Sold the Snake

I built the Snake guitar to be somewhat of an experiment, an example of what I can do given the opportunity. I wanted to keep it for a while so I could learn from what I had built. I did one gig with it and it worked very well, both regarding the intonation and the tone. It stayed in tune and was very articulate in the noisy environment. I played it a lot at home and showed it to some friends to play while I could listen. It was a great experience and fruitful experiment as well. I wouldn't change anything, it is an example of my best work. The sustain and articulation is by far the best I've done. The next piece I undertake will definitely utilize the improvements I've made here.



I let my friend Pat O'Bryan play it and we talked about the tone and the way the string bending tension was softer feeling and easier to hit a pitch with. Pat told Joe Vitale about it, he saw the photos here and scheduled an appointment. I hated to let my baby go but Joe is persuasive. I sold him the guitar. Thanks for supporting the arts Joe! Thanks Pat for the photos.



This is me signing away my newborn, a difficult proposition. Joe will take care of the guitar, she will have a good life. Now I have to begin again, a new start. See you soon.

The Beaumonts Halloween Show

I recorded the halloween show at the Triple Crown in San Marcos, Its free here.

Ray Wylie Hubbard

Ray came by to check The Snake, we played some blues on it. The split coil humbuckers sound really good, better than I expected. The shortened adjustment screws and the aluminum mounting plates clean up the sound the humbuckers, they are now less grainy, less obscured dynamically. The wood is softening in tone daily, I will post some sounds soon.

Snakes

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After I made Alejandro Escovedo's custom LP, I wanted to do one similar but my way. I decided to use a slightly smaller body with more a Zamaitas shape and not too heavy. I also thinned the body about 1/4" fro 50's Gibson speck. The body has many small cavities inside, completely sealed and too small to make problematic standing waves. It is stained all black with ebony binding. Polished aluminum fitments were used for bridge and tailpiece. The Mahogany neck is carbon fiber enforced internally, mounts with an extended dovetail. Basically a guitar where I got to call all the shots to look and work the way I need it to. The Snake Guitar.



I have been repairing a lot of 19th century guitars and have become convinced to employ some the older techniques. First they use no metal in the necks. They are generally reinforced with ebony and it sounds better all the time. It is better, you can hear the difference easily. I use Carbon Fiber instead of ebony because it sounds very similar but adds more stability to the neck. The carbon fiber resists the inherent tendencies of woods to shrink and creep out of original shape as well as string tension. The process clicks into unity by hand making the bridge and nut to the shape of the neck held consistantly straight despite the weather. The second technique I take from the older luthiers is the use of carved, non adjustable bridges. A modern Tune-o-matic style bridge pales in tonal comparison to a single piece bridge resting firmly against the body, every time. By elimenating neck movement I am able to make the bridge once to set the action where it basically stays. Small adjustments can be made to the action by cutting the brige slots or shimming in between the bridge and the body.

The pickups are mounted on aluminum plate adjustable on all 4 corners and spring loaded. The pickups are wired to split to sigle coil with the small switch. It has volume for bridge, volume for neck, master tone and 3 way pickup selector as well. The volume controls have bypass caps to retain treble response as the volume decreases.

The tailpeice I carved from billit aluminum, it gives the strings some length before the bridge which sounds great. It anchors to a "hook" which recesses into the tailpeice, then covers it up.

The guitar is made from my private stash of Genuine Mahogany except for the Maple top. The fingerboard is ebony. The guitar is bound in Ebony and Maple strips, the rest is stained black. The finish is 100 percent old school nitro-cellulose, no urethane, no acrylic, no hardner. It is very thin and hand polished.

> The nut is polished bone, the snake inlay is mother of pearl, the tuners are Gotoh 510 21:1 ratio gears. There is no truss rod adjustment as there is no adjustable rod. The headstock angle is 14 degrees which sounds great and stays in tune best.

Both covers and the jack plate are polished aluminum and recessed into the mahogany body. I am now playing in the guitar and it is quite a joy.

Joe Vitale Adopts a Double Ought Six

When I sell a guitar I built, sometimes it hurts to let it go. You have to let go, or be broke. I think of it as a paid for adoption/surrogacy thing. Best selling author and all around cool guy Joe Viltale (http://www.mrfire.com/) bought a guitar from me this week. He is a man of impeccable taste, indeed! I had to let it go. He lives near by so I can check in occasionally.

This is one badass loud guitar despite its smaller body size. It sounds like a Church Bell being shot out of a Cannon. The back and sides are Brazillian Rosewood with an Adirondak Red Spruce top. Its a guitar that I build to be loud to make up for the smaller body size. I use tall/thin pyramid style braces all adjusted to be loud. Getting the top thickness right keeps it balanced. I gave it extra neck angle and taller saddle as well. This is the sister guitar to Ray Wylie Hubbard's black guitar.

Al on Letterman, Ray on Fallon

The first time I saw someone I knew on Letterman, I was amazed. It's a great feeling for some reason. It is still cool.

Check out Lucas Hubbard's suit. Ray is only Playing that 335 because he's afraid someone at Gibson might see and make him pay for it, Lucas too. Look at George Reiff on bass, now playing Lilith Fair. He mixed the new "Get ready for the Beaumonts" cd coming out on August 29th on Arclight records.

Ray's Video

Electric Guitar Design in Action

My freind and client, Alejandro Escovedo and Bruce Springsteen at the Stone Pony both playing my guitars. And video to prove it. These guitars I made for Al to tour with. They both are examples of vintage inspiration modified to be the best they can be, both musically and as a solid, predictably flawless tool for the performer. The necks are carbon reinforced creating enduring stability and vastly improved tone. The guitars also have static, hand-made non adjustable bridges which again are drastic improvements in tone versus the adjustable tune-o-matic style. They are finished by me by hand with nitrocellulose lacquer. The result is a guitar that sounds great and can be travelled without the neck moving, it simply doesn't need to be tweaked. The action is always like I set it, the sound improves with time and use. The best of vintage and modern design.

Resonator

I built this resonator out of Mahogany and a Dobro style spyder and cone. The cover and tailpiece I made from brass. The tailpeice has an aluminum structure under the brass which allows for adjustment of downward pressure on the saddle.

My Double-Ought Six Flat-top

This is a 00 size guitar I like to build in the spirit of the 30's Gibson L-00. It has a carbon fiber reinforced neck, is made ot Adirondack Spruce and Mahogany. Sounds incredible with plenty of bass and volume. These Guitars are very responsive, Ray Wylie Hubbard won't give me the first one I made back.

Tony Nobles Bio

Tony Nobles has been building guitars for thirty years. He has built custom guitars for a long of list of performing/recording artists including Joe Walsh, Alejandro Escovedo, Ray Wylie Hubbard, and more. Nobles has also been lead guitar tech on tours and recording sessions for Joe Walsh, the Court Yard Hounds, and a variety of national touring bands. Nobles also has a thriving guitar repair business and has restored or repaired classic guitars including acoustic prewar Martins.