Oh lordy...it's a Kevin Ryan build thread
 

So, after some of this and some of that...and at the urging of my family and some friends, I've decided to go all in. At first I wasn't willing to go through a build so instead I called Kevin Ryan (my mom has a 2004 Mission) and had a few chats with him. We talked materials and money and in the end I bought a Nightingale he had in his shop that had been completed two months earlier.
It showed up at my door two days later and it was immediately clear that this man builds guitars at the highest level. Never heard a sound like that and I've played a few guitars...just heaven. But, Nightingales are big guitars and I'm a couch player. After about a week with it and a few more chats with the man we decided it'd be best to ship it back and have a guitar built. At that point I figured I may as well just do it right and Kevin had no problem with that.
The build is a Paradiso body, one size smaller than the Nightingale, and it's going to have all the Ryan goodies...the bevel, flutes, titanium pins etc. and it also has some very cool extras as well. The specs are as follows

Kevin Ryan Paradiso GC
Brazilian Rosewood/Cedar
Ebony binding
Black Pearl Ryan logo
Black Pearl sound board
Black Pearl "Diamonte" inlay pattern on fretboard
Brazilian Rosewood Rosette with Black Pearl purfling
Ryan Bevel
Ebony Flutes
Titanium pins
A4 Kerfing
Acoustic Honeycomb
EO Bracing
Ryan Signature black chrome Gotohs

Florentine cutaway

Top is getting the first Ryan "Moonburst" finish which is a miraculously subtle, dark brown to black burst inspired by Kevin's famous Moonglow redwood (my favorite top aesthetically, ever)

This is my dream guitar, and wouldn't you know it...Kevin started building it two weeks ago

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And here is an example of two Nightingales with "Moonglow" redwood tops. In our chats I told Kevin how much I love the look of his "Moonglow" tops but Kevin only has a couple of them left and my favorite wood combo is Braz/Cedar. It was Kevin's idea to use a beautiful cedar top but to shade it using Moonglow Redwood as inspiration. I loved the idea and it'll be a first for Ryan Guitars!

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congratulations on a marvelous build with an incredibly gifted luthier!

Very nice! Looking forward to progress pictures.

Whoaa !!!
 

This thread should be a blast!

Congratulations and enjoy!!!

Cheers

Paul

I can't wait to see it! When I saw the example of moonglow, my first thought was, wow! Kevin builds fast! :D

I hope this one works out better. By the sound of things and Kevin's meticulous production model, it definitely should.

Cool! It's been a while since I've seen a Ryan build thread. I always thought his style was great. His deco inlays are amazing.

Very happy for you! Will certainly follow the progress with your build.

Nice Josh, Im sure it will be a great guitar:)

Congrats! Can't wait to hear it.

Thanks dudes,
 

This guitar is really going to be something. The Paradiso is Kevin's newest model though it is a few years old now. It seems like it is the perfect size for me with a lower bout of 15.25", it will sport a depth of (around) 4.6" and it will have Kevin's longer "standard" scale of 25.7"

Here is a picture that Kevin sent me weeks ago, before most of what's been posted already. It's a fun one though because it shows some of Kevin's super cool and innovative EO braces.

http://i1374.photobucket.com/albums/...sb2fii5aa.jpeg

Fascinating. I love how some builders get all high tech with the inner workings of their instruments. That's where the true artistry is IMO.

Congratulations. It looks like this one will be a beauty. A fun thread to follow for sure!

Best,
Jayne

Had a Mission once. I miss it. Had great responsiveness and balance up and down the fingerboard. Congratulations on your new build.

That Brazilian is what Brazilian is supposed to be!!!

Why a Paradiso?
 

As I mentioned, my mom owns a 2004 Mission and it's lovely. The Mission and Paradiso do spec out identically (I believe) but they have totally different body shapes. The Paradiso also offers a bevel and flutes while the Mission GC does not.
After playing that Nightingale I fell in love with both those options, the flutes are just so expertly crafted, crazy impressive.
It was a pretty easy call...I just love the Paradiso body.