Julian Gaffney Mod-d build thread!

[Howard F.]

Hello everyone! Recently there are a LOT of interesting builds happening here on the forum and I indeed had way too much fun watching them. To make things even better, Julian Gaffney started my project last week and I’m excited to share it here as my first build thread!

Back in early 2016 I was seriously considering commission a new guitar with a modern style luthier, and therefore I contacted Michael at The North American Guitar in London (For those who know about TNAG, I don’t have to mention how haunting that place can be). After some back and forth emails and phone call we decided on a few brands and rough ideas about my ideal guitar. A few weeks later just before Easter, I happened to be in London and decided to pay an unscheduled visit to TNAG. Although at that time Michael was on holiday but Ben was there and showed me some serious guitars…very good stuffs!!


Ben was so generous and allow me to try whatever I want even though I didn't inform them before. I ended up spent a lot of time playing different amazing guitars like Bamburg, McElory, Greenfield, Kostal and Gaffney. Before I went to TNAG I had already heard a lot of good things about Jason’s guitars. But man, after playing Michael’s #032(German spruce/The Tree mahogany), I got to say Jason’s guitar was way exceed my expectation…just blow my socks out of the roof! Another gem I played was Julian’s #008 (Sitka/coco), I haven’t heard about Julian at that time but that guitar was exceptional, it has that rich reverb yet still very balance as a big body guitar. It was one of the best sounding guitar I’ve ever played,if I don’t have too many cocobolo guitars that one would went home with me!!(Well, I did talk my friend into buying it because it’s just too good a guitar to let go)

[Howard F.]

Needless to say a Kostal Mod-d was hard to beat but after hearing Julian’s work, I just can’t get that rich and somewhat haunting sound out of my head. At the end, I decided to order a Gaffney Mod-d with Spruce and Mahogany and the rest is history.

Oh wait…did I forget to mention the Mahogany is somewhat a bit mutated…?



One just cannot simply escape THE TREE easily after he plays one! And after I saw this set I just had to have it, and to match the back, Julian will use this beautiful piece of Swiss moon spruce.

[rogthefrog]

How fun! Julian makes killer guitars.

[Howard F.]

Originally Posted by rogthefrog

How fun! Julian makes killer guitars.

Thank you! Julian is indeed very talented and also very easy to work with!

[Marcus Wong]

Hey Howard, you're in for a real treat! I see you managed to upload the photos I am going to have my eyes on this one for sure!

[fitness1]

That's some amazing wood there.....

[Howard F.]

Originally Posted by Marcus Wong

Hey Howard, you're in for a real treat! I see you managed to upload the photos I am going to have my eyes on this one for sure!

Thank you Marcus! Yep, looks like I got it figured out

And for those who wonder why Julian just disappeared for quite a while, he graduated from Ervin last year and just finished setting up his new workshop back in NY, here's a sneak peek of the his new shop!

Gift from Ervin


Around the shop




Build new moulds


This will be Julian's first build since he graduated from Ervin and might feature some new designs as well! More details will follow

[Howard F.]

Originally Posted by fitness1

That's some amazing wood there.....

I can spend days staring at them...well in fact, I did..

[cigarfan]

Mighty nice Howard. Congrats on the build. Can't go wrong with "The Tree".

[Ozzy the dog]

Wonderful selection of wood, I don't think I've seen such a well book matched set for a while.

That's wood envy and workshop envy all in one post - How do they keep their workshops so tidy?

[CoolerKing]

Congrats! The tortoiseshell Tree will look killer under finish.

[Howard F.]

Originally Posted by cigarfan

Mighty nice Howard. Congrats on the build. Can't go wrong with "The Tree".

Thanks Dennis. Look forward to seeing your Kinnard too.

Originally Posted by Ozzy the dog

Wonderful selection of wood, I don't think I've seen such a well book matched set for a while.

That's wood envy and workshop envy all in one post - How do they keep their workshops so tidy?

Thank you! For the wood I have to thank Mr Watts and Jay. As for the workshop...I'm just as curious as you do

Originally Posted by matthewpartrick

Congrats! The tortoiseshell Tree will look killer under finish.

Thank you Mattew, yea, the set in photo was still rough sanded only, I literally can't wait!

[JJI]

Julian's guitars are incredible and that Tree set is as well! Julian is really happy in his new shop and it seems a privelage to have one of the first builds to come out of it!

[Diamondave]

Really stand out work Julian does... shop looks great, some amazing guitars will be flowing out of there..!!!

[Howard F.]

Originally Posted by JJI

Julian's guitars are incredible and that Tree set is as well! Julian is really happy in his new shop and it seems a privelage to have one of the first builds to come out of it!

Thank you Josh. Working with Julian is really a pleasure and joy, his sense of design is incredible and provided me so many new options for this project.

Originally Posted by Diamondave

Really stand out work Julian does... shop looks great, some amazing guitars will be flowing out of there..!!!

Thanks Dave, Julian is back in full gear now so I believe we will see quite a few builds from the man in near future.