Joshua and I had discussed at length the type of wood I wanted for my top. I specified a tightly grained, aged spruce with lots of cross-silking. What he came up with was truly fine, a 55 year old piece of Austrian spruce, which according to his account "rang like a bell" when he did his "tap test" on it.
In his email he writes:
Jerry, You get one of the old ones. It has a lot of cross silking, very beautiful. Its dated 07/78, which is the date it was aquired by a friend (his name is Paul) who gave these old ones to me. As the story goes, he got a whole bunch of Picea Abies (Alpine Spruce - purportly grown in Austria) from the CF Martin company, which they aquired back when they still sometimes made "classical" guitars. Paul told me Martin received them at least 50 years ago (this was in 2002), but has no idea their true age.The knots and such are all outside the profile of the soundboard - and have no apparent effect on the grain.The tap tone is immediate.... much better than the others from this batch are sounding at the moment. Very bell like, high in pitch at its current thickness, and sustaining. Its so stiff I can hardly bend it, but we'll see what happens when the thickness comes down after its joined. Hey your guitar doesn't really look like much so far does it?? I'm probably going to join it tomorrow once I free up some clamps, and I'll send you a shot of it clean. There is a stray bear claw I can see already, but its the only one I can see... should land inside the soundhole and thus be cut out. The color is good, even though it looks dark in the pictures toward the middle. That is enhanced by the flash.
I was very excited about the choice, I wrote back to Joshua:
Josh,
Wow man, what can I say!I get the feeling I'm getting some pretty special treatment here, and I can't thank you enough for picking out what is quite obviously a top of superb quality in every way. I got so excited when I saw the pictures that everybody in the shop came running to my office door to see what the commotion was all about because I was yelling so loud! Everybody here where I work knows about this guitar and they are all following things very closely.There is a fellow that I see at William's shop all the time by the name of Arlin. He appears to just be a good old country boy until he picks up a guitar, and then man, look out. Anyway,he's bought six or seven guitars from William that will all be collectible. He also owns two Jeffrey Elliot guitars. When I told him in excruciating detail about the guitar you are building for me, his eyes just lit up, he knew a lot about what you are building and the style of the instrument and its historical roots. He's also very familiar with the Romanillos family and he is ALSO waiting with a great deal of anticipation to see this guitar. Between William and myself, you're going to be famous in Portland. I have to try to balance my enthusiasm with a little restraint because Idon't want to become one of those people that's always bugging people, so just know that while I will not be asking for updates, any that come my way will be enthusiastically received!
Thanks so much!
Jerry
Joshua writes back:
Jerry, I am really glad to hear you like the soundboard. It really is superb, and I have to say its impossible to tell just from the pictures or description.... you'll always think more of it once its a guitar. See, I told you I'd pick out a good one ;) Its going to kind of slow going around here because of other guitars I am finishing up on - I probably won't really get going on things until sometime in January, except for the rosette and tornavoz. Any of the cool stuff I'll send you pictures of. I'm excited about the guitar as well, especially because of the Spanish Cypress. I believe in terms of sound this is going to be an excellent combination. And like we discussed originally, my best sounding instrument ever was a Cypress with a Tornavoz. I think it is a winning combination, a good balance of materials, with immense potential. The tornavoz has surprised everyone who has played or ordered one so far. You'll be the only guy in town with one of those! Make sure you try it in a concert hall sometime... I appreciate that you'll show others the guitar once you receive it, that kind of thing really goes a long way for me and means a lot. I have high expecations for it, and given my conversations and emails with you I think we want the same thing out of the guitar. Its a pleasure to make one for someone who I think is on the same page as me, and puts trust in my suggestions on what will make the best sounding instrument; such things as the Tornavoz. This is always when the instruments come out the best... when someone is willing to take a chance on something I consider important. Hey how is the Land Cruiser coming along?
Best wishes,
Joshua
Speaking of guitar making - I finally joined your soundboard right before starting this email. Here's a picture of it being joined. I always plane the outside to a wedge shape and just jig up two boards... the fact that its a wedge makes for a lot of joining pressure when you hammer it in. Its weighted down so it doesn't pop up in the middle. Its the simplest and most effective way of joining plates. I'll send you as picture or three of the soundboard once I plane off all the saw marks tomorrow.
Best wishes,
Josh
Jerry, Attached is a picture of your soundboard, closeup. It is impossible to really tell too much from the picture - you can only see the most intense of the silking (or the intense part is actually what Jose Romanillos calls the "flower" - where the cross silking takes on a more beautiful look), but there is good silking throughout. I'm very happy with the soundboard, and I'm sure you will be as well. I think your guitar will be good for both flamenco and classical. The last Cypress one was as responsive as any flamenco, yet with tons of sustain. If a lot of sustain is an issue for your flamenco playing, please let me know at some point in the next month or so.
