Guild F-46 (G. Gruhn, 1984) is available

[Rocky]

The nautilus is one where both can kill a person, along with several other cuttlefish.)

<geek veer> Nautilus and Sepia both belong to the Order Cephalopoda (along with squids and octopus), but they all belong to different Families. </veer>

 

[banjomike]

<geek veer> Nautilus and Sepia both belong to the Order Cephalopoda (along with squids and octopus), but they all belong to different Families. </veer>

Thanks- I'm sure no expert on marine life! I always like it when I make a mistake and get a quick correction too, especially when it comes to the internet, where BS tends to rule too much, too often.

 

[Rocky]

Thanks- I'm sure no expert on marine life! I always like it when I make a mistake and get a quick correction too, especially when it comes to the internet, where BS tends to rule too much, too often.

All I know is they're all (except Nautilus) good eats.

 

[bobouz]

Beautiful guitar. Love the fingerboard inlays. Also love the Nick Lucas pattern. One of my favorites is found on Gibson’s RB-250 banjo (not the ‘60s bow-ties!).

 

[banjomike]

I do remember the CNC machines and spaces for the logos and what-not being cut into the headstock. The toxicity, as Banjomike notes, may be the reason we didn't see any inlay being done.

Except for the soundhole rosettes -- which looked like shell or MOP -- being laid in in strips. Maybe it was some kind of synthetic material?

Those strips are almost always abalone. They come accurately pre-cut, but may need minor trimming, mostly on the ends, for the best fit with another piece. End clippers work the best for that job, and the clippers don't create enough stray particles to be harmful. Neither does some minor sanding to smooth a tiny rough spot that happened when the material was cut.

These days, the CNC (and other cutting machines) do this work so cleanly and accurately that it's cheaper for the guitar companies to buy their inlays from specialists rather than making them in-house.

The only hand-cut pearl I see nowadays is work done by folks like Grit Laskin and a few others who are truly genuine artists, and are using their chosen medium. All of them I know of don't exclusively use shell; they'll use modern synthetic materials, exotic woods, gold & silver wire, and other stuff too. Like a painting, the best inlayers always work using contrasts in their inlays.
Canada is home to a bunch of them, including Raskin.

...and typically, those inlays only go on outstanding and super-expensive guitars, totally small-shop outfits with a 5-figures as their starting point.
Sold and appreciated as objects d'art, the modern equivalent of the Fabregé eggs the last Russian Czar purchased over 100 years ago at the dawn of the 20th century. No owner ever plays them past the very first time; one strum, just to make sure the guitar sounds as good as it looks, and that's all the playing it ever gets.

 

[wileypickett]

Thanks Banjomike for background on processes and materials!

(I know a lot of people like Grit's work, but I'm not one of them. His work has appeared in issues of *Guitarmaker* and *Guild of American Lutherie*, and while I can't deny there's a lot of skill required to do all that intricate inlay, the end result does nothing for me.)

 

[davismanLV]

Hey @banjomike can you post a photo of some of his work? Just a little sample for those of us who've never seen it? That'd be so cool!!

 

[banjomike]

Hey @banjomike can you post a photo of some of his work? Just a little sample for those of us who've never seen it? That'd be so cool!!

Here's one, a Martin custom guitar. Martin uses him as does several other guitar makers.
This peghead is a self-portrait- Grit as Michaelangelo, daubing his own name over Martin's.
be
For sure, his work isn't for everyone. I tend to agree with Wylie in general about Grit, but his work is far outside traditional boundaries, and is as much fine art as it is practical art.

Personally, I wouldn't own such an intricately fancy guitar because I but them to play them first and foremost. If I desire something with this sort of inlay, I would rather have it on a highly crafted wooden treasure box or on a panel of wood that can be hung like a picture.

Do a google search, and you'll turn up a lot of his work.

 

[davismanLV]

Okay yeah, thanks a lot. I've seen his work before. And I also agree, it just a bit much for me. I love a fancy guitar that can announce it's quality with trim work. But that's just too much. Thanks for posting that!!