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Renaissance Guitar
My Ren Guitar.
I am very happy to have moved from my modified baritone ukulele to this guitar.
- luthier Joseph Mayes; it was a covid time project made out of wood on hand
- acquired at Timbre Folk & Baroque (Berkeley, CA)
- slight arch to the back
- 366mm body length
- 65mm body depth
- 544mm scale length
- 143 upper bout
- 175mm lower bout
- 7 tied-on frets, 5 wooden frets
- inside back has label with Joseph's signature and the date 4/22
Additional details from Joseph's email on 9/12/2024
- back and sides are cherry with holly spacers
- top is Engleman spruce
- fingerboard is bubinga.
- soundboard is sealed with egg-whites. It should feel naked. The fingerboard should never need any attention.
- the Stringing is:
| loc | pitch | Joseph's email | Strings by mail - Traverse City, MI or Boston Catlines, Somerville, MA |
| 1st | a | pyramid 0.475 | 0.475 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2nd | ee | 2x Savarez kf45 | KF45 |
| 3rd | cc | 2x Savarez kf52 | KF52 |
| 4th | gG | Pyramid 50 and Pyramid 906 | 0.500 906 |
Frets
Well, a fret (the 2nd) broke. No complaints, the instrument is 3 years old, I have had it for 2 years. I play it outside quite a bit, so it is exposed to wide range of humidity. The problem is that the fret schedule1) Joseph includes with the instrument when it leaves his shop was no longer in the case when I purchased it. So, let the experimentation begin.
Armed with my digital caliper2) which claims an accuracy of ±0.001” (±0.00254mm) I measured the broken fret at the location near near the knot (so hopefully still close to it's original measurement). I also measured the 1st and the 3rd fret in situ as best I could.
Joseph recommend two shops for frets. I went with Boston Catlines. I emailed my measurements and then had a great conversation with Olav Chris Henriksen, the owner. My order has shipped, once I have determined the actual diameter of the frets, I will fill in the chart below
| Fret | replaced | date |
|---|---|---|
| position | with | replaced |
| 1 | ||
| 2 | 10/2025 | |
| 3 | ||
| 4 | ||
| 5 | ||
| 6 | ||
| 7 |
So, what's it sound like?
Well, as of 8/2025 I am posting some practice videos on youtube. Here is the first Video: Aug. 13, 2025 four pieces from memory.
Interested in the Music?
A few case ideas
I was looking at making a case. I have since made a fitted net that works nicely, but I may return to this at some point. Case Ideas