A new guitar...

The shop has been too cold for varnishing, so I spent a little time finishing another project. A few years ago I was fortunate to find a very nice piece of quilted maple suitable for electric guitar tops. When resawn, the piece yielded three book matched tops of exceptional quality. I decided to build three instruments, sisters if you will, using my own design. The design is an aggregate of my favorite features based on 40 years as a player. A major priority was lightness, so I went with the semi-hollow body style of construction. This means the guitar body has a solid piece in the middle to limit feedback, but is otherwise built like an acoustic instrument. The idea has been around since Les Paul designed his famous 'log' in the early 40s. The Gibson ES335 is a good example of this type of construction. The body is somewhat Fender like, bell shaped as opposed to round, and overall dimensions are similar to the Telecaster. I like the simplicity and ergonomics of a single cutaway. The body depth is that of a standard solid body guitar, 1 3/4 inches.

This is the first of the three 'sisters' to be completed. I started this project before the boat and I'm excited to have a new instrument to play.

The top is lightly stained with water soluble aniline dye to bring out the quilt. The mahogany is not stained, but I did use a dark colored pore filler. The finish is nitrocellulose lacquer.

The back and sides, as well as the center block, are all made of Honduras mahogany. The bindings are rock maple and the top is bigleaf maple.

The peghead and fingerboard are of African ebony. I also used ebony for the pickup fittings and the electronics cover plate.

The shell on the fingerboard is Pau abalone heart from New Zealand. The pattern is derived from the lotus blossom.

The neck is made from two pieces of Honduras mahogany with a center strip of Brazilian rosewood. Ebony on the heal cap.

I've been winding single coil pickups for several years now, using my Mom's old sewing machine. However, the gold pickup is my very first humbucker. The recipe is based on the classic Gibson PAFs of the 1950s.

Guitars are like boats in that you can never have too many.

Now, back to the boat!