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interesting guitar design #8


onewilyfool

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I saw this and thought it had an interesting design....Note: most headstocks are flat, as in a single veneer face....the thing I like about this is the two tones of the wood and the three dimensional look vrs. the flat one dimensional look. I'm not sure, but a REALLY clever design would be if this darker raised wood could slide off the faceplate and expose the adjusting nut, but I don't know if that is the case here. Anyway, I know a lot of you are fond of the "open book" headstock of Gibson, but I thought this was "out of the box" design, also has a bit of the "deco" look, which I like....enjoy!!!

 

 

FL3Big1.jpg

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Agreed. Very cool look. Don't know what type of guitar it is, but in my mind I picture a big jazz box from the 30s or 40s.

Cole Clark is an Austrailian firm..I think all their tone woods come from Austrailia...they only make flat tops and electrics...they have a non braced graduated top made on CNC machines...and an interesting two piece neck/headstock which looks strong as hell and you cant see the neck joint as on some guitars...Pretty innovative company!! Check out their website!

 

 

http://www.coleclarkguitars.com/

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Very interesting website, very imaginative guitars. Unfortunately, the attempt to meld cutting-edge engineering and manufacturing techniques with acoustic guitars doesn't always result in great guitars. Think Gibson MK series....

 

I can't figure out how you would ever do a neck reset with that construction technique, where the guitar appears to be built around the neck.

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Very interesting website, very imaginative guitars. Unfortunately, the attempt to meld cutting-edge engineering and manufacturing techniques with acoustic guitars doesn't always result in great guitars. Think Gibson MK series....

 

I can't figure out how you would ever do a neck reset with that construction technique, where the guitar appears to be built around the neck.

Nick....I was wondering the same thing, so I actually wrote them an email asking them how they do neck resets....I will keep you posted!!

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Here is the reply I got from Cole Clark about the neck reset issue...interesting approach:

 

 

What you describe is common on guitars built with the US method(make a box

and put a stick on top) and with no truss rod. The Spanish method which we

employ with a truss rod eliminates this. If the headstock starts to creep up

you adjust the truss rod to 'flatten' it out again, as you would with an

electric. A little on the Spanish method, we start with the neck and join

the face to it, then we join the sides to the face & neck, and lastly we

join the back to the sides and neck. As everything is built integrating the

neck it can't move at the base. The only movement the timber has is along

the neck itself so the truss rod takes care of any issues there. A Cole

Clark will never need the neck reset procedure you speak about. Also with

the integrated neck you get more sustain as the whole guitar is 'live', as

in, all vibrations are passed to each piece of the guitar without

interference. Hope this helps. Feel free to contact me again if I still

haven't quite answered what you would like to know or if I can clarify

anything.

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From an engineering perspective, this neck/headstock joint is closely related to the dovetail joint Martin has used from the very beginning. This is, frankly, a superior detail when compared to Gibson's simpler one-piece neck, with its associated grain run-out problems (and history of breakages) at the neck/headstock interface.

 

When I was on the road in the music business some 40 years ago, I found a very early (1860's) Martin "New Yorker" in pieces behind a chair in Ohio, literally just about to be thrown out. The hide glue at the neck/headstock joint had failed, but the pieces fit together perfectly, and putting them back together was the easiest part of the restoration. The hardest part was trying to create invisible splices to repair the many convoluted open cracks in the Brazilian sides and back. I've been leery of Brazilian ever since.

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From an engineering perspective, this neck/headstock joint is closely related to the dovetail joint Martin has used from the very beginning. This is, frankly, a superior detail when compared to Gibson's simpler one-piece neck, with its associated grain run-out problems (and history of breakages) at the neck/headstock interface.

 

When I was on the road in the music business some 40 years ago, I found a very early (1860's) Martin "New Yorker" in pieces behind a chair in Ohio, literally just about to be thrown out. The hide glue at the neck/headstock joint had failed, but the pieces fit together perfectly, and putting them back together was the easiest part of the restoration. The hardest part was trying to create invisible splices to repair the many convoluted open cracks in the Brazilian sides and back. I've been leery of Brazilian ever since.

Nick I agree...any Brazilian Rosewood with any pattern other than straight grain....Will be cracking.....

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Here is the reply I got from Cole Clark about the neck reset issue...interesting approach:

 

 

 

A Cole Clark will never need the neck reset procedure you speak about. Also with

the integrated neck you get more sustain as the whole guitar is 'live', as

in, all vibrations are passed to each piece of the guitar without

interference. Hope this helps. Feel free to contact me again if I still

haven't quite answered what you would like to know or if I can clarify

anything.

 

"Never" is a pretty long time, particularly when it comes to guitars and other musical instruments. The great thing about "conventional" guitar construction is that as a piece-built instrument, individual parts can be replaced over time while maintaining much of the original character. That's why there are a fair number of 300-year-old violins out there that are still considered among the very best by the players who can afford them.

 

An adjustable truss rod is not the answer to all neck problems other than the neck/body joint. I've got two vintage Gibsons in for neck re-sets right now. One is more than 40 years old, the other more than 60 years old, and both have perfectly-working truss rods and tight neck joints. Necks do funny things over time, and, of course, their relationship to the strings and their playability are a function what's going on with the rest of the instrument as well.

 

Wood moves. If you want a guitar where no part ever moves in relation to another, make it out of carbon fiber. Oops, forgot: those guitars are already out there. As we say in my business, "wood is nothing by young carbon".

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