News from Shed No. 7 - Singing wood workshop
Welcome to News from Shed No. 72009 was a busy year producing a good collection of instruments.
2010 offers an exciting year ahead with custom and spec guitars. These include:
Custom:
- An all New Zealand Native sympitar - Totara body with Kahikatea top.
- 3 New Zealand Native 6-string guitars - a small body Classic shape, Jumbo and Dreadnought.
- A locally-grown Macrocarpa Isis shape.
- A wooden body spider cone style Resonator in Jarrah and Tawa (red and white), with an Ake Ake fret board.
- An 11-string Harp guitar (check out on Google: Harp guitar), as a prototype arising from a verbal enquiry.
- In between these instruments, a commitment to supply NZ retail outlets with spec. guitars.
I also have a good selection of NZ native, and traditional guitar woods in stock.
Thanks for reading my newsletter - I appreciate receiving feedback about my guitars and always welcome enquiries.
Blessings from Ian and assistant Skip the Greyhound.
7 February 2010
View and play guitars in Auckland shop
I currently have two new guitars for sale at Bungalow Bill's Music Shop, 19 Khyber Pass Road, Auckland.
Guitars are No. 95 - Dreadnought (Shark bite) Cutaway - see My Gallery.
No. 94 - Jumbo - Western Red Cedar with Mahogany body - check out Bungalow Bill's website to view.
I'm working on getting some guitars into retail outlets in Wellington and Christchurch this year. I'll keep you posted.
Happy playing!
The following is an article on humidity:
Dampness is the enemy of all stringed instruments, particularly the guitar.
If dampness enters wood, the wood swells. In a drier environment the moisture leaves the wood and the wood shrinks to its former size. This cycle of dampness and drying is fairly normal, and a guitar can tolerate these changes if they are gradual and not extreme.
A guitar built in an atmosphere where the relative humidity level is about 65% most of the time will survive well in that atmosphere. If it is removed abruptly to a relative-humidity level of 20 it will surely crack after enough moisture has been lost. If a guitar is built at a humidity level of 35, acclimated to a 65% humidity level, and them removed to a humidity situation of 20, it may still crack - but the probability is greatly reduced. If possible, a guitar should be assembled in an atmosphere containing less moisture than the atmosphere in which it will finally consistently be. As a general rule, it is best to build guitars in a dry environment because swelling is less of a hazard than shrinkage.
The critical surfaces for contraction and expansion in a guitar are the top and back. The end grain (easiest point of entry for atmospheric moisture) is sealed off by the purfling. Absorption of moisture is further retarded by the varnish or other protective finish. If the guitar is well braced and carefully constructed, the problem of swelling is not great. The most scrupulous craftsmanship, however, counts for little in the face of a precipitous loss of moisture and the resultant deformation of wood.
Before you proceed with plans to build a guitar, find out from the local weather bureau the mean annual averages for high and low humidity in your area. If the mean average high is 79 and the low is 28, the mean annual average relative humidity in your area is 53.5%. You should assemble your guitar in an atmosphere that does not exceed this humidity level.
Work in a basement workshop must be done only when the basement is dry - usually during the winter months when the furnace dries the air. To extend the working season into the warmer, more humid months, the air in the workshop must be dehumidified. This can be accomplished with an electric dehumidifier, an automatic device that condenses moisture from the atmosphere. An air conditioner also helps control humidity.
A good hygrometer (a device for measuring percentage of relative humidity) is an important workshop investment. Hang it on a wall away from doors and windows.
Freshly purchased wood should be kept under a weighted board until acclimated to workshop atmosphere, normally a few weeks. After the wood reaches equilibrium with the surrounding atmosphere it may be stacked on a high shelf and turned over at intervals.
Guitars - complete or incomplete - must not be stored near sources of heat or moisture. Never leave a guitar in a closed case where the sun's rays can "cook" it. If you do not take your guitar with you during summer vacations, loosen strings and store the instrument in the coolest, driest part of the house.
Always remember that a guitar is a fragile, taut ensemble of wood and strings.