» In the Shop

The Portland gets its finish

admin — Sat, 09 Oct 2010 07:30:57 +0000

The Russell Portland is in the finishing process. It won’t be long now. Several more sprays and wet sanding, then begins the ten to fourteen day wait till buffing and final setup. Very exciting to see the Portland at this stage. The flame is popping.

Russell Telemark, Our T-Style electric, in the Spraying Stage

Layne — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 02:46:21 +0000

The Russell Telemark, a custom T-style guitar, is in the spraying stage. Only about four coats of spray have been applied so far. The body is made of lightweight Swamp Ash and the neck is made of thirty-five year old Honduran Mahogany. This is the new, updated prototype for this model. There are many wood, color, and hardware options for this guitar.

The Telemark body has a forearm contour which is slightly visible in the top photo, and this model also has a rib contour.

The custom designed pickguard was made by James from celluloid sheet stock. The Callaham bridge plate is a left-hand bridge chosen so that the pickup slant would be reversed from the slant on a standard Tele. The brass saddles are right-hand compensated. Both pickguard and bridge plate were simply laid in place for the photos.

Wet Sanding the Deep Lake Guitar

Layne — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 02:11:54 +0000

James does the wet-sanding process on the Deep Lake guitar. It is wet sanded after receiving several coats of finish each day. The guitar hangs overnight, then the process is repeated. It’s almost ready for curing. The neck is already done.

Here you can see this Deep Lake’s flamed Koa end graft and binding. The Madagascar back and sides are a beautiful red-brown with nice grain lines. The back strip is Herringbone as is the purfling around the soundboard and around the elliptical sound hole.

This guitar is being custom made for Anchorage singer-songwriter Gene Anderson.

Waimea Finish Waiting for Rub-Out

Layne — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 04:20:06 +0000

The Waimea slack key guitar has been sprayed and is hanging in the shop to cure. The Koa is starting to show off its depth and flame under the finish. It is just a taste of what it will look like after it is wet-sanded and buffed out. In this photo you can see the hole for the jack which will be flush mounted. The K&K pickup system is already installed.

Deep Lake Pics, Ready for Neck Carve

Layne — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 03:44:58 +0000

The Russell Deep Lake, our 16″ jumbo size guitar, is ready for its neck carve. In these photos you can see updates of the completed herringbone purfling, end graft, headstock, fitting the fretboard to the neck, and working on the fretboard end curve. The fretboard is made of figured Madagascar Rosewood. The first photo shows a mock-up of this Deep Lake before the neck carve and the fretboard end curve.

Waimea Is Heading to the Spray Booth

Layne — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 05:33:03 +0000

The Waimea slack key guitar is almost ready for the spray booth where it will get its lacquer finish. It now has two coats of sanding seal and one coat of pore fill. It will be sanded back and then head into the spray booth. Its flamed curly Koa back and sides will pop under finish. The sealer and pore fill give only an indication of what’s to come. Hang in there, Jeff, it won’t be long now till you will be playing your new guitar!

Herringbone Purfling Fitted to the Deep Lake Soundboard

Layne — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 07:03:02 +0000

The herringbone purfling is being fitted to the perimeter of the Deep Lake soundboard. First the purfling slot and binding slots are routed. The flamed Koa binding and the herringbone purfling are bent to shape, then James tapes both purfling and binding in place as he prepares to glue them to the body. With the purfling and binding in place, he will then wrap the body with his truck tire tube rubber band and start the gluing process. Both purfling and binding are glued at the same time. We will post photos when we get to that point.

This is the custom Russell Deep Lake being built for a singer-songwriter in Anchorage, Alaska. The Deep Lake is our 16″ jumbo model. Our customer wanted an elliptical soundhole and he loves herringbone. There is also a herringbone back strip on this guitar. The body is Madagascar Rosewood and the soundboard is Carpathian Spruce.

Slack Key Guitar – Neck

Layne — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 05:37:17 +0000

James glues the Ebony fretboard to the neck of the Waimea slack key guitar. The neck is Honduran Mahogany and the headstock is slotted. The Madagascar Rosewood headplate is already glued on the headstock, the slots are cut, and the tuner holes are drilled. In the photo below the asymmetrical curve at the end of the fretboard can be seen.

In the photo below we see James getting going in the neck carving for this slack key guitar. He has already started working on the volute which ends up smaller when complete. Also the heel curve is not complete yet; more will be coming off. Then the sanding begins, progressively moving through levels of sandpaper to 220 grit. At that level there is still some tooth on the wood for the finish to adhere to.

Deep Lake Bracing

Layne — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 09:09:37 +0000

The bracing on the soundboard of the Deep Lake is made of Adirondack Spruce and is nonstandard elliptical bracing. The soundboard is Carpathian Spruce. This particular Deep Lake has a custom elliptical soundhole.

Slack Key Guitar Progress

Layne — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 06:43:33 +0000

James shows Jeff Cook the progress on his flamed curly Koa “Waimea” slack key guitar. The body is complete and some neck work has been done. The headplate on the slotted headstock is book-matched Madagascar Rosewood to match the binding, bridge, and end graft. Now the neck is ready to carve. It won’t be long, Jeff!

Below, Jeff checks out the Madagascar Rosewood purfling on the inner edges of the soundholes. He’s ready to play this thing, but hey, he’s just going to have to wait a little bit longer. The dove tail joint can be seen in these shots; the joint is also a bolt-on. The best of both worlds.