Friday, April 28, 2017

While My Guitar Gently Weeps

My son's favourite song is George Harrison's "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" ... I too love this song and would listen to it on my parents' stereo with the headset on when I was in my teens ;)

My son Kevin is turning 19 next month. He's been playing guitar since he was eight years old. He still plays with the same instructor, John, except now his lessons have become more of a jam session on Friday evenings. It's a nice friendship that has built up between them, and John has shared and encouraged my son's love of music. I doubt the guitar playing will lead to anything career wise, but when I walk past Kevin's room and hear him quietly playing guitar along with something on youtube, it lifts my heart.

Kevin has collected a few guitars over the years. His first guitar was tiny ... and blue. It fell apart a year or so after we bought it, but it really was just a toy. We then bought him a three-quarter size acoustic guitar when he was still small. He then bought himself an electric guitar with money earned from his paper route. A couple of years ago we bought him a full-sized acoustic guitar ... something he could play around the campfire. 

In a woodworking class Kevin took in grade 11, he decided he was going to make an electric guitar. His dad was all over that since he enjoys woodworking himself. The plans quickly started to take shape with Kevin doing all the work, and my husband helping him use the woodworking tools here at home when the shop tools at school weren't adequate. He decided to have a veneer of "tiger maple" or as my son prefers to call it "flame maple". This refers to the grain of the wood. He knew what colours he wanted the guitar, and with this vision in his head he got to work.


This is what he finally finished for the woodworking class (above). I know. It didn't get finished before school ended that summer. You can sort of see the ripples in the flame maple that are skinny lines from side to side of the wood. It's a veneer glued onto the solid wood backing, and it was all cut out and sanded and sanded and sanded. The shape is modeled after a Fender telecaster, but with a slightly different shape. 

What with one excuse and another, the guitar was left in this state for quite a while. Finally, Kevin and my husband picked up working on it again. It has been the most agonizing thing Kevin has worked on with respect to the finishing details. He decided it would be dyed (not stained) black. Many a youtube video was watched to figure out all these details. He dyed the guitar, sanded it, dyed it again, wasn't happy with the finish, sanded it right back to bare wood, dyed it again and again! He was so particular about it and it was driving me crazy to see him come upstairs after working on it and explain to me all the agonizing details. Then the hardware had to be purchased ... another drawn out process to get exactly what he wanted at a reasonable price. He purchased the neck too since he'd read they are really tricky to make and he didn't feel he wanted to get into that with his "first" guitar.

Happily though, the guitar is now finished ... and it looks spectacular! 


I really have to get it outside to take a decent photo of it with my phone :[ but here are some shots that I took in the late afternoon sunshine ...


The flames in the maple showed up so well with the dye. Kevin was thrilled with the final results. There are so many coats of varnish on this thing that I lost count. He even had a plastic tent set up in the basement to keep any tiny bits of dust from falling onto it between coats. 


The pick guard isn't exactly what he wanted, but these are interchangeable, and he may find something that he likes better later on. He really wanted a bright red pick guard, but I personally like this reddish wood look myself.


He took it in to show John last week, and between them they got it all strung and tuned to perfection. I think they both enjoyed the process as John had a few little trade secrets to share.

three favourite guitars
I was going to take photos of all the different stages as Kevin worked on this, but I was afraid of dropping dust on any of the finishes, so I just took that one and left it alone.

Now Kevin is talking about what he's going to do with his next guitar ... oh boy!


Thanks for stopping by today!

Wendy






23 comments:

  1. Oh my Wendy, he did a fantastic job? Does he like how it sounds? I love music, but am not musical at all. My husband used to play piano and now dabbles in guitar, and both my kids play serious piano. I, like you, just love listening to them.
    Have a great day and weekend,
    Andrea

    ReplyDelete
  2. It's fantastic. My husband, whose father was a professional musician, played guitar for a while as a child, but gave it up. About 8 years ago I bought him a guitar and he taught himself to play and he loves it. He wants more than anything to make his own guitar.
    Your son is to be commended, the guitar is just wonderful.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hello Wendy, that is one of my favorite songs too. Your son did a wonderful job on the guitar , it is beautiful. Happy Friday, enjoy your weekend!

    ReplyDelete
  4. What a gorgeous guitar! Kudos to your son on a job well done.

    ReplyDelete
  5. What a fantastic guitar, well done to your son he has done a great job. My boys both learnt classic guitar when they were younger but they hardly play now which is such a shame. Have a great weekend Wendy. :) xx

    ReplyDelete
  6. It is a thing of beauty Wendy. I should think that Kevin is really proud. My youngest son has played guitar for some years now but he doesn't play so often anymore. I used to like to hear him play.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Wow, what a gorgeous guitar! I'm so glad to hear about his guitar playing. Both of my children play the guitar, having started lessons at 6 years old. Now at 11 and 8, they are doing really well with it. My son started private lessons this year, having graduated from the group lessons his sister still attends. I hope they will play for life. Your son is very talented in many ways! I am sure you're very proud.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Congrats to your son - that is a real labor of love!
    I played guitar for many years - first a classical Yamaha that I bought myself when I was a teenager, then several acoustics ending with a couple of Martins, and for a while a black Strat that I did not own and which the owner stubbornly insisted on taking back (the nerve of him). When I lived in Colorado, I even had the opportunity to play a number of Novotny handbuilt acoustic guitars, which was a revelation. But in all those years, I don't think there was EVER a time when I had the urge to build a guitar! Hat's off to your boy :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Wow, it is beautiful, job well done by your son.

    ReplyDelete
  10. This is amazing, Wedny, talent runs in your family. And I know what I'll be humming for the rest of the day :-)
    Amalia
    xo

    ReplyDelete
  11. Wow! The guitar looks fabulous. Your son's handiwork never ceases to amaze me!

    ReplyDelete
  12. What an accomplishment to build your own guitar and it looks amazing! He can sit in our garden by the pond and play soothing music any time.

    ReplyDelete
  13. What a phenomenal job, Wendy!! It was definitely worth the wait!! Your son is so talented!! I took guitar for a few years when I was about 10. My guitar teacher had a baby and stopped giving lessons. I wish I would've stuck with it. The good thing is that it's one of those instruments where you can self teach. YouTube videos are great for that!! Have a wonderful rest of your weekend. xo

    ~ Wendy
    http://Crickleberrycottage.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  14. That must have been a labor of love. A friend of mine has built his own acoustic guitar and it is a beautiful instrument.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Wow! Your son is amazing! Not only can he play the guitar, but he can create a phenomenal one, too! It really is beautiful! xx Karen

    ReplyDelete
  16. What a lovely post.
    The guitar looks amazing.

    All the best Jan

    ReplyDelete
  17. How fantastic!!! Kevin did an amazing job on it!! It might - obviously was! - an awful lot of work, but the results speak for themselves and it was well worth it. I hope that he loves playing it for many a year, perhaps this will be the start of great new guitar making things to come, at least it will be a lot of fun to play and have the memory of the making. I would never have imagined making your own guitar, this is wonderful!

    ReplyDelete
  18. WOW and WOW! Girl, just looking at them I would have thought they were real! Love the detail! So sweet. Hugs and blessings,Cindy

    ReplyDelete
  19. Your son did a fantastic job on his guitar! The time he took to get things just right really paid off.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Hi Wendy, your son did a beautiful job on the guitar. Definitely something he can be proud of and hopefully he keeps it for many years to come. I'm guessing he's a perfectionist? LOL!! Enjoy your weekend.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks so much for leaving a comment, it's nice to know when you've stopped by! :)

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...