FOLLOW MY BUILDS
See some of my work in progress from my Facebook feed.
Clean as a bean! About halfway through the lacquering process on this European maple and Carpathian spruce Nautilus. I actually have to go over the whole critter with a jeweler’s loupe to make sure there is no ebony imbedded in the pores, but the results are worth it. This one will meet the dress code.
18 CommentsComment on Facebook
Ben, in the event that you detect some of that pesky ebony dust, what do you find is the most effective method for removing it?
A formal beauty!
Glad you are using loupes!!! Haha.
Life is too short for dinking around measuring frets. I made this adjustable jig so that I could adapt to various fretboard widths, and cut the frets to just the right length where my fret nippers cut the tang just inside the binding. Note that the holes have to be spaced using the same math that is used to determine fret spacing. It is close enough to use for various scale lengths as well. Today I’m using it for approximately the 225th time. It works!
17 CommentsComment on Facebook
That’s the sharpest idea I have seen in a long time.
How does this work with a multi scale fretboard?
Caution ⚠️ Genius at work 👌
I had the very good fortune of working for David Daily, the classical guitar builder, when I was starting out. He taught me an awful lot about building. Vestiges of his classical influence are still all over my designs- such as this method of end grafting with a bit of the back strip. I just like the minimal and sensible solution to this joint.
21 CommentsComment on Facebook
Your skill sets and attention to detail are paramount. Such patience and dedication to your work. Well done! 🎶
Can you send me a photo of what you’re doing at the waist? That looks interesting.
Ben Wilborn, with how careful you are with detail, precision and symmetry, you would have made a great dentist!
Scraping the chamfer into the ebony soundhole bevel on this Nautilus. By the way, this little scraper, which I cut out of a regular card scraper, is one of the most used and most useful tools in my shop. Note that it has one 90 degree angle, one obtuse and one acute angle, and one rounded edge. This thing is the best for small work, glue cleanup, refining binding channels, etc. Make one!
19 CommentsComment on Facebook
You might want to try making them from old hand saw blades…. My grandfather made them from his grandfather’s mid 1800s ”Coffin maker’s” saw… And I still make mine from the same blade… The edge holding and consistency is fantastic..
Pretty cool how you can get that tapered so perfectly by hand. I am sure no two come out exactly the same making each guitar a little different.
How do you cut them?
Meanwhile, I shot the last coat of lacquer on this Nautilus yesterday. It will cure for 10 days, then I will level sand and buff it out. This is Palo Escrito, a rosewood from Mexico that I’ve never used before. It’s fairly lightweight as rosewoods go, but it is incredibly lively. I think this will be a very responsive instrument. Carpathian spruce top.
16 CommentsComment on Facebook
The blue foam rubber actually matches really nicely color-wise
Unlike all those guitars you make that are unresponsive and dead-sounding. 🙄❤️
Wow, another gorgeous instrument, Ben! What is the blue on the interior? Is that to prevent the lacquer from getting inside?
The binding surgery continues on this white Nautilus. Fitting the soundhole surround is the hardest part, and the better part of a day’s work for me. The comma is cut from solid ebony, and sits on a rabbet in the top. It’s quite sturdy. Also that long curved miter is a bit of an undertaking. But now it’s done and I am happy.
40 CommentsComment on Facebook
If I qualified for make a wish foundation, I'd ask for a wilborn nautilus cuz this is perfection
I love seeing the pictures with each step! Absolutely spectacular, artistry, and precision!!!
That’s beautiful nice job
Building a European maple and spruce guitar with ebony bindings is about the most demanding white-glove woodworking you can undertake. No pomegranates, no Cheetos. Every little errant bit of dark dust and dirt it just striving to imbed itself in the pristine whiteness, and repairs from tool slippage are pretty much out of the question. Very intense.
79 CommentsComment on Facebook
Would love to hear this one. Loving maple more and more.
Very impressive and tedious work. Looking forward to seeing the finished piece!🎶
I love and fear working on the really white maple. The results make the effort worth while. Black binding really pops the maple with it's contrast but sure is a pain to keep the dust off the maple.
Happy Holidays from Frog and Toad, and Wilborn Guitars!
frogandtoadmusic.com
28 CommentsComment on Facebook
Thank you Ben and Brad 🎶🖐🏼🎶 That was quite fun and festive…even with those knees, Brad 😁 I’d like to request the theme song from “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” next…..or better yet, how about an entire Christmas Album??? Merry Christmas to my favorite amphibian-musicians 🐸🐸
When is the holiday album release?
You two are great! ❤️🎶 Have a wonderful holiday season!
www.wilbornguitars.com. www.frogandtoadmusic.com
35 CommentsComment on Facebook
lovely as usual but this tune seems especially appropriate to the season
The tone brother,love the resonate mids and sparkling highs ,projects real well, .The first time I listened to a demo the sound impressed me ,I dismissed it thinking it's a alternate tuning .Maybe you have some trick recording gear .I m starting to think these instruments are actually that resonate and sweet ,excellent job .By the way what's the starting digit for one of those gems?
Fantastic sound and arrangement! The Mahogany on your guitar is so light!!!
Here is the back of my current Nautilus. The leg bevel is completed, the rib bevel is yet to be tiled. I use a sort of radial mosaic of tiles for my bevels, cut from thin ebony stock.
I can’t wait to see the grain of this curly mahogany jump out when I apply the pore filler.
15 CommentsComment on Facebook
A bit more extravagant than your normal builds. Is this a spec guitar, or a customer ordered model?
Beauty. Can you explain "a sort of radial mosaic of tiles" a little more? I had assumed those were a single piece.
Here's me thinking it was Maple, no idea Mahogany was so light coloured! You could make me one out of plastic and no doubt would still sound amazing! Dogs knocked over an Avian Songbird, sad to see in two pieces. Appears a bolt on neck with no glue whatsoever. Clean break at the weak point of the heel where the threaded insert lay. Bit of Titebond later, blows away K Yairi's, Alvarez, Ibanez and a Custom build. Thought I had nice guitars, the Mathew Vincent Jenkins has such a thin top, strum it go for a coffee, comes back and it's still singing. Some kind of carbon fibre Bracing from body to neck. Shame it has such a square neck that I can't cope with as it looks gorgeous and sounds gorgeous. Late in life a Porsche or one of yours, has me in a quandry,lol. Just up the road are Taran Guitars in Scotland, beautiful, expensive and sought after but after hearing yours, know where my money would be going (if I had that kind of money). Unless I'm mistaken, very few Luthiers can actually play as well as yourself. Love your Videos. Sorry for being longwinded if out of place but your guitars are in another League.
Carpathian spruce over Brazo.
34 CommentsComment on Facebook
Yes! Do a video on the language of lutherie/guitars! I find many of the terms are used interchangeably & oh how that confuses me. Lovely BRW set ... never seen a set this light in color.
Incredible as always Ben!! Your genuine passion for the craft and music always comes through!
Wow, incredible. No sound effects right? It all sounds 100% natural. That's crazy
I just shot the final coat of lacquer onto this Nautilus. After it cures, a final very fine wet sanding and buffing will bring the finish up to near optical perfection. It’s taken me almost 25 years of shooting lacquer (and other finishes) to get my off-the-gun surface this smooth, and it has been a sometimes terrible battle with much gnashing of teeth. This one was very cooperative, happily.
53 CommentsComment on Facebook
Oof, wow, Ben. These just keep getting more scrumptious!
The lack of humidity gives me fits when I spray a finish.
Très jolie, et le son?
This will be available at the B.I.G. Guitar Festival in New Braunfels TX. Ahem. Next week. PM or comment for info on this, the best guitar show in the world!!
27 CommentsComment on Facebook
I could watch your videos all day. Your passion and enthusiasm is so much fun to watch, not to mention your amazing guitar playing. I’m 73, been playing since I was 9 and before I die I hope I have the honor of playing one of your incredible instruments. Hope you get to keep this one Ben.
I’ve loved all your guitars. This one has something special to it. Great tone! See you next week.
Yessir, I DO own a Wilborn guitar, I'm proud to say. And I am humble enough to say, I DO NOT play like you!
Woodworking is complete on this snazzy looking Nautilus. I love the water intrusion stains on this set, and was lucky enough to have an appropriate looking Brazilian headstock veneer to match it. The top is Carpathian spruce. Next time you see this, it will have a beautiful glossy nitrocellulose finish, and then the figure of the grain will really stand out.
10 CommentsComment on Facebook
Wow, really looking forward to seeing in person at the show soon!
Wow that's a killer set of Brazilian. Can't wait to see it finished.
Yes! The water oxidization makes this such a charismatic individual piece! I love it.
Another Nautilus entering the home stretch. Carpathian spruce over Brazilian.
36 CommentsComment on Facebook
Probably the best set of brazilian I have ever seen . Glad its part of a Nautilus.
Absolutely beautiful Ben you’re such a craftsman
Beautiful design, but how would i use this guitar in a live situation? Are there feedback busters (sound hole block/cover) for this type of holes?
Prepped for purfling and binding.
12 CommentsComment on Facebook
Wow looks great. Cocobolo?
So if I am seeing this correctly, you laminate your sides?
What you do is so incredibly difficult...