Mahogany OM

[Don Musser]

Some fire from "The Tree" :

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and some New Mexico sunrise fire - looking out over my neighbors roof :


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Thanks to Mau for his advice and encouragement about photography.

I will also add a few pictures about piecing together these necks from "The Tree"

[dneal]

Not the figuring that comes to mind when "The Tree" is mentioned, but beautiful nonetheless.

Really, really nice guitar and pics.

[roberts]

Don - Have long-admired your builds, noting they're not often seen here on the East coast. This one's gorgeous....Robert

[Don Musser]

yes - this wood is flat sawn. When you look at the Tostise shell figure of the set that Mark Hatcher is using - that grain is quartered and shows those beautiful symmetrical patterns.

Here is a close up of another rough sawn example from the same board as this OM - This wood really throws around the light - I should be taking videos and gently rotating the guitar to show the luster and chatoyance. In hand - it is striking . :

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Thanks Robert - yes, most of my instruments have gone out thru dealers on the West coast - Norman Harris ( Norman's Rare Guitars), California Vintage Guitars, and Mc Cabes in Santa Monica.
I am going to have some fun with this Quilted Mahogany - so we'll see where instruments go and how things unfold in the future.

[ZekeM]

Originally Posted by dneal

Not the figuring that comes to mind when "The Tree" is mentioned, but beautiful nonetheless.

Really, really nice guitar and pics.

I agree. I can't say I've ever seen any "tree" that looked quite like this piece.

[JoeCharter]

Don, nice to see some crisp and shiny photos from you!

Originally Posted by ZekeM

I agree. I can't say I've ever seen any "tree" that looked quite like this piece.

I said the same thing to Don when I saw that guitar. I bet you it looks even more "special" in person.

[Don Musser]

Here is the neck assembly sequence :


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After sawing , the faces to be glued are carefully smoothed to a flat :
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Aligned, lightly clamped and pinned with brads :
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Clamped and glued :
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If customers ask for one - I do build guitars with one piece necks.
But there is an issue with run out right there as the peghead angle breaks over the nut on one piece necks. They are more prone to having the pegheads cracked or snapped off if the tuned up instrument - even in the case - gets dropped .

These necks with spliced pegheads remove that run out problem and are less likely to be cracked around the nut area.

[ChuckS]

Hi Don,
Great looking instrument. I really like figured wood in the neck, thanks for posting how it was built.

One of my guitars was built with quilted mahogany. The board used had limited depth, so the luthier used a V-joined head and a stacked heel. Nice to see this pretty wood used efficiently and resulting in a strong design.

[BBWW]

My, oh my. Very sweet indeed Don. There ain't nothing wrong with that set of wood!!!