While the boss is away #2...(your votes needed)

[nacluth]

Originally Posted by lizzard

Can I pay in g&h greenstamps?

Sure you can. I'll have to figure up the correct conversion, but I would start putting your stamp books together.

[lizzard]

So I'm delaying the thread with your calculations?? Fresh, you just can't find good help! 😛😛🤡

[LSemmens]

Sorry, been busy of late, How'd we go on price, is it set yet? Given the information, so far, I'd be looking at actual costs to give us a starting point. Given the looks of the body and neck It would command a premium. How many man hours have gone in? What is the raw cost of materials. Then we have to add in indirect costs like electricity, wear and tear on the tools. I have no idea of your costs in America, or the margins normally attributed to mid/high end instruments. Are there taxes involved? Mid 6K seems fair, but without a true appreciation of the local market, I'm guessing. FWIW I could never justify that cost for a personal instrument. My market is more the 1-2K mark.

[ZorroElite]

I was traveling for work so wasn't able to get in on the price discussion earlier. $4500 seems reasonable to me... though I confess to being oblivious how setting a price works in this case.

After all, this is a bit of an odd situation - in that while many of us voted to contribute to the design it's probably not the exact instrument any of us would have done if we were doing a custom build.

My guitar budget is, unfortunately, fully allocated right now... but the reason I think $4500 works is that I would absolutely buy this guitar if I had a 'spare' 4500 kicking around. (Actually, that may mean $4500 is too cheap, because I'm kind of cheap.)

[IBKuz]

Ryan, I'm looking forward to seeing this guitar completed

[lizzard]

Do you do "layaway" you know, as in lay it away until my divorce is final 🤠

[nacluth]

Layaway with greenstamps. Sure we do that, but if you default on your payments, just letting you know that that money's already gone.

[lizzard]

Originally Posted by nacluth

Layaway with greenstamps. Sure we do that, but if you default on your payments, just letting you know that that money's already gone.

How about an ex wife (to be) high miles but can cook and has a strong back. Two birds - one stone?

[nacluth]

How about I just front you the money, and you pay us back when you feel like it? If I'm going to debtor's prison at least one of us should be playing guitar.

[Jay Lowe]

You should look closely around town on your way to and from work..... car dealerships, model home sales, banks, insurance agents, whatever. Someone is always having a vacation giveaway. Sign Steve up for all of them you can find. If you can keep him gone enough we can really get something done around here.

[Steve Kinnaird]

Originally Posted by Jay Lowe

You should look closely around town on your way to and from work..... car dealerships, model home sales, banks, insurance agents, whatever. Someone is always having a vacation giveaway. Sign Steve up for all of them you can find. If you can keep him gone enough we can really get something done around here.

Jay, that is a stellar idea. One I can truly get behind!
Thanks, mate!

Steve

[J.R. Rogers]

A little late to the party but wanted to check for any updates. Which headstock was settled on? I'm biased so the only comment I can make on price is that the dollars I spent on the guitar Ryan built aren't memorable. The guitar, however helped inspire my little album of Texas songs and I am very grateful for that. Thank you for your kind words Ryan, and thank you once again for this guitar.

JR

[nacluth]

Thanks JR. For a long time it's been me and you. I guess someone else will get this one. Thanks for the kind words too.

We went with the standard peghead with the Southern Cross logo. Though now that the boss is back, I have to concentrate on other work for the next couple of weeks. As soon as I can spend more time on this one, I'll have a couple more votes. Thanks everyone for following along.

[nacluth]

Well it's been a while, and while this guitar is still being fit in the cracks here and there, it will still be a while until it's completed. However, I need a little more advice (i.e. your vote) before continuing on.

Here's some progress shots of what's happened since you last saw the guitar.

I needed to clean up the sound hole edge, so I bound it in some black veneer.




Then I decided to put in the Southern Cross inlay that we voted on. To start the process, I found a scrap of mother of pearl to cut the five stars from. They are wee things, so they didn't take much.




Here I'm aligning the pattern on the peghead. The tiny stars came out naturally irregular, but I think it adds to the charm of a twinkling star.




A problem I had was with the smallness of the pieces, how could I mark their location without moving them. I ended up dusting them with chalk, and when removed, I was able to precisely mark where they were without losing them.




The inlaid design.




Now here's where I need you. As this is a constellation, some have asked if I couldn't work a combination of our logo into this design. Personally I like how this inlay has turned out, but I wonder if it might be cool to add the lines you might see in a book of constellations. You know how they add in the dashed lines to help your mind see the shape of Orion or Cassiopeia. What if I added some subtle lines to give the hint of our Kinnaird 'K' logo? I've included a side by side shot of our K with a drawn in version over the Southern Cross. Yay or nay?




I'm going to give a little while to vote since this hasn't been up in a bit. But please chime in whether to leave it or add "constellation" lines.

Thanks

[Nemoman]

Glad to see this back in the works!

I vote to leave it...