No pictures tonight as the only thing I did was a lot of sanding and I am guessing that pictures of saw-dust would be pretty boring. The main thing I wanted to mention is a really cool thing I found yesterday while working on the SJ. I sanded the body to 220 grit and did some tapping on the soundboard to try and figure out how it would sound. As I was tapping, I got to thinking what note was it making while I tapped it? I grabbed my dreadnought and set it down on the table next to me then I tapped the SJ and started plucking strings on the Dreadnought. It only took me a few seconds to realize the tap tone was a good solid "A" note dead on with an open "A" plucked on the Dread. That wasn't the interesting part though, I noticed that when I plucked the A string, the SJ body would vibrate. It was really weird! I went up and down the dreadnought plucking all of the strings one at a time and nothing would happen with the SJ body until I hit the A string. Then the SJ would just vibrate like crazy. It actually felt like the string was being plucked lightly on the SJ. I guess that is what the natural resonance of this particular group of woods put together is. I found it to be fascinating! I noticed that with my 000 and the SJ, during the build the body would vibrate at different times to the sounds of the radio or TV running in the background. I didn't have that happen with either the OM or the Dreadnought as I was building them. I guess both of those were more heavily braced to allow for that to happen. The 000 really resonates with the radio or TV even now with it being finished and under string tension. I can hold it clean across the shop and if I put my ear to the sound hole it actually amplifies the sound of the TV a little bit. The SJ is doing the same thing. Since the 000 turned out to be such a great sounding guitar, I am hoping that is might be a pre-cursor as to what the SJ will sound like!
I have started ordering pieces for the next double build. I am sourcing my materials from different suppliers this time, and am being much more price conscious than I have been in the past. I want to see if I can build two great sounding and looking guitars using lower grade woods instead of the AAA stuff I have been buying. I am also ordering EIR opportunity grade back and side sets from Allied to see how they are. The prices are too good to pass up and I will get a spare set for my stash. A lot of guys over at the OLF have used it and they love it for the price and quality. I figure for the price I will give it a shot. My goal is to get both of these guitars built for under $250 each total.
I placed an order from Target Coatings for a gallon of USL. This is the same lacquer that Stewmac sells under their private label at a significant price savings. The SJ should be ready for finish in the next week depending on how busy I am at work.
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