FOLLOW MY BUILDS
See some of my work in progress from my Facebook feed.
A tune from our soon to be released 4th album! www.frogandtoadmusic.com
22 CommentsComment on Facebook
Looking forward to the new tunes!
Sweet!!! I can’t wait to get the new album!!!!!
Nice tune, lovely tone, played well on great guitars. Beautiful
European maple, Carpathian spruce, ebony bound 3 ingredient Nautilus.
42 CommentsComment on Facebook
Just amazing, of course... every build is simply a beautiful build... this one is no exception... that's one thing I've noticed, Ben, is the absolute consistency with which you create these little masterpieces... and the wonderful sound emanating from these instruments... such richness of tone, such clarity and sustain, such elegance in form... (except for these few words, we are, once again, left speechless...)
Beautiful guitar, I love it, do you ever put electronics in your guitars?
When I am running on fumes in the shop all I have to do is watch one of your videos and I am inspired to get back at it!
Here is a bridge ready to be glued to the top. I shoot my lacquer with a thin mask of frisket tape covering the bridge area. This tape is cut 1/32” smaller all around than the footprint of the bridge. To compensate for the thickness of the finish (~.005”), I cut a very delicate rabbet around the perimeter of the bridge. It is my goal that the fit between these two surfaces should be as exact as possible. The second photo shows the bridge lying dry-fit on the top. There are no gaps, and that means that there is no forcing of this fit with clamps, and no weird extraneous tensions are incorporated into the top. I want the only tension in the whole guitar to come from the strings.
12 CommentsComment on Facebook
Gorgeous top. Adirondack I'm guessing. Is this for a multi scale set up?
I’m enjoying your educational tutorials on how you craft these beauties! Truly a master at work!
I'd still clamp it when I glue that bridge in
To coat, or not to coat? The outside of a guitar is finished, but traditionally the inside is not. On the one hand, finishing the interior adds weight, is time consuming, and makes future repairs like cleating more difficult. On the other hand interior finishing makes the wood less subject to uneven humidity-change reactions, looks lovely and keeps porous woods from wicking exterior finish through the pores to the inside. I let the latter be my guide, and only finish the inside if it is likely to become blotchy from bleed-through. Since my design allows you to see right in, I don’t want it to be unsightly. Very vain, I’m sure, but I want it to look nice in there. I use Rubio monocoat these days, which can be applied so thinly that the added weight is negligible, and as far as future repairs go, well, that can be addressed in the future.
70 CommentsComment on Facebook
Rubio for the win. As always, spectacular work my friend.
That is THE most beautiful slab of koa I’ve seen!
Ben! There is nothing vain about making something as beautiful and perfect as it can be! It's the pleasure we receive in a job well done!
Green!
19 CommentsComment on Facebook
Ooo reconstituted turquoise??
That green really complements the (is it mahogany?); it’s impressive to me when someone finds a color that compliments the build when it isn’t an undertone in the other components of the build.
Beautiful!! Curious, have you ever had a client request a guitar made from myrtle wood? How do you feel about it as a tone wood?
I’m making a couple guitars bound in green and ebony. These are the little pre-bent, pre-laminated parts I make to bind the fingerboard and headstock.
I also make the purfling and bindings for the body.
8 CommentsComment on Facebook
Wait. Green ebony?
I've used green and black before and it looks sharp. Good work!
I can’t wait to see the finished results! That’s going to be beautiful!
A complete rim assembly for the current Nautilus. This is the skeleton of the guitar, and, ideally, I’ve configured it so that large portions of the torque from the neck is dissipated into this structure, rather than into the top of the instrument. This is a koa model, and the laminated sides are composed of three parts: the beautiful curly koa exterior, a maple core at 90 degrees to the face, and a humble unfigured ply of koa on the inside. This sandwich is by no means indestructible, but it’s worlds stronger than a traditional single ply side.
22 CommentsComment on Facebook
Ben, do you resaw the veneers for the sides yourself or purchase them in a veneer thickness from somewhere?
Is the hard maple inner layer quarter sawn with the grain perpendicular to the grain of the outside and inside layers? Sounds like it. Where do you find maple long enough with the grain going this way for a side?
Nice. I laminate my sides too, but I only use two layers. I also make solid (laminated) linings. I find that using solid linings makes a huge difference in stiffness.
Gluing the blocks into a Nautilus body. Many clamps, but strategically placed. I use the inside of the body to make a go-bar press to glue in the difficult triangular block in the cutaway point.
8 CommentsComment on Facebook
Are they double or triple laminated sides?
I’d like to see inside the mind of yours. ❤️
such a beautiful shape to that instrument!
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.
29 CommentsComment on Facebook
Is that clear packaging tape you use over the area for the bridge, and if so do you place the bridge on top of it and trace it with a razor?
I mean, it’s ok, I guess. (I’m just trying to keep you grounded after all the accolades this post earned you. The piece is absolutely gorgeous.) ♥️
OMG. Always been jealous of your tone,build quality,desgin n clean work. 😁😁😁. Sir really love your work
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
How does this work with a multi scale fretboard?
That’s the sharpest idea I have seen in a long time.
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
29 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!