MOTM 2009 Guitar

Hi, I’m Mike Giltzow of Giltzow Guitars. I would like to welcome you to my web site and invite you to watch as I build a guitar for the 2009 “Meeting of the Minds” in Key West, Florida (November 5th through the 8th, 2009).

I am working with Alex Leist, Chief Operating Officer of the PARADISE CHARITABLE FOUNDATION. The Paradise Charitable Foundation will auction this guitar on Saturday November 7th at the Charity Auction. Proceeds from the auction will go to one of the many deserving charities the Paradise Charitable Foundation supports.

Mr. Leist and I have been working on an idea to make this guitar very special to anyone attending the 2009 MOTM. Alex has sent one of my Koa pick guards to Jimmy Buffett and Mr. Buffett has agreed to sign it. I will post a picture when it is returned to me. During “Meeting of the Minds” this year, Alex & I will get as many Coral Reefer signatures on the guitar as possible. We hope to create a MOTM 2009 souvenir that will be a treasured heirloom for a lucky Parrot Head and bring in some much needed money for charity.

Alex Leist will be helping me select the woods, inlays and dimensions of this guitar. We have agreed on the shape - a ‘000’ size guitar with a 25.4” scale length. After looking at a few samples of the wood I have available; Alex said he would like to see the guitar made of Hawaiian Koa. The set I’m using, comes from salvage logging of stumps on Kauai, Hawaii. The neck will be Honduran Mahogany with an Ebony fret board and peg head. The end graft and bindings will be Maple.

I want to thank L.R. Baggs for donating an LB-6 pick up and pre-amp for this guitar. Giltzow Guitars has never bought a pick up from any other supplier to put on one of our guitars. Their products are always of the highest quality and their customer service is superb.

I will make posts on this site as the guitar progresses. Each one will be listed below. You will also see an “email me” icon on this page. Please use it to question or comment. I will answer all your questions. This is a very exciting project for Giltzow Guitars; So let’s get started - mdg

Update June 3, 2009 : I just received a package from Alex Leist with this guitars pick guard in it. It has been signed by Jimmy Buffett! I have placed it on the unfinished guitar for the picture below. Very exciting moment for me. Thanks Alex and thanks to Mr. Buffett. - mdg

(click on the thumbnails to see larger versions, use back button to return)
POST 1 I will start this build with the sizing, thicknessing and bending of the sides. The sides and back are Hawaiian Koa (Acacia koa) from Kauai. Koa is still available but is getting scarcer and costlier. This set is from salvage logging of old stumps left from past cuttings. The sides have some figure that doesn’t show up well in the following pictures but will when finish is applied.
	In the picture below I have taped the two sides together to lay out the top, back, ends and waist.
	I cut close to the back and top lines and then thin the sides to .080”.
	The sides are a book-matched set. They were cut from the same board and if I put them together and stand them on my work bench, I can open them ( much like opening a book ) and they will be a mirror image of each other. Thus the term “book matched set”.
	The sides are bent using a ‘Fox’ style bender, pictured below. Each side is sprayed lightly with water and placed in a ‘sandwich’ of spring steel with a heating blanket on the outside (orange colored in the picture below). Temperature is brought up to 300+ degrees and the sides are carefully forced around the mold.
	The first side is postioned in the building form:
	The second side joins it:
	The Heel and tail blocks are cut from mahogany and glued to the two sides:
	A lining of mahogany kerfing is glued around the top and back of the sides. This will provide more glue area when the back and top are glued to the sides.
	Thin reinforcement pieces of mahogany are glued to the sides. These will function as a crack stop rather than reinforcement. If damage is done to a side and a crack starts it will follow the grain line and could run the full length of the side. These mahogany strips will help stop the crack from spreading.
	The back and top of the guitar will be dome shaped rather than flat. I will be building the top & back in my next two posts and they will be built in a concave dish that gives them their domed shape. Below I am using the concave dish to sand a dome to the sides, kerfing, heel & tail blocks. This will allow the domed back and top to mate perfectly with the sides.
	The picture below shows the back of the sides after sanding to the dome shape.
The sides are now ready for the top and back. My next two post will cover joining and bracing the top & back and getting them ready to mate to the sides. Thanks for watching and if you have any questions or comments please email me.
go to Post 2 now