baroque guitar

here is one of my very first instruments. i made this at red wing (luthier school) back in 1999. it is a baroque style guitar based on 1700 Stradivari plans which were at the school. the strings are in five pairs and tuned like the five highest strings on a modern guitar.

the top is red cedar. the fingerboard, bridge, tuners, and frets are ebony. the rest of the body and neck are maple with ebony and bloodwood trim.

the celtic knot design comes from the album cover art of Thunder and Consolation by the english band New Model Army. they were and are one of my favorite bands ever, but at the time they refused to play in the states. when i finished the guitar i jokingly told everyone that i would give it to justin the guitarist/singer as a bribe to bring the band over here.

well, word must've gotten over because in november 2003 they came to the u.s. for a short tour. so i lugged this thing all the way to chicago on dirtydog to hold up my end. justin was completely speechless aside from thanking me profusely.

the next september i got an e-mail from a local club saying that my band the Knotwells had been requested personally to open for New Model Army. it was worth the bribe to be able to say i played a show with my favorite band, even if the show itself was sorta suck. some are. apparently the guitar was in a NMA art exhibit with original album art, stage props, and fliers and stuff that toured europe a few years back. i am however still waiting to hear it on a recording of theirs. 

 

here's a look at the inside. i modified the bracing from the plans by adding the three fan braces. this picture is of my workbench at red wing. the maple for this guitar came from a huge 4 foot long 12"x6" log that me and a classmate, joe, bought together. there was enough wood for both our guitars plus a couple more.

the upper frets incorrectly taper down toward the bass side. i must have flipped my tracing over, not a big deal, it's my first guitar. i just wish i hadn't put that awful logo i used to use on the fingerboard. dumb logo. i also wish i had gotten some better pictures before sending it off to england.