.... but it sure was made to be played, and I think he'll keep it.
My wife and I have had the good fortune to be blessed with kids who have done very well academically and helped dad get to retirement by paying for their college education through scholarships. One of our sons, who now works as an actuary, got his college education without it costing us a dime. Matter of fact, he had so many scholarships, I always kid him about being one of the few people who made money just by going to college.
Anyway, during his junior year at college, we decided to approach a friend who is a very talented luthier and maker about doing a custom acoustic build. He met with our son a number of times, watched and heard him play, discussed his preferences, tried different models, etc., etc., and we placed our deposit.
That was 2 1/2 years ago (and 1 1/2 now since his college graduation); yesterday afternoon I went with him to pick it up. HOLY MACKEREL!!! I knew it was going to be jaw-dropping based on what I'd seen during the stages of the build, but when my son sat down and started to play, I knew for sure that it was worth every minute of the wait, and every penny I'd paid.
--Spruce top, all hand placed & shaved bracing; Indonesian rosewood back & sides; Mahogany neck.
--Ebony fingerboard & bridge
--Bone nut & saddle
--The headstock overlay, rosette, heel-cap, bindings, fret-markers (olives), inlay (an olive sprig), & strip at the end pin joint are all from some special wood I supplied from my own shop (my "wood library' ;-)). They were all done with PECAN from what was once recorded by arborists at Ohio State University, as Ohio's oldest, largest pecan tree. This tree once stood outside Lebanon, OH on the farm of a good friend : 96' high; 110' crown; 5' DBH (Diameter at Breast Height). When it was destroyed in a lightening strike in 1973, previous tree coring had already determined its age at 273 years. So this wood is now 310 years old.
The guitar also has a blended pickup system - both piezo and transducers - a stereo cable connects to the end pin and then into a K&K dual source box before going into an amp or sound system. When we picked the guitar up, he ran it into an old Genz-Benz acoustic amp, and I'm here to tell you, it sounded like a million bucks just through that little amp. Yeow! I'm definitely going to look into having him replace the electronics in my Songbird with one of these systems.
Here is a series of pictures taken along the way:
More to follow
Bob
My wife and I have had the good fortune to be blessed with kids who have done very well academically and helped dad get to retirement by paying for their college education through scholarships. One of our sons, who now works as an actuary, got his college education without it costing us a dime. Matter of fact, he had so many scholarships, I always kid him about being one of the few people who made money just by going to college.
Anyway, during his junior year at college, we decided to approach a friend who is a very talented luthier and maker about doing a custom acoustic build. He met with our son a number of times, watched and heard him play, discussed his preferences, tried different models, etc., etc., and we placed our deposit.
That was 2 1/2 years ago (and 1 1/2 now since his college graduation); yesterday afternoon I went with him to pick it up. HOLY MACKEREL!!! I knew it was going to be jaw-dropping based on what I'd seen during the stages of the build, but when my son sat down and started to play, I knew for sure that it was worth every minute of the wait, and every penny I'd paid.
--Spruce top, all hand placed & shaved bracing; Indonesian rosewood back & sides; Mahogany neck.
--Ebony fingerboard & bridge
--Bone nut & saddle
--The headstock overlay, rosette, heel-cap, bindings, fret-markers (olives), inlay (an olive sprig), & strip at the end pin joint are all from some special wood I supplied from my own shop (my "wood library' ;-)). They were all done with PECAN from what was once recorded by arborists at Ohio State University, as Ohio's oldest, largest pecan tree. This tree once stood outside Lebanon, OH on the farm of a good friend : 96' high; 110' crown; 5' DBH (Diameter at Breast Height). When it was destroyed in a lightening strike in 1973, previous tree coring had already determined its age at 273 years. So this wood is now 310 years old.
The guitar also has a blended pickup system - both piezo and transducers - a stereo cable connects to the end pin and then into a K&K dual source box before going into an amp or sound system. When we picked the guitar up, he ran it into an old Genz-Benz acoustic amp, and I'm here to tell you, it sounded like a million bucks just through that little amp. Yeow! I'm definitely going to look into having him replace the electronics in my Songbird with one of these systems.
Here is a series of pictures taken along the way:
More to follow
Bob
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