CONSTRUCTION newly updated for 2011!

Each guitar is constructed to exploit the full potential of the chosen materials and design and, for a commissioned instrument, to bias the tonality and feel to suit the particular player's taste, technique, tunings and so on.

My starting point is to try to make a guitar which can transmit and enhance the full range of frequencies available from steel strings; from strong fundamental centers to each note, right up to the complex overtones they naturally produce. For the majority of guitars I construct I try to access the broadest tonal range I can rather than accenting the midranges at the cost of the rest of the sound. This makes for a guitar that is very responsive to the way it is played; if you play with a bright sounding technique the guitar will sound bright, if you dig in big warm tones will come from the same guitar. I hope this allows the player freedom to find their own voice rather than be dictated to by an instrument biased strongly in one narrow direction.

Above: Eric Roche's Orchestra Model having its top purflings and bindings fitted.

Soundboards

I generally build my soundboards in what is, in many ways, a very traditional style. An X-brace system is used, usually with two tone-bars behind the bridge and two finger-braces either side. I have varied the way I shape and layout my struts many times over the years and I still pick and choose from quite a range of options depending on the response I am seeking from a particular guitar and also to suit the size and outline of the particular model. The main way I achieve the type of tone I am looking for is by using relatively high and fine struts whichever overall system of shaping/layout I am going for. This helps a great deal with producing the higher overtones whilst still allowing an open responsive tone without sacrificing long term strength. The overall weighting of struts by adjustment of their cross section is more important than the general layout/style in my experience, although this does, of course, play an important part as well.

My palette of brace shaping methods includes; tapered or 'parabolic' shaping, end scallops and central scallops and many guitars will have a mix of styles as I seek a particular voicing for the given materials and design. The cross section of struts can be a church arch shape or go more towards a triangular profile depending on the wood properties and the voicing I am trying to achieve. This shaping of the struts is probably the most important job during the whole process of producing a refined guitar and I spend a good deal of time gradually refining each top's response using fine hand tools. I use a form of tap toning very similar to that described by Dana Bourgeois in his excellent articles - I hold the strutted tops in particular nodal points and tap various places and listen to the tone produced. I mentally compare the timbre of the vibrations to the many tops I have tapped in the past and try to use this library of experience to judge how far to go as I gradually shave the profile of the struts down to a finished weighting.

I have also made a good number of more radical prototypes and one-offs which have used techniques such as lattice strutting and fan struts but I find the balance of strut spacing and angles from a fairly traditional pattern gives very reliable control over the results and allows a very wide degree of tonal possibilities by altering the details and weighting of various elements. Most less standard patterns tend to offer a more biased tonality in my experience and this is not what I am seeking for most of my guitars.

Top thickness generally starts out uniform but sometimes I slightly thin the top's edges when the guitar body is a completed box usually because I am trying to adjust for the the relative lengthwise to crossways stiffness of a particular top.

One major way my soundboard construction differs from the traditional is that I use a constant radius doming across the top, with the top edges of the sides conforming to this dome. Commonly in many guitars past and present a flat top edge is used which causes the doming to flatten out considerably in some places; making for a weaker and less vibrant soundboard than constant radius doming.

Backs

My backs are again built using a constant radius dome which produces a tighter doming lengthwise than many guitars. This helps with projection and focus a lot in my opinion and also gives a lovely flowing look to a guitar combined with the constant domed front.

Strutting at present is four transverse bars, usually made from spruce. I have found that the positioning and height of the back bars can significantly affect the evenness of a guitar and 'wolf-notes' can often be controlled by variations in back strutting for a given design. For most instruments all the bars are 'church arch' in cross section and either with medium deep scallops at each end or a tapered shaping which helps give a slightly more immediate tone to the guitar. I plan to do some more experimenting with back bar layouts in the future including trying diagonal struts to alter the lengths of certain struts compared to a normal transverse layout.

Necks

My necks are always made from 'Honduras' mahogany and I very carefully select this scarce resource to get very stiff pieces without the very high density sometimes found in this species and it's close relatives. I am currently using only plantation grown and sustainably harvested mahogany or reclaimed old stocks if possible. I generally use a one piece head and shaft with a separate heel block, or sometimes two or three piece laminated construction depending on what dimensions of timber are available in the quality I require.

Finger-boards are either black ebony or stripy Macassar ebony which has become my most common option recently.

Currently I use a bolt-on neck joint system which uses two threaded inserts into a butt jointed heel. The main truss-rod section acts as a locator to the body and only the fingerboard tongue is glued to the body. Many guitars designed in recent years use a bolt on system and for my own taste I find it has significant advantages over both dovetail joints and through neck 'Spanish heel' styles in both reparability and reliable neck angle setting during the construction process (very crucial!).

Neck reinforcement is by an adjustable high quality aluminium channel/steel rod type combined with two carbon fibre bars to give added long term strength and reduce the energy absorbed by the neck. I have found the carbon fibre rods help with both power and control of a guitar's sound allowing a lower action, less string flap in low tunings and also a slightly lighter soundboard build.

I now use very hard 'Evo' fret wire as standard - it out lasts traditional nickle-silver wire very significantly.



Finishes

I have tried many different finishes in the search for the most appropriate type for using on small numbers of handmade guitars, including; french polish, oil, acrylic, alkyd varnish, oil varnish, etc., etc., and have finally come round to offering a traditional nitrocellulose lacquer as standard. Having tried the rest I feel this form of finish offers the best compromise between durability, flexibility (for good tone) and look despite the prohibitive need for a proper spray room to a solo guitar maker. Recent legislation changes mean that this type of lacquer will be soon be unavailable due to its high solvent content but I have enough stocks to last for a few years - watch this space!

I offer a satin finish for the neck with the option of satin or gloss for the body.