Автор: Michael Walker
Тема: CS 0069 - Shamray Custom Shop "DOBRO" for Michael Walker (Moscow, Russia)
I believe this one is getting underway this week 
Acoustic DOBRO with arched flame maple back and solid Bubinga top
Solid flame maple sides
Set neck (5 piece flame maple and ebony)
Bubinga headstock facing
Fretboard of Maccassar Ebony
Ivoroid binding around top, back, fretboard and headstock.
Ivoroid knobs, strap buttons & trim,
Lace magnetic pickup
24 3/4" scale length, 12 frets clear of the body.
The body will be "contoured" in a unique way, so that the guitar is much thinner at the top than it is at the bottom
here is a (VERY ROUGH) sketch: (the guitar's final outlines will be much more symmetrical!)
Acoustic DOBRO with arched flame maple back and solid Bubinga top
Solid flame maple sides
Set neck (5 piece flame maple and ebony)
Bubinga headstock facing
Fretboard of Maccassar Ebony
Ivoroid binding around top, back, fretboard and headstock.
Ivoroid knobs, strap buttons & trim,
Lace magnetic pickup
24 3/4" scale length, 12 frets clear of the body.
The body will be "contoured" in a unique way, so that the guitar is much thinner at the top than it is at the bottom
here is a (VERY ROUGH) sketch: (the guitar's final outlines will be much more symmetrical!)
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Автор: Jonas Dalmayne
Тема: Re: CS 0069 - Shamray Custom Shop "DOBRO" for Michael Walker (Moscow, Russia)
Stop hogging the crafters Mike, or we'll never get our guitars! 
Nah, just joking. How many guitars have you had Shamray build for you now though? I know of the LP, the Futura and this one, are there any more? I like the specs on this one, acoustics built out of flame maple always look real sweet, I'm asuming you're going with a natural finish?
It's cool how you seem to go for the slightly odd projects, it's not like you see a lot of Futuras or Dobros around...
Nah, just joking
. How many guitars have you had Shamray build for you now though? I know of the LP, the Futura and this one, are there any more? I like the specs on this one, acoustics built out of flame maple always look real sweet, I'm asuming you're going with a natural finish?It's cool how you seem to go for the slightly odd projects, it's not like you see a lot of Futuras or Dobros around...
Автор: Michael Walker
Тема: Re: CS 0069 - Shamray Custom Shop "DOBRO" for Michael Walker (Moscow, Russia)
Actually i have had three more magnificent flame-maple-neck Shamrays, a 'strat', 'tele', and a 'Jazz Bass'. Plus of course P-00 (aka Bebb-II) and P-01, P-02, and P-03 bass prototypes built to my design (P-04 is currently underway now). You will be able to see all those basses at http://ShamrayBass.com when it opens to the public next month!
Incidentally , i had to stand in line for this one A LONG TIME (and i wouldnt even have qualified for Andre's valuable time if i hadnt insisted on paying Shamray 'full retail' just like everybody else). The futura is actually being built by Dudnik 'in his spare time', so its not cutting into his extremely busy schedule - and i dont expect it to be completed any time soon.
This Dobro will be either natural finish, or "maybe" dyed a very bright orange (i am on an orange kick right now) under the clear lacquer. Now that you mention it, I am leaning towards an ORANGE-BURST back and sides...
i have owned more than 200 "conventional" guitars over the years, (well - a few of those were not so conventional, but the vast majority were Gibsons, Fenders, Rickenbackers, Gretsches, etc) so I try to make these guitars really "my own" in some small ways. Just wait till you see my upcoming Creation Series solidbody electric 12-string...
Incidentally , i had to stand in line for this one A LONG TIME (and i wouldnt even have qualified for Andre's valuable time if i hadnt insisted on paying Shamray 'full retail' just like everybody else). The futura is actually being built by Dudnik 'in his spare time', so its not cutting into his extremely busy schedule - and i dont expect it to be completed any time soon.
This Dobro will be either natural finish, or "maybe" dyed a very bright orange (i am on an orange kick right now) under the clear lacquer. Now that you mention it, I am leaning towards an ORANGE-BURST back and sides...
i have owned more than 200 "conventional" guitars over the years, (well - a few of those were not so conventional, but the vast majority were Gibsons, Fenders, Rickenbackers, Gretsches, etc) so I try to make these guitars really "my own" in some small ways. Just wait till you see my upcoming Creation Series solidbody electric 12-string...
Автор: Michael Walker
Тема: Re: CS 0069 - Shamray Custom Shop "DOBRO" for Michael Walker (Moscow, Russia)
oh, and (below) are the first shop pics of my new 'baby' :
the rough-cut one piece top of solid bubinga, and the arched maple back (the back is about 50 years old, i got it from an old luthier's shop in Germany)...
:the rough-cut one piece top of solid bubinga, and the arched maple back (the back is about 50 years old, i got it from an old luthier's shop in Germany)...
Автор: Aleksandr Shamray
Тема: Re: CS 0069 - Shamray Custom Shop "DOBRO" for Michael Walker (Moscow, Russia)
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Автор: Aleksandr Shamray
Тема: Re: CS 0069 - Shamray Custom Shop "DOBRO" for Michael Walker (Moscow, Russia)
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Автор: Aleksandr Shamray
Тема: Re: CS 0069 - Shamray Custom Shop "DOBRO" for Michael Walker (Moscow, Russia)
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Автор: Aleksandr Shamray
Тема: Re: CS 0069 - Shamray Custom Shop "DOBRO" for Michael Walker (Moscow, Russia)
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Автор: Aleksandr Shamray
Тема: Re: CS 0069 - Shamray Custom Shop "DOBRO" for Michael Walker (Moscow, Russia)
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Автор: Aleksandr Shamray
Тема: Re: CS 0069 - Shamray Custom Shop "DOBRO" for Michael Walker (Moscow, Russia)
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Автор: Aleksandr Shamray
Тема: Re: CS 0069 - Shamray Custom Shop "DOBRO" for Michael Walker (Moscow, Russia)
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Автор: Aleksandr Shamray
Тема: Re: CS 0069 - Shamray Custom Shop "DOBRO" for Michael Walker (Moscow, Russia)
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Автор: Aleksandr Shamray
Тема: Re: CS 0069 - Shamray Custom Shop "DOBRO" for Michael Walker (Moscow, Russia)
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Автор: Aleksandr Shamray
Тема: Re: CS 0069 - Shamray Custom Shop "DOBRO" for Michael Walker (Moscow, Russia)
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Автор: Michael Walker
Тема: Re: CS 0069 - Shamray Custom Shop "DOBRO" for Michael Walker (Moscow, Russia)
spec update... the last two pics above are a board of ZEBRAWOOD, after Andre sawed and thicknessed it into a pair of GUITAR SIDES
I was looking through my private stock the other day and noticed a board of Zebrawood that just "happened" to be exactly the right size to make sides for this guitar (just like the old board of flame maple we used for the neck just "happened" to be exactly the right size for this guitar's neck lams) so i thought "Why not?"...
I was looking through my private stock the other day and noticed a board of Zebrawood that just "happened" to be exactly the right size to make sides for this guitar (just like the old board of flame maple we used for the neck just "happened" to be exactly the right size for this guitar's neck lams) so i thought "Why not?"...
Автор: Aleksandr Shamray
Тема: Re: CS 0069 - Shamray Custom Shop "DOBRO" for Michael Walker (Moscow, Russia)
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Автор: Aleksandr Shamray
Тема: Re: CS 0069 - Shamray Custom Shop "DOBRO" for Michael Walker (Moscow, Russia)
We use steam to make shape of the sides.
Автор: Peter v.d. Oever
Тема: Re: CS 0069 - Shamray Custom Shop "DOBRO" for Michael Walker (Moscow, Russia)
Very nice.
Автор: ferd
Тема: Re: CS 0069 - Shamray Custom Shop "DOBRO" for Michael Walker (Moscow, Russia)
Oh yeah, you guys can work fast, but only, if you need a guitar yourself...
Автор: Michael Walker
Тема: Re: CS 0069 - Shamray Custom Shop "DOBRO" for Michael Walker (Moscow, Russia)
Andre IS making steady progress.. but i would hardly call 8 months "fast"... (my guitar has been in the build queue since MAY 1st.. i actually dont get any preferential treatment in that regard!)
Автор: Aleksandr Shamray
Тема: Re: CS 0069 - Shamray Custom Shop "DOBRO" for Michael Walker (Moscow, Russia)
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Автор: Michael Walker
Тема: Re: CS 0069 - Shamray Custom Shop "DOBRO" for Michael Walker (Moscow, Russia)
Its not a funny camera angle - the guitar is "ergonomically designed" so that the body is much thinner on top than it is on the bottom
(the patented Wedge-O-Matic® Dobro...)
(the patented Wedge-O-Matic® Dobro...)
Автор: Aleksandr Shamray
Тема: Re: CS 0069 - Shamray Custom Shop "DOBRO" for Michael Walker (Moscow, Russia)
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Автор: Aleksandr Shamray
Тема: Re: CS 0069 - Shamray Custom Shop "DOBRO" for Michael Walker (Moscow, Russia)
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Автор: Aleksandr Shamray
Тема: Re: CS 0069 - Shamray Custom Shop "DOBRO" for Michael Walker (Moscow, Russia)
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Автор: Aleksandr Shamray
Тема: Re: CS 0069 - Shamray Custom Shop "DOBRO" for Michael Walker (Moscow, Russia)
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Автор: Aleksandr Shamray
Тема: Re: CS 0069 - Shamray Custom Shop "DOBRO" for Michael Walker (Moscow, Russia)
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Автор: Michael Walker
Тема: Re: CS 0069 - Shamray Custom Shop "DOBRO" for Michael Walker (Moscow, Russia)
UPDATE: decided to go with ALL NATURAL clear lacquer finish... top, back, sides, and neck
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Автор: patrick
Тема: Re: CS 0069 - Shamray Custom Shop "DOBRO" for Michael Walker (Moscow, Russia)
Stop giving people G.A.S Michael !!! 
Love the woods on this guitar!
Автор: CreationSeries
Тема: Re: CS 0069 - Shamray Custom Shop "DOBRO" for Michael Walker (Moscow, Russia)
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Автор: Lucian Moynihan
Тема: Re: CS 0069 - Shamray Custom Shop "DOBRO" for Michael Walker (Moscow, Russia)
michael. what a brilliant looking neck. brilliant top and side woods also.
i really like the shape too, i hadnt seen one before. kudos.
i really like the shape too, i hadnt seen one before. kudos.
Автор: CreationSeries
Тема: Re: CS 0069 - Shamray Custom Shop "DOBRO" for Michael Walker (Moscow, Russia)
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Автор: CreationSeries
Тема: Re: CS 0069 - Shamray Custom Shop "DOBRO" for Michael Walker (Moscow, Russia)
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Автор: Lucian Moynihan
Тема: Re: CS 0069 - Shamray Custom Shop "DOBRO" for Michael Walker (Moscow, Russia)
this is awesome. the back has come out so nicely too.
when do you take it home?
when do you take it home?
Автор: Michael Walker
Тема: Re: CS 0069 - Shamray Custom Shop "DOBRO" for Michael Walker (Moscow, Russia)
wait till you see the next batch of pics ( and it looks even better in person!)
Im hoping i can take it home by the middle of june
Im hoping i can take it home by the middle of june
Автор: CreationSeries
Тема: Re: CS 0069 - Shamray Custom Shop "DOBRO" for Michael Walker (Moscow, Russia)
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Автор: kdc
Тема: Re: CS 0069 - Shamray Custom Shop "DOBRO" for Michael Walker (Moscow, Russia)
how does this shape result in sound?
Автор: Michael Walker
Тема: Re: CS 0069 - Shamray Custom Shop "DOBRO" for Michael Walker (Moscow, Russia)
the 'shape' doesnt have much to do with the sound...
But if you are referring to the 'great gaping hole' in the front, it will be filled with a RESONATOR CONE (a mechanical amplifer that is driven directly by the strings)
But if you are referring to the 'great gaping hole' in the front, it will be filled with a RESONATOR CONE (a mechanical amplifer that is driven directly by the strings)
Автор: kdc
Тема: Re: CS 0069 - Shamray Custom Shop "DOBRO" for Michael Walker (Moscow, Russia)
i mean the assymetric bredth
Автор: Michael Walker
Тема: Re: CS 0069 - Shamray Custom Shop "DOBRO" for Michael Walker (Moscow, Russia)
ahh... I specified that only for "ergonomics" (to make the guitar lay more comfortably on my body).
I don't think the assymetrical body depth will have very much impact on the sound, as the dobro body is primarly acting as a semi-rigid (top is 10mm thick!) "enclosure" to react with the speaker cone of the resonator. But i guess we will find out.. after its built, i will take it out and compare it with 3 or four "commercial" dobros - for some scientific research!
I don't think the assymetrical body depth will have very much impact on the sound, as the dobro body is primarly acting as a semi-rigid (top is 10mm thick!) "enclosure" to react with the speaker cone of the resonator. But i guess we will find out.. after its built, i will take it out and compare it with 3 or four "commercial" dobros - for some scientific research!
Автор: CreationSeries
Тема: Re: CS 0069 - Shamray Custom Shop "DOBRO" for Michael Walker (Moscow, Russia)
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Автор: phil scanlan
Тема: Re: CS 0069 - Shamray Custom Shop "DOBRO" for Michael Walker (Moscow, Russia)
michael, may i ask about your headstock on this? Im fascinated to why it looks the way it does, did you design the shape? whats the story dude?
Автор: Michael Walker
Тема: Re: CS 0069 - Shamray Custom Shop "DOBRO" for Michael Walker (Moscow, Russia)
I've always wanted a guitar with that kind of headstock.. i first sketched a guitar (bass, actually) with that exact headstock shape back in 1978
Just a couple years ago, i found the pics of a similar "canoe-paddle" headstock on one of Orville Gibson's 1897 all-walnut creations, which reminded me again of my early idea - and last year, when i started sketching this Dobro, i knew immediately my design had found it's way home...
Just a couple years ago, i found the pics of a similar "canoe-paddle" headstock on one of Orville Gibson's 1897 all-walnut creations, which reminded me again of my early idea - and last year, when i started sketching this Dobro, i knew immediately my design had found it's way home...
Автор: Jon Pinson
Тема: Re: CS 0069 - Shamray Custom Shop "DOBRO" for Michael Walker (Moscow, Russia)
Leaving it natural really shows the quality of the workmanship and the wood. A great advert for the company.
Автор: Mats W
Тема: Re: CS 0069 - Shamray Custom Shop "DOBRO" for Michael Walker (Moscow, Russia)
*You shouldn´t be in here Mats, leave immediately*
-Ok, maybe you´re right! Bye!
-Ok, maybe you´re right! Bye!
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Автор: Nimrod Roemersma
Тема: Re: CS 0069 - Shamray Custom Shop "DOBRO" for Michael Walker (Moscow, Russia)
michael, how much would this one cost, if it were to be a
NORMAL acoustical guitar? not dobro, but with a normal
soundhole (without the rozet) cause i LOVE the woods, but not
the dobro-element. i am not really into slideguitar, and whatever
I do with slide, i play on my strats, which goes quite fine.
so: how much
NORMAL acoustical guitar? not dobro, but with a normal
soundhole (without the rozet) cause i LOVE the woods, but not
the dobro-element. i am not really into slideguitar, and whatever
I do with slide, i play on my strats, which goes quite fine.
so: how much
Автор: Michael Walker
Тема: Re: CS 0069 - Shamray Custom Shop "DOBRO" for Michael Walker (Moscow, Russia)
The 'same guitar', except built as a radical arch-backed flat-top (instead of a Dobro) would cost something in the neighbourhood of $3000 if built by us... so we don't plan to build many acoustic guitars!
Acoustics require so much special custom tooling, (bending jigs, etc) its not profitable to make them unless you set up a full-blown acoustic shop making a very limited set of models full time. Thats why its not uncommon to pay $5,000-10,000+ for a real custom acoustic in America... basically its one guy taking six to nine months out of his life to build it!
Acoustics require so much special custom tooling, (bending jigs, etc) its not profitable to make them unless you set up a full-blown acoustic shop making a very limited set of models full time. Thats why its not uncommon to pay $5,000-10,000+ for a real custom acoustic in America... basically its one guy taking six to nine months out of his life to build it!
Автор: Peter v.d. Oever
Тема: Re: CS 0069 - Shamray Custom Shop "DOBRO" for Michael Walker (Moscow, Russia)
Hi Michael! I think that the price helps in keeping it more special if you own one! I bet you can't wait to add this one to your collection. It's will be a beauty for sure.
Автор: Nimrod Roemersma
Тема: Re: CS 0069 - Shamray Custom Shop "DOBRO" for Michael Walker (Moscow, Russia)
3000 euro's for a handbuild acoustical guitar....thats not much
really...but still...its SO much work!! SO much work....
but if i ever want one like this (but just like a normal acoustic,
no arched back/top, just like a normal flamengo, but with these
woods) I sure as hell will consider you guys (but first; a les
paul!!)
this thing is just pure eye-candy. what can I say?
really...but still...its SO much work!! SO much work....
but if i ever want one like this (but just like a normal acoustic,
no arched back/top, just like a normal flamengo, but with these
woods) I sure as hell will consider you guys (but first; a les
paul!!)
this thing is just pure eye-candy. what can I say?
Автор: CreationSeries
Тема: Re: CS 0069 - Shamray Custom Shop "DOBRO" for Michael Walker (Moscow, Russia)
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Автор: Mats W
Тема: Re: CS 0069 - Shamray Custom Shop "DOBRO" for Michael Walker (Moscow, Russia)
Hehe, Crazy! It looks unbelievable good even with masking tape on
Michael! Can you educate me on the difference between the conevariations that are available for resonators?
(Please!)
Michael! Can you educate me on the difference between the conevariations that are available for resonators?
(Please!)
Автор: Michael Walker
Тема: Re: CS 0069 - Shamray Custom Shop "DOBRO" for Michael Walker (Moscow, Russia)
There are two basic kinds of resonator guitar:
1) National "biscuit" bridge - the bridge is attached directly to the center of the cone (convex cone)
2) Dobro "spider" bridge - the bridge is attached to a metal "spider" which contacts the cone on the edges. (concave cone, like a loudspeaker)
As you can imagine, they each have their own distinct sound!
there also is a sort of a Hybrid called a TRICONE, but its really three little 'biscuit' cones that are connected with a "t-bridge" that straddles them.
Plenty of Good info can be found at the links below:
NATIONAL
DOBRO
Автор: Mats W
Тема: Re: CS 0069 - Shamray Custom Shop "DOBRO" for Michael Walker (Moscow, Russia)
You can find cheap resonators on Ebay for instance.
What cones do they usually have?
I have heard that you hav eto swap them to get "the real feeling".
What cones do they usually have?
I have heard that you hav eto swap them to get "the real feeling".
Автор: Michael Walker
Тема: Re: CS 0069 - Shamray Custom Shop "DOBRO" for Michael Walker (Moscow, Russia)
the biscuit bridge ones are cheaper ( less parts!) but i have seen brand-new Korean resonators of both kinds going for under $200 on ebay.
Its said that expensive aftermarket cones will give a better sound, but i think thats mostly in the ear of the beholder...
Автор: Mats W
Тема: Re: CS 0069 - Shamray Custom Shop "DOBRO" for Michael Walker (Moscow, Russia)
OK! Mojo as we say
Thanks for the lesson Michael!
Thanks for the lesson Michael!
Автор: CreationSeries
Тема: Re: CS 0069 - Shamray Custom Shop "DOBRO" for Michael Walker (Moscow, Russia)
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