Antares' Guitars

[dnic]

I also posted right after your post saying nice try Dane. UM?

Well this is even more outstanding with every guitar you post. I really like the Sweet 16. It's funny that the two guitars that really stand out to me are the semi-hollows and I'm not much of a fan of playing them. To big with square edges. And the Sobell is just beautiful. I need to watch that video again. Thanks for posting all these Steve I had no idea how big a job it would be.

[dnic]

Hang in there Eddie! Life has not been kind to you lately. But your tough and you'll get through this.

[antares]

This one's from one of a cluster of Shanghai manufactories. The guy spinning these "Continental" cones is a bit of a genius. I mic'd the cone inside mine and it is 0.008" thick! The guitar in the image has a DPA 4000 series levalier microphone mounted inside to the cover plate just above the biscuit. The well known Highlander resonator pick ups are top of the tree, but a microphone (preferably an SM57) is the best way to amplify a reso- should you need to do that! A 12 fret biscuit bridge resonator, the guitar is an eponymous model sold by Michael Messer, an English blues and slide player. It's fair to say that he has influenced the resonator market, bringing to it in-depth knowledge that far exceeds the standard tin can peddlers that are leaping onto the bandwagon. <redacted pending permission> These instruments are the closest volume produced resonators to 1930s instruments and playing them illustrates that claim. They are actually something of a bargain.



Resonators are addictive beasts and in a number of respects are very different indeed from the CF Martin ethos which so influenced acoustic guitar manufacturing over the last century. They have more in common with machinery than "luthiery". When I got my resonator in early 2009, I played little else until I bought the Sobell ... 15-56 round core strings and a blue murano glass slide. ;<D

e&oe ...

[antares]

Dane semi-hollows are a guilty pleasure that for me arrived with age! Get in touch with those suppressed hollow tones. Dark in there is it? Come out of that closet! Seriously though, you must have concurred when you strung up that beyond beautiful 335 you made. There is a "thickness" to the tone that makes you feel as though you could balance a pick upright on them. "Tone" is so difficult to describe. I use D'Addario coated strings 12-52 (I think) on the Sweet16 and she just sings. When I first imported it from over your side, I immediately fitted Newtone double wound, round core jazz strings but they just didn't work with her. One day I fitted a spare set of D'Addarios and that was that. Being phosphor bronze they shouldn't "work" with a pickup, but they do. I think that the amplifier largely defines the sound you get, but semis and hollows exert a great deal more influence on an amp than solids do. $0.02 etc.

e&oe ...

[dnic]

That resonator, Wow! It looks amazing.

I cleaned and set up a 1968 ES-175 lately. Used Ernie Ball slinky 10's on it. It had a very woody tone that I really liked. And with the fresh set up played wonderfully. It was a treat to play a set with it. Didn't sound like much unplugged though and that would have been greatly improved with phosphor bronze strings.

I'm still planning on building an all mahogany 335 with rounded edges(no binding). Modified F holes and maybe even P-90s.

[antares]

Here's the Firebird. As previously noted, all the hardware has been nickel-ised (except the tuners) although I think this image pre-dates that work.



I wish I'd held out for a Firebird 5 purely on looks because I'd like to see a Lyre Vibrola, but this limited edition Guitar Centre "Guitar of the Month" came up. For such a solidly constructed neck through, it has a an "S" type reverby sort of sound and that goes very nicely with the hairy edge on the mini humbuckers' tone.

e&oe ...

[Deleted]

Some really great guitars!

 I like them all! LOL! I might need to fly out and help you play them all. HA!

 The one thing I can say about building and working on guitars is, I have played on some super nice guitars. Looking at yours makes me want to get what I have left out and play them all.

It would be so nice to hear some (if not all) of your guitars.

 It looks like I'll be putting my two projects on hold for a while. I need to get through this next faze of medical life. I might do what I can on them, but I won't be able to out them together.

 

Thanks so much for posting your guitars!

EB

[Deleted]

I don't want to hijack your thread. But I just have to post this.

This is my granddaughter Kendrah. She is playing a ukulele I built her 6 years ago.

This is her go to instrument. It's all mahogany (ribbon) This is the second one I built.

I made this one electric. It has a really nice sound to it. I think it sounds better now than when I first gave it to her.

 I had to post this.. It got to me seeing her playing it. She is getting ready to play it and sing some song this weekend.

She is so excited. The two I built where for my grandkids. They were the closet I'll get to making an acoustic guitar.

This one came out better than the first one. Fit and finish is better.

[antares]

Hey no problem EB, especially considering how many times I've swerved your threads!

Here's my ukulele to go with Kendrah's;



I cannot claim to have made it like you did! It's an Antonio Carvalho from Portugal. It's all solid timbers and has little or no finish on it. I planned on giving it the Tung Oil treatment as you may remember, but like pretty much everything it's part of the ten year plan! It was sold as "Koa"- Yeah right-O! Sounds sweet but the action is just a fuzz too high really. Awesome value for money at around a hundred bucks. No bling, just good workmanship and materials. Stewmac do ukulele kits and do you know I reckon I could just about give it a go- under the ten year plan of course!

Here's my fiddle. It's a nice one for a beginner, but it's lost on me!



I always said that if it has a steering wheel I can drive it- until I had a flying lesson in a Cesna that is ;<D. Likewise I've always said I can get a tune out of anything with strings- until I bought a fiddle that is! This was a $300 all solid hand lacquered instrument. A friend gave me a bow because I was searching eBay for a used violin, and when we Googled the bow, it turned out to have a value that could well eclipse my Sobell ... Ah well- a fool and his money are soon parted! I ought to set about trying to move that bow on to someone that really can play as opposed to my scratching and sawing!

e&oe ...

[dnic]

Good looking Uke Eddie!

Steve, I might try mandolin someday - well I play 3 or 4 chords on mando now - but I might buy or build one someday and actually try to play it a bit more honestly. Violin is absolutely out of the question as are all other fretless things. Although I really want to build a half fretless bass some day.

The uke looks very nice as does the violin. That reminds me, I started fixing a violin a few years ago that I need to get back on and get it home.

[dnic]

And oh yeah, that Firebird is a beauty. The wings look like ash but I can't tell what the neck is. Is it mahogany with a couple of ebony veneers running through it?

[antares]

Hi Dane, the wings are Zebrawood and the laminations are mahogany. They did another Firebird G.o.t.M that year (2007) that had maple wings and that design looks really cool. I just wish they'd gone ahead and fitted a Lyre Vibrola on them. Whenever I strap it on and rotate the wardrobe door mirror, I forget about my partings having a race to get to the back! Seriously- great pose value in addition to sound(s). John's penchant for Explorers is understandable!

e&oe ...

[antares]

Long post guys!

This is a Romanian Bouzouki. Hand made from quality maple (I think) with exemplary workmanship, and all for about $150 when I bought it. The company is known as "Hora" but this line was imported by a Scots person who negotiated with them to supply instruments without any cheap tat, hokey inlays, bling or staining on the fretboard. At the time he suggested that it would make a good basis for conversion to a cittern. I would prefer that and the neck is wider than necessary for the four courses so it's possible, but finding five-on-a-strip machine heads <that would fit> proved to be an insurmountable problem. I didn't want to weaken the headstock by extending the slots. I toyed with the idea of retro fitting two banjo tuners at the top of the headstock, but it's another casualty of that ten year plan. I did fit a cast Vietnamese made "something metal" tailpiece which was easily worth the effort and minimal expense, but it's not in the picture. Nor are the Austrian "Ebner" (I think?) machine heads that it is wearing these days It has a rather long scale length so is more comfortable to play with a capo at two and on up. I shall update the picture as it is now.



And now, meet "Nellie".



She's a mandolin. Perhaps a mandola would have been a better choice for working hands like ours? My Ukulele is concert size which is equivalent to a mandola. It was my experience with Nellie that led me to persue a concert sized uke. I can play Nellie OK, but occasionally chords like "A" are just too difficult to play with two fingers side by side. My initial classical training prevents me from using the thumb- they knock it out of you early! Nellie is hand built by a small volume very high quality luthier in the north west of England. It's called a Signature Octavius made by the "Fylde" company. A couple of grand will get you one fairly close to the specification of Nellie nowadays. All solid spruce, rosewood and ebony.

I swapped the miserable piece of gold plated tinware masquerading as an excuse for a tailpiece for a beautiful polished bronze one imported from the "Allen" company in The USA which was well worth the effort visually, but of little consequence tonally. Just sayin' like. I shall update this picture too to reflect that and edit this text to suit. I say "excuse" because the company had no right to put such abject tat on an instrument that cost around $1000 even back then. I note the current offerings have addressed that situation and rightly so. I do remember that I approached the company about selling me one of their new cast tailpieces, but he hemmed and hawed and I just thought "Meh- forget about it". It's not as though I was after a freebie or wanted to interrupt his production by asking him to fit it. "Move along now- nothing to see here." He was about the same back when I wanted to visit the factory and purchase Nellie direct from him- harassed and evasive. You get a superb quality instrument, but you don't get any of their much vaunted "personal service" whatever their publicity maintains. (Unless you're a "name" I guess?) These guys are very busy but the personal efforts of Stefan Sobell totally eclipse my experience with Nellie. Stefan makes beyond divine mandolins and citterns too, but I wasn't aware of him back then. Rant over guys! I wouldn't be without Nellie so when all's said and done, thank you Roger ...

About 15 years ago we went to Tuscany for Best Beloved's 50th and I took Nellie with me because you could still get away with that on an aeroplane back then. Great memories of mandolin sounds floating across the olive groves. Sigh.

e&oe ...

[Deleted]

Feb 27, 2020 3:09:53 GMT -6 antares said:

Long post guys!

This is a Romanian Bouzouki. Hand made from quality maple (I think) with exemplary workmanship, and all for about $150 when I bought it. The company is known as "Hora" but this line was imported by a Scots person who negotiated with them to supply instruments without any cheap tat, hokey inlays, bling or staining on the fretboard. At the time he suggested that it would make a good basis for conversion to a cittern. I would prefer that and the neck is wider than necessary for the four courses so it's possible, but finding five-on-a-strip machine heads <that would fit> proved to be an insurmountable problem. I didn't want to weaken the headstock by extending the slots. I toyed with the idea of retro fitting two banjo tuners at the top of the headstock, but it's another casualty of that ten year plan. I did fit a cast Vietnamese made "something metal" tailpiece which was easily worth the effort and minimal expense, but it's not in the picture. Nor are the Austrian "Ebner" (I think?) machine heads that it is wearing these days It has a rather long scale length so is more comfortable to play with a capo at two and on up. I shall update the picture as it is now.



And now, meet "Nellie".



She's a mandolin. Perhaps a mandola would have been a better choice for working hands like ours? My Ukulele is concert size which is equivalent to a mandola. It was my experience with Nellie that led me to persue a concert sized uke. I can play Nellie OK, but occasionally chords like "A" are just too difficult to play with two fingers side by side. My initial classical training prevents me from using the thumb- they knock it out of you early! Nellie is hand built by a small volume very high quality luthier in the north west of England. It's called a Signature Octavius made by the "Fylde" company. A couple of grand will get you one fairly close to the specification of Nellie nowadays. All solid spruce, rosewood and ebony.

I swapped the miserable piece of gold plated tinware masquerading as an excuse for a tailpiece for a beautiful polished bronze one imported from the "Allen" company in The USA which was well worth the effort visually, but of little consequence tonally. Just sayin' like. I shall update this picture too to reflect that and edit this text to suit. I say "excuse" because the company had no right to put such abject tat on an instrument that cost around $1000 even back then. I note the current offerings have addressed that situation and rightly so. I do remember that I approached the company about selling me one of their new cast tailpieces, but he hemmed and hawed and I just thought "Meh- forget about it". It's not as though I was after a freebie or wanted to interrupt his production by asking him to fit it. "Move along now- nothing to see here." He was about the same back when I wanted to visit the factory and purchase Nellie direct from him- harassed and evasive. You get a superb quality instrument, but you don't get any of their much vaunted "personal service" whatever their publicity maintains. (Unless you're a "name" I guess?) These guys are very busy but the personal efforts of Stefan Sobell totally eclipse my experience with Nellie. Stefan makes beyond divine mandolins and citterns too, but I wasn't aware of him back then. Rant over guys! I wouldn't be without Nellie so when all's said and done, thank you Roger ...

About 15 years ago we went to Tuscany for Best Beloved's 50th and I took Nellie with me because you could still get away with that on an aeroplane back then. Great memories of mandolin sounds floating across the olive groves. Sigh.

e&oe ...

Something is wrong with the pictures you are posting. They seem to be broken images.

EB

[Deleted]

Feb 26, 2020 22:08:02 GMT -6 dnic said:

Good looking Uke Eddie!

Steve, I might try mandolin someday - well I play 3 or 4 chords on mando now - but I might buy or build one someday and actually try to play it a bit more honestly. Violin is absolutely out of the question as are all other fretless things. Although I really want to build a half fretless bass some day.

The uke looks very nice as does the violin. That reminds me, I started fixing a violin a few years ago that I need to get back on and get it home.

Thanks Dane!