New Guitar Day (Page 1 of 2)

She's beautiful, TF

Really classy looks I like the headstock and tuners congrats.

Neither did I, Roger. My main attraction to this thing was the 1.8" nut, and the fact that it is all solid wood for $1,000. It was fun to learn about this construction method, and how it compares to what I was familiar with.

A Spanish heel essentially means the guitar is built as an entire unit, rather than a body with a neck glued/bolted on. The neck is not attached to the body with a mortise & tenon or dovetail joint. Instead, the neck is slotted, fastened to the top, then the sides are inserted, creating a truly "all wood" guitar. This method obviously doesn't lend itself well to "assembly line" construction, which is mainly why high volume manufacturers don't use it. The benefits are lighter weight, increased stability, and especially increased resonance and sustain. Here's a pic of a Spanish heel part way through construction, even though the top isn't on as they're usually done:

It's a common method for European-made classical guitars, but Cordoba is one of the first to use it in a steel-string guitar. Renowned British luthier Andy Manson also builds steel string guitars almost exclusively with a Spanish heel. www.andymanson.com Some express concern with this method by wondering how a neck reset could ever be done, but that's just the point: the neck was never set in the first place, i.e., there is no "joint" to break down with time.

Happy new guitar day great looking one you got there.

Schweeeet!

So no truss rod? Sounds like it would be tough to keep in tune? McCartney's early Höfner had no truss either and he was constantly tuning it. I'm missing something here, I'm certain. Right?

Bill

Makes sense, my friend. And may I respectfully decline the "Powers of Observation" award? If I had taken the trouble to read as I should have, we both might have saved some bandwidth.......

Get it? "Bandwith"?

In the days of paper, we might have saved a tree!!!!!

Oh my goodness! I'm going back to bed on that one!

Your Pal

Bill

TF, sorry but you are not going to like this reply. Since your new guitar has been traveling all those miles you need to be aware that most shipping of products are sent out in trucks, trailors or containers that are not temperture controlled. As such, when the new guitar arrives you should let is sit, "unopened" for a day or 2 to become acclimated to your location. I'm not saying this to be cute but only to help you. Also, be sure to take pictures of the "packaging" prior to opening so you can verify if noticable damage was done during the shipping process. It would also be good to let the delivery person know you are going to wait for a period of time to open it, as well. One other thing that may be a good idea is that when you tune the guitar for the 1st time, tune it a step (or 1/2 step) down for a day or so. You can always capo 1st or 2nd fret to bring it into standard tuning. Take care of the guitar and hope you many years of enjoyment.

Nela

Back in the early 90's I spent one winter working for Airbourne Express doing local deliveries and pickups. My territory was about 30 miles from the local hub.

IBM had an office complex which had a fairly major road that split it in half. I would pick up an envelope on one side of the road and instead of running it across the street to it's destination, I had to scan it when it was picked up, scan it into the hub when I got back in the evening, scan it out of the hub in the morning and then scan it again when it was delivered. They would do this a couple times a week at $11.00 a shot. Those letters made a 60+ mile trip to go less than 100yds. One of the most phenomenal wastes of money I have ever encountered.

NELA ... really want to thank you for some great tips; I'll have to curb my enthusiasm when it arrives. Thanks, buddy!

Fortunately, it's travelling laterally and not longitudinally (sp?) so it shouldn't be encountering too much variation in temperature. I also ordered the deluxe, archtop case made for it for extra protection ... any decent instrument deserves a proper case IMHO. Hopefully that increases its chances of getting here in one piece.

For an update, it arrived in Montreal yesterday. This is like playing "Where's Waldo?"

Great to put a face to a name.
Nice looking guitar to.
EB

Nice