom guitar made just for them. This Christmas, let the guitarist in your life find a card under the tree telling them that their dream is coming true — a custom guitar by Subterranean Music Works will be theirs. They can talk to the luthier and work with him to design the guitar that’s perfect for them. They’ll probably cry.
Contact me today, Grayish Wednesday, and get a 10% discount off the final price of the instrument.
Not only that, but you’ll be making your favorite guitar player’s dream come true!
Posted By carter on July 26, 2013
I’ve finally made time to post these pictures of the guitar I made for the Unitarian Universalist Church of Brunswick. Troy Bennett of the Bangor Daily News took these pictures in my shop the day I delivered the guitar to its new (and still happy now, months later) owners.
This guitar was made of wood salvaged from pews that were rescued from the church building that burned down. The back, sides and neck are ash (think baseball bats and Telecasters), and the soundboard is pine from the seat of the pew.
This guitar has a strong, mid-rangey sound, with nice note separation and chime.
Posted By carter on July 26, 2013
This guitar came to me from a client in Portland in terrible shape: it had numerous badly-done repairs from its past, a gloppy-looking refinishing job (probably urethane, given how hard it was to remove), as well as some replacement pieces — notably the bridge — that didn’t look even remotely original.
My task was to undo the bad, and restore it to playability with some semblance of original appearance and material. I refinished it (since the original finish was long, long gone) with French polished shellac, did significant structural repairs on the body, and reset the neck, along with other playability-related and cosmetic repairs. Here’s the finished instrument:
…and after all that, boy, does this guitar sound amazing!
Posted By carter on May 9, 2013
Here’s a picture of an electric mandolin prototype I recently knocked together. The body is pine, with a curly maple veneer cap. The neck came off a cadaver instrument (this is, after all, a prototype). And the pickup is one that I wound, using a block magnet as its core. I’m pleased with the sound of it — it’s sweet and usable in a variety of styles.
I based the shape on an old Kay Kraft mandolin. It’s a shape I like, as it seems to come from the same aesthetic palette as the f-style, but is less ornate. It’s a classic, American mandolin shape that is less often seen and isn’t trying to be something else (like a scaled-down guitar).
I’d love to make more!
Posted By carter on May 9, 2013
Yes, you read that right — a twelve-fret archtop. I am making an archtop guitar in the shape of a late-twenties L-1. The back and sides are mahogany, and the top is Engelmann spruce. Since the bridge is moved toward the tail of the instrument from where it would usually be located on an archtop, I had to redesign the f-holes. I kinda like ’em this way. These are progress pictures, and there will be more to come!
I may have to do another one on this pattern once this one is done.
Posted By carter on May 8, 2013
Thought I’d post a few more pictures. This is an OM I built and handed off to its new owner last fall. Engelmann spruce top, beeswing cocobolo back and sides. Enjoy!
Posted By carter on January 9, 2013
I just completed and delivered the church pew guitar that I built for a fundraiser for rebuilding the Unitarian Universalist Church of Brunswick, Maine. Troy Bennett of the Bangor Daily News put together this really nice piece on it, with video and a slide show to boot: http://bangordailynews.com/slideshow/new-guitar-rises-from-the-ashes-of-brunswick-church-fire/
It’s been a fun project, and I’ll miss having that guitar around, but it isn’t complete until it’s been released into the world. Here’s hoping it helps!
Posted By carter on October 22, 2012
Steve Wellcome has put together a page on the church’s website showing the progress of the guitar I’m building. Right now it’s in finishing. Here’s the link: http://www.uubrunswick.org/uucb-guitar.aspx
Posted By carter on October 15, 2012
The Coastal Journal has also done an article on this guitar. Their new guy, Chris Chase, wrote it, and I think he did it up nicely. Thanks for the coverage!
-cr