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Irvin Custom SJ
I just took possession of a custom built SJ from luthier, Wayne Johnson, at Irvin Guitars (http://www.irvinguitars.com). The goal was to create a guitar with the vibe of an old Gibson, but not a Gibson.
We went with a beautiful bocote back and sides, topped with cedar. Wayne is known for his french polish finishes. While I normally don’t take my guitars out of the house, I wanted one that I could take out to writing sessions or just to play out. Since french polish is a little delicate for my needs, we came up with a good compromise. We went with french polish on the back and sides and did black nitro on top. The thought was the nitro would stand up better, even though black would show all the marks. But this guitar was made to be a player. The nitro was applied real thin, allowing the grain of the cedar to show through. The fret board was fun to put together. I found a piece of beautiful Bolivian rosewood. As shown by the supplier, it looked like a bowlful of Fruit Loops, when it was wet down. Although those colors don’t show in the final product, the fret board still shows great color variation. Wayne was able to get eight boards from that piece, I kept a second one for future use, so he still has some available for future orders. Figured maple was used for the binding, rosette and a really funky three-piece pick guard with ebony purfing. Other parts include ebony bridge, bocote back strap, black chrome Gotoh 510 tuners, bone nut and saddle. Also added a K&K pickup with volume knob mounted in the sound port. Much more in the traditional sound than modern. The sound is big, solid highs and real strong mids. While it has good bass out of the box, I have put a ToneRite unit on it to help open it up much more than I could do with available playing time, alone. The first 48 hours have definitely shown good results. Looking forward to that. Overall, a very satisfying experience working with Wayne. Very detail oriented, excellent communication and very responsive. Here are a few photos from throughout the build, along with a few of the finished piece. Enjoy.
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----------------------------- “Never try to teach a pig to sing - it wastes your time and annoys the pig” - Mark Twain |
#2
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That’s really pretty!
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=== "Don't let your baby down" Storm Windows, John Prine '66 Gibson J-200, '55 J50, JB Model 1; Martin M-36; Micheletti Osprey Rigid Rim; Collings OM2H, GR Bear OM C; Emerald X10 Slimline; Gretsch HOF Country Gent & G6120CMHOF; Gibson ES-165; CP Thornton Improv; Veillette Flyer 14 & Lyric; Anderson Crowdster++ .... |
#3
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Very nice guitar! Hope you post some sound clips!
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#4
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Wayne Johnson lives in the Seattle area, and we've been fortunate to get to know him a bit.
This is a luthier to keep your eye (and ear) on. The string to string balance is reminiscent of Larrivee guitars, yet he is definitely developing his own secret sauce. My partner and I are going to be demoing Irvin guitars at the La Conner Guitar Festival in May.
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-Gordon 1978 Larrivee L-26 cutaway 1988 Larrivee L-28 cutaway 2006 Larrivee L03-R 2009 Larrivee LV03-R 2016 Irvin SJ cutaway 2020 Irvin SJ cutaway (build thread) K+K, Dazzo, Schatten/ToneDexter Notable Journey website Facebook page Where the spirit does not work with the hand, there is no art. - Leonardo Da Vinci |
#5
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Beautiful guitar!! Enjoy!
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Alvarez AP-70 Squire Contemporary Jaguar Kustom Amp (acoustic) Gamma G-25 Amp (electric) |
#6
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Here is a soundclip
I saw this request. First, thanks to Gary for his kind words. It was a really fun build to do. I do not have any professional way of producing sounds clips. I use my iphone and record a simple unplugged, acoustic clip of my builds in my shop, just for my own documentation. I am not sure how this will show up on the forum. Hope you can play it and get an idea. Thanks for listening. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9GnAHisvaE
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Wayne Irvin Johnson www.irvinguitars.com my current guitars; 2014 personal build eir/cedar 25.4 2020 Irvin SJ eir/tunnel 13 redwood top 25.5 guitars I have owned; 1977 Martin D-28 2006 Tom Doerr Legacy Select 1956 Gretsch White Falcon 2011 Taylor GA3e 1967 Silvertone 1969 Stella Harmony |
#7
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Sounds beautiful Wayne! Thanks for posting the video!
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#8
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Thanks for the kind words Louie.
thanks to all Wayne
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Wayne Irvin Johnson www.irvinguitars.com my current guitars; 2014 personal build eir/cedar 25.4 2020 Irvin SJ eir/tunnel 13 redwood top 25.5 guitars I have owned; 1977 Martin D-28 2006 Tom Doerr Legacy Select 1956 Gretsch White Falcon 2011 Taylor GA3e 1967 Silvertone 1969 Stella Harmony |
#9
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Nice
That guitar is well built . I love the finger braces!!!! Great work
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#10
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Thanks for the nice comments Walters Guitars.
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Wayne Irvin Johnson www.irvinguitars.com my current guitars; 2014 personal build eir/cedar 25.4 2020 Irvin SJ eir/tunnel 13 redwood top 25.5 guitars I have owned; 1977 Martin D-28 2006 Tom Doerr Legacy Select 1956 Gretsch White Falcon 2011 Taylor GA3e 1967 Silvertone 1969 Stella Harmony |