Tops

On most of my guitars I use what I call a inner soundhole binding. It serves two functions. It marries the top with the soundhole patch together and seals up the endgrain surface which, in my opinion, prevents the top wood from absorbing moisture too fast. And it looks cool. Maybe thats the main purpose. Just kidding.

This ring is between 1 and 2 mm thick and bend on the bending iron to fit. It is necessary to cut it perfectly to the length so that it just fits into the soundhole without leaving to much of a gap at the joint.

This is the top and back for one of my current builds. It`s a cedar top paired with Indian rosewood for the back and sides. I love this combination. It can give you a powerful fingerstyle Instrument which is very responsive to a light touch. I am about to create a new body style for this particular Instrument which will become my model J. As the J sugests this was intended to be a Jumbo sized guitar or at least very much inspired by the Gibson J45 models. But to make it more versatile and Fitting to the clients needs I reduced the size again which will end up with almost OM like dimensions but a little wider at the waist. I am very excited about it. I have to admit that new body styles always get me excited.

The other top I was working on was a wonderful bearclaw spruce from Germany. But during the process it turned out it had some darker grain in the middle which I first thought to be left over sanding marks. It turned out I was wrong but I only knew after I had finish sanded the top with the rosette already installed. So this top is not making the cut for the intended build and I would make another one.

It was the first time I was copying my own work and I felt very "productive" for a short moment. But I happened to like this rosette quite a bit. It is intended for a Martin 00 Style 27 parlor guitar.
Of course this top would get the soundhole binding as well.