Ressler Guitars
The Birth of Paul Zahasky's Guitar (2011)
by John Ressler
Sides are bent and in the form. If you look closely, you will see that the linings are solid vs. the typical kerved linings. This adds considerable stiffness to the rims which gives a solid foundation which helps the top resonate at its full potential.
The back is cut out and braced (you like the pretty towel?)
Back and sides are Indian Laurel – this will be gorgeous under finish
An X-Brace on the back is a unique feature on my guitars. It helps to add stiffness and extra support to the widest part of the back. Braces are Adirondak Spruce
My dog, Cassie, has given her stamp of approval
The back has been fit and now the back can be glued to the sides. It takes about 40 clamps for this process.
The X-Brace and the Transverse brace have been glued and carved. We are now ready to glue and carve the remaining braces
The top braces and bridge plate have been carved, fit to the sides and ready to be glued on to the sides.
I put a seal coat of Shellac on the inside of the guitar. I think this helps protect the guitar body from the elements – especially from those cold Alaska winters and the many trips in the bus.
Secret message written under the top
Top is glued on and trimmed to the sides. It is starting
to look like a guitar! The top is Adirondak Spruce.
Neck has been cut out from a solid piece of 3" thick Honduran
Mahogany. I am beginning the carving process.
Here I am practicing my levitation skills (actually held on a device with vacuum) Actually I am fitting the neck to the sides and getting the correct neck angle. The center slot in the neck is for the truss rod. The smaller slots on each side of the truss rod are for carbon fiber rods, which will add significant strength to the neck, without adding weight. This will also reinforce the headstock which will help prevent it from breaking in the unlikely event that you would ever drop the guitar!
This is a closer up view of the top showing the bindings and purfling. The bindings are Ebony and the purfling on the top is abalone shell . The rosette is showing off the beautiful Indian Laurel grain and color. I made this from scrap from the back and sides. Scroll down for close up views of the rosette and purfling
Here is a close up of the Rosette. Notice the Abalone Shell purflings surrounding both sides of the rosette. The sound hole is also bound with a strip of Indian Laurel.
Here is a close up of the Abalone Shell purfling. There is a maple/black strip next to the ebony binding, then the abalone shell, then finishes with a black strip next to the top. It is sort of hard to see here, but the shell really sparkles under finish.
Here is a view of the end graft of the guitar. The mitered purflings frame the sides. The ebony binding and end wedge really complement the dark stripes in the wood. Notice how the book matched grain of the wood matches on both sides. (Don't worry about the glue spots – they will be long gone by the time you see this.
This is showing the neck with the ebony headstock veneer and he holes for the tuners are drilled out. The black stripes that you see on the neck are the carbon fiber rods inserted for strength.
Here is the completed inlaid headstock. I wiped some Naptha over it to give a better idea of what it will look like under finish. This will really shine!
Now our attention will turn back to completing the neck. I like to insert a spline in the tenon to prevent the bolt anchors from breaking the fragile end grain. I also insert a 2" long dowel into the end of the heel to prevent it from breaking. This will be covered by the heel cap
The frets are installed, leveled and polished. The bridge is located and drilled for the bridge pins.
The final step is to go over the whole guitar with magnifiers and a 300 watt light bulb in order to find and fix any small chips, cracks or dents. Once this is done, the neck will be removed and shipped in a crush proof box to my friend Joe White, who does the most amazing guitar finishes! This will be gorgeous under finish (and will sound great too!)
Stay tuned for the final update!
