Mahogany back

Mahogany back, blood wood and curly maple stripes for custom acoustic guitar back.

Mahogany back, bloodwood and curly maple stripes for custom acoustic guitar back.

Spencer Acoustics is located in Garland, Texas – a calm suburb just north east of Dallas near Lake Ray Hubbard. Upon arrival, I was warmly met by Randy and his black lab Buddy. The two led me into the guitar workshop and we started right away.

Table sanded back with Naphtha to show finish.

Table sanded back with Naphtha to show finish.

Randy encourages students to bring their own materials; although, he does have beautiful woods available for purchase. Since I really had no idea what I was getting into, I didn’t bring my own mahogany and needed materials.

First Randy set me up with a beautiful piece of mahogany for the back of my guitar. Mahogany is a common tone wood used in guitar building, so that would make up the bulk of my back and then I added a bloodwood and two curly maple stripes for detail and strength.

Once the mahogany, bloodwood and maple pieces were cut to size, they were glued and placed in a form that would be tied down with rope and left overnight to set.

Next day the form was untied and the back was sanded smooth using a drum sander to make the guitar back appear as one piece. After sanding, Randy put Naphtha, a petroleum solvent similar to mineral spirits, on the wood to showcase the mahogany’s natural beauty. ‘Wow!’ I am really liking the way the bloodwood warms into the mahogany and I intend to triple bind the body of the guitar and intend to accent the neck with curly maple and bloodwood, too.

Gluing the five piece together.

Gluing the five piece together.

Leave A Reply