Copying the rosette

I will apologize now for the quality of the images in most of the posts to come.  If I am going to be able to do this and keep up my rhythm of work I can take quick and dirty shots with my cell phone and post them straight up.  On the other hand I will try to take better shots of guitars that come in for restoration.

I had to play around a bit before I figured out exactly how to make this one.  I consulted a few of the more experienced guitar makers here in Granada but no one had ever done anything like this before.  In the end a luthier friend turned these ebony tubes on the lathe and that solved some of the problem.

Full size photos from Article

Photos:  Marian Peón

More photos Arias

Just a few more photos.

How flexible is too much?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgF9XqWmlTg

One of the secrets of a great spanish guitar is the flexibility you can get without having deformations.  This guitar is 110 years old and is holding its curves extremely well.  On the other hand look how supple it is.