Italy 2018 – Monte Berico and More Palladio

Morning walk to Santuario della Madonna di Monte Berico; up the long arcade to the small, central-plan baroque church on top of the hill. There is a wide view there from the Piazalle della Vittoria, out to the Dolomites, across the Veneto, and to the Lagoon of Venice. Inside, the church is full of color and geometry.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The walk back down the hill, is toward the Fume Bacchiglione, past Villa Valmarana ai Nani and Villa Rotunda. It's a wonderful walk that I've taken before, but in the other direction, returning to the historic center over the Ponte San Michele.

 

 

 

In the afternoon, a guided tour to see a few Palladian highlights, and first up is the Teatro Olimpico, Last group in is half past four, so we have to hustle.

 

 

The Palazzo Chiericati, Palazzo da Schio (Ca' d'Oro), Palazzo Thiene, Parrocchia di Santo Stephano, the Palladio Museum (Palazzo Barbarana), Mons Pietatus, and the Palazzo and Loggia di Capitaniato.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finishing the day with a sunset aperitivo on top of the Basilica Palladiana, with views out in all directions, including toward the Duomo and back again to Monte Berico.

 

 

 

Italy 2018 – Berkeley to Basilica Palladiana

After last year's record run from Berkeley to Belem, I tried a new destination: the Basilica Palladiana in Vicenza. I have visited this astonishing building before, but a good friend is getting married in a nearby village this weekend, so a trip to Palladio's home town was certainly in order.

From the top-most image, it's clear they are shining colored lights on the facade, but the arcades are lit as well. It looks stunning, of course. When we return from dinner, however, all the arcade lights are off. When we come around the corner we can see why – they are projecting a multi-media show across the entire building. I woke in Berkeley at about six this morning; it's now noon the next day as I write this. After 30 hours without real sleep, it truly feels like a hallucination: images of stars fields, building blocks, and fire.

Twomblecaster - Test Drive

Chris Detrick, a teacher from the Music Department here at MA, stopped by to check out the Twomblecaster and put it through is paces. He showed me how to correct some issues with the intonation and the setup, and then he let go with an awesome little demo.

Now you can listen to Twomblecaster, too. Chris is an amazing musician, and a much loved teacher; getting his "okay" is a real personal triumph (thanks Chris!).

Twomblecaster - Finishing Touches

Almost done. Time to put on some strings. First, need to add the ferrules; small bushings on the back of the guitar body that hold the end-balls of the strings. They are a friction fit. Then string the two E-strings to check the alignment of the bridge and fretboard.

 

Once all the strings are on, install the string trees; small guides near the tuning machines that keep the  strings down in the grooves of the nut (at the top of the fretboard).

 

Once all the assembly is done, we have to tune to pitch and then adjust the intonation and the string action (the height above the fretboard). There are a bunch of handy apps to help with this.

 

As I cleaned out my office to make room for the guitar and amp, I saw that out photographer had left a backdrop in one of our storage spaces, so took the opportunity to take some beauty shots.

 

 

 

 

Really happy with the results, though I'm still sorry I caught the thing on fire. The drippy, melty look I was trying to capture was kind of cancelled out by the amazing grain of the wood moving in the opposite direction; also surprised by the two halves of the body taking the artwork in very different ways. Will have to have it checked by someone who knows how to play, but the action seems good, and there's no fret buzz.

Big thanks to Sachi for all her help with the Design Lab tools, and to Jon for the big push and all the tung oil.

Twomblecaster - Assemble!

All done oiling and setting things up; time to put things together. The finish did turn out quite nicely; a fairly consistent sheen, but not a shine. And the wood grain really pops. The grain is so strong, it almost outshines the artwork, but a different angles, the artwork really looks great.

 

A bit tricky to fit the pick guard, as I had to compensate for the level-change from the cut-in image; I used some small washer to keep the plastic from warping too much. I had to run the ground wire underneath the bridge plate, and then solder the output jack before adding those parts.

 

Finally, bolted on the neck, which seemed to fit rather perfectly. The two tones from the wood, and the skunk stripe on the back add some additional drama.

 

Here are some detail shots showing the shine from the chrome pickups, bridge, and strap buttons against the grainy body. Should look even better with the strings. That's next.

 

Twomblecaster - My Friend the Drill Press

Today I got to know the drill press in the Design Lab, setting up the pilot holes for the neck and the tuners.

 

Also applied another coat of tung oil, which is really starting to give the body some sheen.

 

I also found I had to make a kind of notch in the pick guard to accommodate the bridge; after pegging the string holes and aligning the bridge, the edge of the piece ended up on the bevel of the guard. So I used the drill press almost like a routing table (we don't yet have a routing or milling station), some sanding, and hopefully the edge will look clean.

 

Twomblecaster - Fendart Thinline

Back to the laser-cutter, and the head-stock is done. The real trick was aligning the text at an angle on a curvy shape, while the rest of the neck just barely fit on the cutting bed - but it's darn near perfect in terms of the planned placement, and also for the quality and the look of the cut. Super happy.

One of the tricks was using the painters tape to back off the area and reduce the scorching. But it was a bit nerve-wracking watching the cutter head zipping around thinking that it was just burning off the tape; the maple just didn't get that carbon look like the basswood.

 

 

Speaking of the basswood, the oiling continues and the warm tone of the wood is really starting to come through. I'm really sorry now I know, that I did not take more and better precautions with the masking; it stings a bit each time I pick up the body as I apply the oil, as my fingers get stained from the charcoal.

No ronsonol and match, but I torched my axe just like Jimi; just I used a laser-cutter.