The new guitar is all done! I had it finished a few weeks ago and it has been settling in. I'm really liking it, my best ever. I had the guitar over to a local musician, a classical guitar musician who is a prominent guitar teacher and president of the Winnipeg Classical Guitar Society. He really liked it. My client will be the most important one to please, I am pretty confident that he'll like it.

This guitar is being fitted with a Tornavoz, which is a conical section tube fitted below the soundhole. Torres seems to be the first maker to use this device. The tornavoz fell out of favour sometime during the early part of the 20th century and is only now being used again by some makers.

Traditionally made of brass, this one is using the carbon fiber tornavoz that I made last year for my `FE17 exploration` guitar. I didn`t use it as the black of the carbon fiber just looked like ordinary black inside of the guitar body.

But with this thin copper sheet inside of it! Well, it lights right up.

I've had the new guitar finished and strung up for about two weeks now. New guitars need a period of time to "play in" before the sound really starts to open up and mature. A freshly strung up guitar really does sound pretty crappy!

I am really appreciating this new guitar! The sound is very rich and crisp, and this has even been commented on by people who don't know guitar. My present opinion is that this is my best sounding guitar to date. I said that about my last guitar too, and the one before that, and the one before that! It is also very easy to play, the action and string tension are a treat.

Final accounting: no new money was spent. I used inexpensive, or free wood for most part, and a lot of the small pieces I salvaged from the scrap box. If pressed to put a value on the wood used, this guitar totaled $32

Somehow I got it into my head that a carbon fiber Tornavoz might be a good idea. So...of course I had to make one to find out! Carbon fiber fabric cut to the pattern.


CF Tornavoz off the mold, sitting beside the copper/fiberglass one that I just made.


This is how the first one looks in place.


Both sides in place on the solara waiting till I can get all the parts ready to assemble.