Thank you so much my friend! I certainly celebrated in much the same way!

Hi Jeff! I'm very glad to hear that, and you know what? Since 2008 when I first joined this forum has been a vital resource for me too!

Thank you so much Dustin! The guys were very generous and offered me my choice of the finest sets they had. There was some spectacular wood in there but for me any member of the rosewood family deserves straight grain.

Thank you Bill! The bracing will be a hybrid lattice. This is what works for me and I haven't owned an instrument without this bracing for over a decade now.

You can find out more about the evolution of Casimi in this episode from the first season of Luthiers Stories. I hope you enjoy it!

Hi Michael, hope all is well! Sam and I missed you at BIG. Hope you make it back over here at some point!

This looks like it will be an amazing build, can’t wait to see it come together!

Thank you Mike! Great to hear from you and yes, I missed you guys too but I hope I’ll see you soon!

Congrats Mr. Watts and thanks for sharing this journey with us. Looking forward to all the upcoming pics and details.

What a cool build and a long time in coming.

I saw from the Casimi Guitars post on FB that this is the first non-cutaway C1S they've done--any specific reason for going with a non-cutaway?

Thanks for sharing the journey with us!

Thank you very much! There will be much to share as we progress!

Thank you so much Nemoman!

You're absolutely right, this will be the first non-cutaway guitar that Casimi have ever made. There are several reasons for that which I'll go into at a later date - the main one being that I like trying new things and I haven't owned a non-cutaway acoustic guitar since the late 90s! Actually it was the photoshop mock-up that sealed the deal... it's just so beautiful...

Very cool, Michael!

As for some of those other guitars on your list, only the cool kids get to play them. :)

https://scontent-bos3-1.xx.fbcdn.net...6e&oe=61BA188F

All I can say is You Deserve this Guitar! And this Guitar deserves your incredible style of playing.

Looking forward to hearing the new tunes this guitar will bring out of you. Even the tiniest differences between guitars, lead to new territories of creativity.

Can't wait to hear you play it. A super big Congratulations.

Approximately how long will it take to be built?

This is very exciting news, Michael!!

Having watched the video a few times, I remember your trip to South Africa quite well. You've certainly found a killer team to build your first new guitar in quite a while. And while the Casimi cutaway is a thing of great beauty, so is the non-cutaway mock-up.

(By the way, I've never seen a guitar strung .053, .042, .032, .032, .042. and .053 low to mid to low, but I guess a man of your stature knows a guy who knows a guy who can source esoteric sets for the discerning player...;))

Ok look, there is access and then there is ACCESS! The fact that you are playing the guitar with a thumbpick while plugged into a wall of 100w Marshall stacks (not shown obviously but I remember the vibrations coming through the floor) is testament to that fact.

Great to hear from you JT - I hope you're well!

Thank you so much, that means a lot to me. I've certainly found Casimi instruments to work on a completely different level to anything else I've played in terms of nuance, spectrum and power.

Ha ha! Yes, the search for symmetry in all things continues to frustrate me, I may have to "compromise" with a standard set of Elixirs...

Great to hear from you, too.

Life is pretty good (only "pretty," in a very non-pretty way, because my prostate cancer has returned with a vengeance and I'm now mid-week 4 of 8 weeks of daily radiation).

Some day I'll tell you about John letting me play through his 4 Seasons guitars before the Metropolitan Museum of Art exhibited them. What a day. :)

Hey, Michael--Looks like you're going to get a beautiful guitar. I've listened to quite a few Casimi Guitars sound clips, which were all wonderful. Seems like quite a modern, open, resonant, lush voice, in a good way. I was just wondering and have been a bit curious of whatever became of your fingerstyle archtop journey. Weren't you having a guitar built by the Canadian luthier Thierry Andre? Has the journey been completed, interrupted, cancelled? Any news you can share? Thanks and Best, Jack

Oh, man.

[emoji171][emoji898]🥂[emoji122]

I look forward to hearing that story and as for the rest, stay strong and be kind to yourself. We must catch up soon. Can we aim for a call this coming week?

Thank you Jack! Modern, open, lush, resonant - these are defining characteristics of the Casimi sound and I will go further into that as we go along. You're right about the Thierry Andre guitar - I will update in a video soon!

Ha! Thank you Larry!

In the meantime, is it even official until you change your lock screen?

https://i.imgur.com/AZDwBEA.jpg

Right guys, first off happy new year to you all - I hope 2022 is a gentle one for all of us!

Here is the first episode of my video diary documenting the creation of this guitar - I really hope you enjoy it!



Here is a look at the new mould that has been made for this guitar

https://i.imgur.com/HVEWb2v.jpg

And as a bonus here is a look at the African Blackwood outer sides and Wengé inner sides of the guitar in the raw.

https://i.imgur.com/ShUU4ap.jpg

All the best

Michael