Xaver Guitars at the Cumberland Market

As we say good-bye to the month of November, I remind you that tomorrow--Saturday, 1 December 2012--the Cumberland Market will be in full swing for one last chance at the fine locally produced products this area has to offer.  And especially Gerry's fine Xaver guitars.  Here you see me playing a Grand Concert that I have absolutely fallen in love with along with all of the other Xaver guitars I have played.  The finish on "A Guitar Called Jack" is now cured and Monday morning Gerry will again work his magic.  I can hardly wait to hear how it sounds and go through the experience of hearing others play it, and hearing that brand new sound evolve into maturity over the years.  And of course, I will do my best to get in lots of practice time to become the best picker that I am capable of being in order to do justice to Gerry and "A Guitar Called Jack."  Be sure to check in each day as the evolution of "A Guitar Called Jack" proceeds forward.

A Guitar Called Jack--Part 46

The frets are now installed in this shot. All the gunk on the frets and fingerboard is CA glue. I press the frets in dry, and then seep some thin CA into the slot to "lock" the frets in place for good measure. Refretting in the future is not a problem - you simply heat the fret with a soldering iron, which releases the CA and the fret pulls out. Gerry filed the diamond "barbs" off the tang where the frets cross the inlay, so that future refrets do not damage the inlay. (You have got to love a luthier who thinks into the future).  The unsightly glue will remain on the board until just before the final setup, at which time it will get cleaned up along with the fret leveling and dressing.

A Guitar Called Jack--Part 45

Another shot of the fingerboard giving a better view of the binding and purfling lines not only on the top of the board but also on the bottom (between the board and the neck).

A Guitar Called Jack--Part 44

Here's a good shot of the fingerboard before the frets went on. You can see the beautiful grain lines in the ebony. Note too how the fret slots extend only up to the binding but not through it. That way, the ends of the frets are not exposed along the fingerboard edge. Such fingerboard binding not only looks more elegant, but also saves your hands from being cut from protruding fret ends in the future (i.e., the fingerboard shrinks - ever so slightly, but the frets don't - ouch!).

A Guitar Called Jack--Part 43

This binding joint, where the top binding and purfling for the armrest join the rest of the top binding is one of the more challenging tasks, as there are no less than 5 interfaces that have to be mitred precisely in order to give the illusion that the binding and purfling flow continuously from the armrest to the rest of the top. Same on the other end of the armrest. (In this shot the side portion of the binding on the rest of the guitar hasn't been sanded down yet.)

A Guitar Called Jack--Part 42

For the horn, it is not enough to successfully bend the temperamental figured maple. It then has to be coaxed into place. For this, masking tape is not enough. Here Gerry is using two clamps, one with a scrap piece of wood to hold the binding down, and a second to pull the binding tight into the horn. Once everything checks out, he hits it with CA.

A Guitar Called Jack--Part 41

The fingerboard after the binding is sanded down to its approximate final dimensions. There is still some radiusing to do. The black splotches on the inlay are additional epoxy applied to fill tiny air pockets in the epoxy. The splotches will be removed with the final radiusing... Then, onto installing the frets.

A Guitar Called Jack--Part 40

Same idea with the binding on the fingerboard. Except with the fingerboard, the fret channels into which the fret tangs are installed must not extend into the binding. Therefore, Gerry must cut the fret channels before he binds. In this shot, you can see that the JW inlay is still covered with black epoxy. Some of the stars are visible though.

A Guitar Called Jack--Part 39

The binding is installed just like the purfling. Gerry puts it in place, tapes it down, and then applies very thin CA which seeps into place.

A Guitar Called Jack--Part 38

The binding, which has the side purfling lines glued to it, is bent on the pipe just like the guitar sides are bent. And because this is figured maple, it is a very tricky operation... in particular the horn of the cutaway. Many venetian cutaways have very rounded horns simply because it is so difficult to bend wood with such a tight curve. (Also, some builders will resort to plastic binding for such tight curves.) To me the tight curves look nice, and solid wood binding is one of the hallmarks of a high-end acoustic.  Gerry has invested a lot of time in getting this technique down, just one more example of his fine workmanship and dedication to his art which sets Xaver guitars apart from many of the others.

A Guitar Called Jack--Part 37

First the purfling lines go on. Gerry puts them in place, holds them there with tape, and then seeps CA glue in between the purfling and the soundboard

A Guitar Called Jack--Part 36

Gerry glued purfling lines to binding in preparation for installing the main binding on the soundbox. These purfling lines that you see will be on the side (another set of purfling lines are installed on the soundboard and back of the guitar just inside the binding). He will also bend this binding before installing it.