» Carpathian Spruce soundboard

Deep Lake Guitar – Curing Stage – Ready to Rub Out!

Layne — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 19:54:10 +0000

The Deep Lake guitar is at the end of the curing stage after all finish has been sprayed. In fact, at this point, after a couple weeks of hanging and curing, it’s time to start rubbing out the finish. This weekend!

These photos are mock-ups taken on the kitchen table; the neck is sitting in place. Once it is rubbed out and buffed, the guitar will have its beautiful high sheen.

The curved-end fretboard is made of Madagascar Rosewood, the soundboard is Carpathian Spruce, and the body is Madagascar. All binding is flamed Koa with Maple Herringbone purfling and detailing.

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.

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.

Elliptical Herringbone Rosette

Layne — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 15:25:39 +0000

An elliptical herringbone rosette on the custom Deep Lake has been glued and sanded. In the photo above, James is applying glue with a pipette to the purfling strips seated in the rosette grooves. Below, James shows us the completely glued rosette; he has not sanded the rosette flat yet.

In this last photo, the rosette is sanded. The purfling strips join at the top of the rosette; this area will be covered by the figured Madagascar Rosewood fingerboard which matches the Madagascar binding, headplate, endgraft, and bridge. The soundboard is beautiful master grade Carpathian Spruce. The person for whom this guitar is being made loves herringbone! Well, he’s going to get some.