Owen Kelly

This is a 3/4 size fan braced classical guitar with a spruce top, black acacia back and sides, ebony fretboard, Spanish cedar neck, ebony armrest, redwood rosette, truss rod, 12 hole rosewood bridge, compensated bone nut and saddle, tapered neck, slightly radiuses finger board, and lacquer finish. I call it a parlor guitar.

Kelly Parlor custom order with its first coat of shellac. #classicalguitar #guitar #frenchpolish #kellyguitarco #luthier #wood #guitarmaker #guitarrepair #California #SantaCruz #Shellac

Custom Kelly Almagro ready to ship featuring
French polish, cedar top, Indian rosewood b/s, Sloane deco tuners, compensated nut and saddle, ebony fretboard, 640mm scale, tapered Spanish cedar neck, double action truss rod, burl rosette.
#Kellyguitarco #Guitar #classicalguitar #shop #custom #CA

It certainly was!

Gibson L1 archtop from 1920 needed work on the tailpiece and saddle. I built a new one out of rosewood and nickel. It blends in well and sounds good. 105 years old and going strong!
#luthier #guitarbuilder #Guitarshop #classicalguitar #music #wood #California #kellyGuitarCo #woodworking #Gibson

Found this old clip of a friend tooling around on one of my guitars and had to share.
#classicalguitar #guitar #frenchpolish #kellyguitarco #luthier #wood #guitarmaker #guitarrepair #California #SantaCruz #AlexisAlvarez #Almagro

I just finished French polishing this beautiful flame maple guitar.
#classicalguitar #guitar #frenchpolish #kellyguitarco #luthier #wood #guitarmaker #guitarrepair #California #SantaCruz #Shellac

This is a closeup shot of a coastal redwood soundboard. I harvested this from an old growth stump that was originally cut over a hundred years ago. It was protected by fire which sealed the wood inside a charcoal skin.

Very old redwood from the Santa Cruz mountains.
#luthier #guitarbuilder #Guitarshop #classicalguitar #music #wood #California #kellyGuitarCo #woodworking #redwood #tonewood #oldgrowth

The line up

#luthier #guitarbuilder #Guitarshop #classicalguitar #music #wood #California #kellyGuitarCo #woodworking

I am unsure if these are the original 98 year old tuners but they certainly could be. You can see the difference between the two gears in the foreground. One is cleaned up and the other is in it original state.

The tuners from a 1936 Santos Hernandez. Tuners were rough and uneven. This was caused by extremely worn gears so I cleaned them up and removed the burs. Working well now with smooth action.

#luthier #guitarbuilder #Guitarshop #classicalguitar #music #wood #California #kellyGuitarCo #woodworking

Another ebony armrest cutaway.

#luthier #guitarbuilder #Guitarshop #classicalguitar #music #wood #California #kellyGuitarCo #woodworking

These Parlor guitars are small 3/4 size with short 630mm scales. They are all solid wood with very simple design but with some unexpected features for their low price.

Siblings.
Two Kelly Parlor guitars at different moments in the process.

#luthier #guitarbuilder #Guitarshop #classicalguitar #music #wood #California #kellyGuitarCo #woodworking

This has a cedar top with a maple burl rosette, Indian rosewood sides laminated with black acacia, Indian rosewood back, Spanish cedar neck, ebony fretboard, and a 640mm scale.

How the back and tail strips line up

First wash coats of shellac going on this Kelly Guitars Almagro order.

#luthier #guitarbuilder #Guitarshop #classicalguitar #music #wood #California #kellyGuitarCo #woodworking

This is fine. #luthier #guitarbuilder #Guitarshop #classicalguitar #music #wood #California #kellyGuitarCo #woodworking

Freedom from kings.
Freedom from fascism.
Power to the people forever. ♥️

Happy Independence Day 🇺🇸

Preview of a little wood harvesting project in the works.
#luthier #guitarbuilder #Guitarshop #classicalguitar #music #wood #California #kellyGuitarCo #woodshop

This guitar has a laminated top of spruce and cedar along with a lattice bracing system. I will also have an ebony cutaway armrest and a hybrid shellac finish.

Closing up a prototype. #luthier #guitarbuilder #Guitarshop #classicalguitar #music #wood #California #kellyGuitarCo #woodworking

A music stand fell and punctured right through the double top. The bridge was rolling and the top bulging which ruined the action and intonation. This is an issue with the fan braced Hill Signature guitars from between 2006 and 2011.

Looking all shiny and ready to play.

Hill Signature with a few big problems. Bridge needed to be removed, augmented, and reinstalled. The gash in the top needed repaired.
#luthier #guitarbuilder #Guitarshop #classicalguitar #music #wood #California #kellyGuitarCo #woodshop

Kelly Almagro model with a cedar soundboard, Indian rosewood back and sides, sides laminated with black acacia, Spanish cedar neck, ebony fretboard, and traditional French polish finish.

Clamping some braces on the go-bar deck

About to close up a custom guitar order. #luthier #guitarbuilder #Guitarshop #classicalguitar #music #wood #California #kellyGuitarCo #woodworking

This weekend I am here at the Los Angeles Guitar Fest with some Kelly Guitar examples. Come on by!

#guitar #repair #mods #LAGF #guitar #upgrade #guitarrepair #guitarshop #luthier #wood #woodshop #classicalguitar #kellyguitarco

Great Indivisible event today in Santa Cruz.

No kings No Tyrants.

Immigrants Make America Great.

#America #Democracy #transrights #Roe #supportscience

Hi Richard! I don’t have any guitars with armrests or other ergonomic features right now but I can always modify one. I’m making a couple guitars for the LA Guitar Fest in May, I’ll try to have one there.

I’m a classical guitar builder and finisher and I’m in the same boat. Can’t grow nails because one scratch on a guitar top can ruin a months work. I just play without them.. badly.

So how does one get to eat these delicious looking things?

Hey thanks! It’s nice to do some mods every once in a while to get away from finish work.

A view of the double sound ports and the ebony armrest. This style of armrest is very comfortable because it allows your shoulder to relax back. The additive armrests stop the corner from cutting into your arm but make you reach even further around the guitar and put more pressure on your shoulder and elbow. The sound ports open up the guitar and give it a better, clearer presence.

A view of the bridge with a 12 hole conversion. This gives the strings some more break angle, gives them a more secure purchase on the tie block, and makes tying strings a little easier.

The guitar before modification.

The bridge before the 12 hole conversion.

I modified this New World guitar with an ebony armrest, sound ports, and a 12 hole bridge. It feels great to play and sounds loud and clear.

#guitar #repair #mods #NewWorldGuitars #armrest #upgrade #guitarrepair #guitarshop #luthier #wood #woodshop #classicalguitar #kellyguitarco

Thanks! It came out well. I usually use a corked neck caul and pony clamps for the neck glue up but this time I tried the surgical tubing method. It worked very well and didn’t marre the neck in at all. Tubing is the way.

I removed the old ebony using heat to soften the glue

I then cleaned the surfaces and installed a double action truss rod.

I made a custom ebony fretboard and installed it using surgical tubing for clamps.

This guitar now has a new slightly radiused fretboard with new, level nickel frets, a discreet double action truss rod, and new compensated bone nut and saddle. It plays perfectly with low action and the client doesn’t need to worry about the neck deforming ever again.

Bowed neck needed a fretboard replacement. I added a truss rod so the neck will never deform again. I also updated the nut and saddle. It plays beautifully now.

#guitar #repair #trussrod #fretboard#guitarrepair #guitarshop #luthier #wood #woodshop #classicalguitar #kellyguitarco

Vela the shop dog decided to climb a tree and pose today on our walk. #dog #shopdog #guitarshop #california #SantaCruz #tinydog #majestic

Thank you

Thanks!