This guitar was just finished on February 1, 2006. It is constructed of extremely good materials including back and side wood which was featured in a 1985 article in FineWoodworking magazine. The back and sides are quilted or “turtle shell” mahogany of which there has only been one tree found to exist. The top is Red Spruce, the pyramid bridge and fretboard, ebony. The binding on the headstock, fretboard, and body are quilted mahogany. All purfling is mitred (back and sides). The outrageous rosette was created by Tom Ellis and features a matching mahogany insert. This is a 13 fret to the body guitar with an enlarged soundhole. It has a “long” scale and 21 total frets. The design pushes the soundhole back to the center of the guitar creating an extremely loud and “punchy” sound. The tuners are Waverly’s executed in a brushed gold which is no longer available. It is 1 3/4″ at the nut with 2 5/16″ spacing at the bridge making this instrument an ideal fingerpicking guitar. The finish is nitrocellulose lacquer, gloss on the body and semi-gloss on the neck for better playability.
