Molter Guitars

I am making alot of progress on Paul G’s guitar. I have joined the top and have prepared the bracing material along with sanding the bindings to thickness. I have also glued the 5 piece neck blank. In the pictures on this post you can see that the rosette has been installed, the X braces shaped and notched for the integration of the quilted maple bridge plate, side braces and glued to the top. I will shape or “fine tune” the braces a little more after the glue is set. I have shaped the back braces and glued the back joint reinforcement. I am waiting to glue the back braces because I am trying something new for my label.

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It has been a long time since I have made a post here on my website but here goes. 2011 was a very strange and slow year for me and my guitar making. I completed 1 guitar for a customer and started 2 others. I am almost finished with my quilted mahogany DCS that I have been working on forever. It will be a spec guitar that doesn’t have an owner…Yet. The other guitar I started is an indian rosewood 8 string baritone model.

 I haven’t got very far with these guitars because’ I guess I am going through a midlife crisis. I bought 2 vintage motorcycles and I have been trying my hand at restoring  them. I have actually sold one of the bikes and have been concentrating on restoring the remaining bike , a 1964 Yamaha . I have also been restoring a 1990 Jeep Wrangler. I guess I have been watching to much “Orange County Choppers” and telling myself I can do just as good a job as they do .  I guess I figure that if I can build an acoustic guitar from a log I can tackle restoring a little motorcycle and a Jeep. We will see how they come out.

With all that said, I want to let everyone know that I still am in the guitar making business. It is my true passion. If you have always wanted a custom guitar please don’t hesitate to contact me and we can talk about how you want your dream guitar to be.

I just wanted to post this about the constant e-mails I receive on my website that ask if I can teach people how to make guitars. I am flattered with the interest that so many people would love to be my apprentice. I unfortunately do not have the time to teach the many years of knowledge that I acquired through trial and error . I wish I had as many custom orders for guitars as I have had requests to learn the art of lutherie. If I did, I would become a very busy man with a very long waiting list. Thanks again for the interest in my craft. Don’t give up , keep looking

I finally got to deliver the benign cutaway to my favorite performing artist “Chris Tomlin”. Myself and my family were so excited to be able to meet Chris and give him this guitar. He really inspires me with his music and hopefully this guitar will inspire him to keep writing unbelievable songs and performing all over the world.

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Well I have put the first coats of lacquer on the benign cutaway. The lacquer on the Macassar Ebony  really reveals the black and brown stripes beautifully. The curly Koa bindings really match the ebony nicely. The Mahogany, Curly Maple, and Bubinga 5 piece neck looks really nice. I have put a  Walnut burl headstock , to match the Walnut burl armrest, and bound it with curly Koa and inlayed a brass peace dove with an abalone olive branch. I also am very happy with the figure in the bearclaw Sitka top. If everything works out this guitar will be playing all over the world.

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I have bound the benign cutaway with curly Koa. It has awesome figure that is a really nice contrast against the striped Macassar Ebony. I have also installed a WBW underside purfling with the binding and under the Walnut burl armrest.

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Well it’s been a long time since I made a post. I have been trying my hand at furniture making. I have made a small secretary desk for my daughter. It came out pretty nice but I think I will stick to guitar making. I have begun construction on 2 spec guitars to display in a local art gallery/guitar shop. One guitar is a DCS bent sides model that will have quilted mahogany back and sides and a quilted maple top. I will most likely put a sunburst on this guitar but I will wait and see when I get to that point. The other spec. guitar will have rosewood back and sides and either a western red cedar top or 30+ year old redwood. This guitar will be 000 cutaway 8 string.  I am incorporating a beveled armrest in the benign cutaway model and depending on how it turns out I will most likely install armrests on the two spec. guitars.

Here are some amazing pictures of John’s guitar taken by my friend who is also a “Molter Guitar” owner. If you think his pictures are fantastic you should hear him play guitar. He is a very talented man.

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