Steel string guitars
The Strowy
After playing the guitar I made while learning the craft, Strowy asked me to make one exactly the same. The only change he wanted was the mother of pearl decoration in the rosette.
The Wrighty
The end result of discussions with Chris included:
the headstock shape,
headstock inlay,
a cover for the trussrod access,
the paua rosette,
the shapes of the cutaway and the bridge,
.
Ben's Dread
Ben wanted a dreadnaught along the lines of a Martin but selected a few features that distinguished his guitar from others. He really liked the contrasting woods in the neck laminations so chose to not have a veneer over the headstock. He gave me its shape and the shape of the bridge. He also brought me the mahogany for back, sides and neck. It had been the foot of his great-grandmother's bed
J0
The initial idea for J0 was simply a jumbo-shaped and large-bodied guitar for my son. When I was offered some cornish turquoise it seemed perfect for the guitar of someone born and bred in the county to have a bit of Cornwall as the inlay. There were many proposals and adjustments to how we would use the turquoise.
The back, sides and neck were made from sycamore and sandlewood. The soundboard is sitka spruce.
The last photo shows the adjustable bolt-on-neck joint.
Catarina (who started life as 'Lewis's GA')
Lewis wanted a Grand Auditorium type guitar with no elaborate decoration (though a real paua shell ring as the rosette will always catch the eye). He insisted that my logo, which is usually tucked away just inside the sound-hole, should be inlaid on the headstock.
What I want to say about this instrument is this. I might have set the action a bit too low because after a few months I got this message. "2 things to report... First: her name is Catarina. Second, she's developed a buzz somewhere on her neck. Any ideas what could be a likely cause and a fix?" He was too busy for a couple of months to send me any more info then I got this message. "Did a complete re-string and while the old strings were off, reset the action, tightened all the machine heads and she is sounding amazing again". The photo of Catarina's back shows the access holes for the bolts that made it possible for Lewis to alter the action himself by tilting the neck.
