67 résultats trouvés pour Tony Francis

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Great to see you back Flo!

Salut Tom,

Of course I remember! I hope you are doing well!

I sent Keith at Tapastring one of my reproduction endpins, so he can make a pin with an exacting fit for your vintage Weissenborn and also available in Ivoroid by request, the same material as the original guitars.

Best,

TF

tomlaroye a écrit:

Salut,
moi aussi j'aimerais installer le Mag Mic sur ma weiss originale style 1, mais j'ai 3 questions qui me traversent l'esprit:

-Est ce qu'il va falloir que j'agrandisse le petit trou pin arrière de la caisse pour le jack femelle, si je veux l'installer en permanent ?

-Est ce que mon instrument ne va pas perdre de la valeur si je dois faire quelconque modif ?

-Le son acoustique en est il vraiment changé, une fois le pick up installé dans la rosace ?

Merci de vos précieux conseils.

Tom

http://www.tapastring.com/vintagejack.htm - Keith will do these as a special order in Ivoroid, as close as possible to the original shape.

Thanks for your comments and PMs everyone!

Mig, my French is not the best but I think you are asking about my rope marquetry. As you can see on the first page of this thread, I make it specifically for my own guitars and as vintage replacement for repair - primarily because it is not commercially available. I also sell small amounts to other luthiers by request.

Jack - right, absolutely! Although I would say this is classic old world technique widely practiced up until the war. While many makes today use a forced arch, it completely changes the voice of the instrument which isn't for everyone musically.

Thanks again and all the best,

Tony Francis

Back to production!

Our special mid 1920s spec marquetry you saw earlier is bent and fitted to the body:





Fretboard and inlay:



Ca.1925 make Green turban inlays period correct:



Glued into place, hide glue throughout of course:





Fretboard glued:



Ready for Varnish!







Killer, eh!?

Best,

Tony Francis

Jack a écrit:

Ok Francis, merci .
But how do you controls the arch ? Perhaps on this picture, the work table is dug as a solera that is used to give the arch classical guitars ?
I noticed on a top or on a back completely flat creates a natural dome before gluing to the Sides ..
Your back have a arch ?
Yes, again pics
(sorry for my English... )

Dear Jack,

My apologies for not getting back to this sooner! I took these images that I hope help.

So this is my gluing mold, as you can see its arched only minimally. The arch is stronger transverse than longitudinal. The second shot isn't really so great because my straight edge is only 18 inches long, so it looks weaker than it actually is. The arch however, is not really created by the mold as such. The woods are air dried and very dry (stored in the hot box) for some time before I get to use them. I keep and eye on the moon phases and only ever glue when the air is naturally very dry. The hide glue construction combined with the low humidity creates the arch and indeed is a critical a detail in terms of the sound of the instruments and their longevity.





Here is the leveled box.



Top arch.







As always, the back arch is much stronger than the top but from the same mold.





Vault.





Best,

Tony Francis

Right - the Style 4 has a significant impression crack to the back plate. This was formerly owned by a client who returned the guitar to the dealer because of this issue, primarily because it was not disclosed and important from a collectability point of view. Still, it remains a killer instrument for a musician with still serious collectability, and indeed a classic 1930's example with the simple but striped Koa grain and typical inlay and other features typical for those late models.

Best,

Tony Francis

Citation :

Effectivement il y a une différente mais qui reste assez minime je trouve. Enfin je pense avant tout que l'acheteur est séduit par la forme plutôt que le son d'une teardrop. C'est plus rare de voir une teardrop.

Thats fair. Buying such an instrument because they look cool is legit!

Thanks for posting the video Nero, I hope you don't mind if I post a few thoughts. Because the recording quality of that video is so low, unfortunately its not a great representation of the instruments featured.

Thomas and I have talked about the differences at great length, and until such time as we get a better "A / B " type recording made, the best description we have herd is how Ben Harper put it in the Fretboard Journal article; He said "a Teardrop is like a Weissenborn with a compressor, it tightens up the bottom and the high end is a bit sharper".

Indeed this is an incredibly acute description, but if you are not familiar with recording it can seem a bit vague - perhaps another way to describe it would be a more piercing high end, since it remains a very articulate throughout the range.

However, its critical to know that not all vintage Teardrops were made the same. By the 1930's Weissenborn was fitting some of his Teardrop models with Mango or Koa wood bridge plates, rather than the typical maple bridge plate. Mango and Koa are a softer, warmer woods, and that's how they sound - producing and instrument that is more balanced over the entire range.



As to which is preferable, Hourglass vs Teardrop? Musically they are an incredible pair, with different instruments offering a different voice. Its like choosing between two kids in the same family - you would take them both!

bernott a écrit:

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Great pictures Bernott. It is my understanding these markings are not numbers but refer to the layout of the plates during construction, and according to my farther are traditional craftsmans markings. This is the "top/inside", and there is also a fish shaped symbol that refers to "back/inside" - typically just below the soundhole on the treble side of the lower bout.



In George (Tom) Noes wonderful book, he refers to the pencil marks indicating the perfect matching of the Koa wood plates. Curiously, these have always appeared to be penciled on post thickness sanding - a detail I am still trying to figure out!



Stamped numbers are rare and its hard to say if they are factory original - perhaps added by Stadlmair or Tonk Bros as part of distribution.

This Teardrop belongs to a friend and is just one serial number away from your instrument!



Another later Teardrop, replaced tuners:



Style 1 - this guitar had no other stamp at the peghead:



Best,

Tony Francis

Jack a écrit:

Great pictures thank you !!
Tonny, the top is flat or curved like guitars ? ( with curved brace )

Salut Jack,

The top is what we would call a flat top, although it has some arch. The braces are flat and the arch is created mostly with humidity, old style. If you would like, I can take some pics before I do the marquetry next week.

Best,

Tony

philou66 a écrit:

Yes, Many thanks for these explanations and all those pictures...
It seems to be so easy to build a weissenborn!!!
(Is it so easy? )

Well I guess making the box is not difficult per se, but like any craft the devil is in the detail. The Weissenborn is essentially a simple design, and I still find it hard to believe how many builders continually get it so wrong. Like so many great designs that appear simple, they reveal more and more detail the more you get into them.

It has often been said there are no neck joints or angles to worry about, which I disagree with. Maintaining correct geometry in such a long and thin rim with minimal tension can be exceedingly difficult, and neck angle is a critical part of the instruments stability and playability long term.

There are also many things I could not show you easily in pictures, such as the top graduations, plate arching, vault and general fit and finish. These kind of details take time to comprehend and master, and indeed it is these kind of details that separate instruments into different classes.

But I guess anyone can make an instrument, which is cool. And this Summer I am teaching an Ukulele building school which is a really great and wonderfully forgiving instrument to start with.

Back plate ready for bracing.



Holly brand strips.














That is the body work done. Next will be the level sanding and rope binding - more in the coming weeks. But for now I am doing the polishing and setup on a killer batch of Style 1's. Stay tuned.

Merci, as always, France.

Tony Francis

Here is the rosette with the special marquetry in the genuine size, ready for scraping and level sanding.



Bracing stencil. Weissenborn used one master stencil for all his models, and on most all vintage Weissenborns you can see the original stencil marks where no bracing exists.



Mid 1920s spec bracing pattern under heat lamps. Although this style and era looks quite overbraced, it was actually quite fragile with many vintage instruments needing top heat treatment to remain optimally playable.



Here is a closer look. You can see the morticed or tucked bracing, which is of course a pull from the vintage Martin school of thought. In collaboration with as strong an arch humidity will allow, this is what allows me to reproduce this classic design in all its fundamental glory.







Carved top.



Rim vault.

Construction begins.






Special "band saw" finish.



Hand bent rims. These are master grade curl, and exceptionally challenging to bend by hand for this kind of fit.





Ready for tail inlay.





Completed rims.

Salut everyone,

Since I started my tenure as a guitar maker, I have always been deeply focused on the later models produced by the Weissenborn company. This relentless pursuit of detail is what you see as my premier models reproduced in exceptionally fine detail from the Ca.1927 - 1930 era. But that is not to discount the earlier models, which are phenomenal instruments in their own right. Through my repair work and connection to the high end round-neck market, the classic Ca.1925 models had for a long time been on my mind, and when Pierre came forward with the request, it was a true honor to bring back the Super Deluxe in classic mid 1920s style.

Pierre asked if I could take pictures of the process, and in particular some of the details I don't usually show such as the peghead detail. As always, feel free if you have any questions.




Here you can see the paper patterns I begin with. These were taken direct from the vintage instrument, and they take a little bit of work to turn into working patterns and molds. The mid 1920s models are not just aesthetically different, but wholly and completely a different instrument really. Different shape, vault, bracing and graduation, layout and spacing details.



Master template is made.


For those with an eye for detail, you will notice the Rope Marquetry details on the earlier models is also different. It is thinner, and uses lighter colored "mystery" rosewood. I specially produced a limited batch for this model and also as repair stock.



Working with this is like a White Stripes video!



Cut into strips.



The rough sawn Koa graded and ready to joint. Pierre had very specific ideas about what he wanted in terms of look, and in collaboration with Steve my Koa guy, we were able to match that as close as is possible for two different Koa trees from two different eras.




More to follow.

KILLER!

.

Citation :

Elle serait prête "soon"

.

Citation :

But with 5.5K a bit high priced...

Actually, that's a steal even in todays market. Style 4's are typically priced anywhere from 6-10K depending on year of manufacture and condition, which is still low comparing to the vintage round-neck acoustic market.

Its a Breedlove, although I understand the maker is now independent.

http://www.elderly.com/new_instruments/items/BHLSK.htm

I love the original 4 track version of this song, which is recorded on an original Weissenborn. One of my favorite Weissenborn tracks - Amazing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQtSr-64fZw

Kia ora everyone,

Many thanks for your comments. I should have updated this post earlier to reflect this guitar has sold to a musician based in the UK.



Please feel free to email if you have any questions.

Best,

Tony Francis