[Mark Hatcher]

Originally Posted by cigarfan

I'm so glad I got mine before the increase!

Let's not call it an increase rather it's an upgrade for a possibly better sounding but, more comfortable guitar! It just may be more to go backwards in the evolution of this model's design

Originally Posted by j. Kinnaird

Beautiful rosette! How in the world do you do such perfect inlay on a spruce top with such tiny pieces? Some of those stems are too thin to be inlayed by my clumsy fingers.

Thank god for tweezers!

Originally Posted by David Wren

What John says ... I wouldn't dare sink inlay that fine in a spruce top ... much respect Mark!

Thanks! It's nice to get the nod from my fellow builders. What I am doing is closer to the methods of marquetry than what we normally do with inlays. There are no routers in this process. One issue I had to get past is this requires I cut all the way through the spruce to set the inlay. If you look at how much is cut there isn't much to hold it together. What I did for that was put a maple ring inset into the back to support it all and leave a floor for the wreath inlay pcs to push down to. (hope that made sense!)

Moving on. Some of you may have noticed in this picture that the top is set for a cutaway and the back doesn't have the cutaway;



So you may have guessed I am going with a scoop type cutaway on the guitar. That means I've got some additional work to support that type of cutaway;









Hold it! This is usually where people make fun of me for using Staples paperclips to glue up my kerfing. I've finally found something better;



These clamps are strong and perfectly fit the triangle kerfing that I prefer and always use. Additionally, they have a cork inside face that doesn't mark up the Spanish Cedar that I always use for kerfing.

OK, back to that scoop cutaway;