Padauk J-185 w/Piano Soundboard Top

[Tom OBrien]

This is an experiment that has been more than 8 months in the making. It is a J-185 made from wood that was otherwise headed for the scrapheap.

The top is made from a 100+ year old piano soundboard.
The sides and back are made from a shredded piece of padauk that didn't survive a trip through the planer. There was a great deal of chipout and shredding, but I used it anyway because it was an experiment.
I also cut a sound port in the sides for the first time.

I then handed it over to the professional finisher in the piano shop where I work, and he worked miracles with both the top and the sides. Take a look at the pics below.

[TonyinNYC]

You're lucky he didn't paint it black! See...you said he was a piano finisher and usually pianos are black and....

Nice looking guitar. How many pieces is the soundboard?

[ken cierp]

Nice guitar -- can't beat the J185 shape.

I am guessing you have not had a "go-bar" shoot through the sound-board (or back) yet! Yes it happens --- not sure how often, but I've seen pictures of several disasters on different websites.

[Tom OBrien]

I have painted a guitar in black satin (like a Steinway Grand), and it really wasn't all that bad. Of course, maybe I have bad taste.

Piano soundboards are made from 3-5 inch wide boards, so this guitar has four separate boards, each with a very different grain pattern. I don't think it looks that bad, but again, taste might be the issue here.

I've had go-bars do some awful things, but none have gone through the soundboard yet. I learned the hard way to place shims under the go-bars lest you want dents everywhere in your work.

[Paul C]

I wonder how this one will sound compared to what you have made and played. Also I like the way the rosette goes right to soundhole. Thats very nice.

[TonyinNYC]

Pretty cool. I watched a video on Steinway Pianos and how they make the soundboard so I knew your top had to be more than two pieces. Nothing wrong with multi-piece tops. Some people don't like uniformly white soundboards (like me). To each his own I say, and as long as you like what you are building, that is all that counts.

[Ray Ussery]

Very very, nice....cant wait til your finished and hear what it sounds like..cool...really cool!

Ray