Wednesday, December 22, 2010

New guitar finished!

My latest guitar commission is finished and delivered.  The happy owner is Keith Sinclair, a talented young guitarist in the 4th year of the Capilano Jazz Studies program.  Keith is also a fine singer and performs with the acclaimed Chor Leoni men's choir.  Here he is in my living room with the guitar:
 
The instrument was designed around Keith's ideas; essentially it is his dream guitar.  I have taught him in several classes at Capilano so I had a pretty good idea of his playing style and the kinds of sounds he likes.  The design is a semi hollow archtop with two humbucking pickups.  The body is made of African Mahogany with a Sitka Spruce top.  The unusual shape is very comfortable and ergonomic - especially for the right forearm.   this was a significant concern for Keith and he is very pleased with the results so far.

 I'm happy to have this one done as it took several months longer than I anticipated.  My other jobs kept eating up the guitar building time.  I have a few other commissions already but really won't have time to do anything about them until later in the spring.  I also have a couple of classical guitars that I'm building just for fun.  For now, I'm glad to be finished this one and eager to spend some time practicing over the Christmas break.   I find all the fiddly work of polishing by hand, making nuts, tailpieces, and saddles, adjusting string height etc. is hard on my fingers and I want to get back in top playing form for post-Christmas gigs. (TBA soon)

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