Wow! That's a crazy turn of events. I'm sorry to hear about the bump in the road, but know you two will come up with a great plan B and you'll end up with the incredible dream guitar this was destined to be.

Thanks, Tom. These things happen.

I wanted the sapwood to be really pronounced and pop. 162 is a strong candidate but doesn't really have that. Yes, that horizontal pic is the possible replacement he sourced. Not sure why the pic attached that way.

Thanks, John. No doubt Ben will deliver, however long it takes.

And, guess what, geez, Ben doesn't even let me enjoy a brief pity-party, that selfish guy! Today he completed the journey already. The new back checked out perfectly. Upon getting home, he promptly sanded it and it looks amazing. Absolutely amazing.

In Ben's own words, "As the French say, 'voi-la'!"

Nothing to see here folks move along.

Ben, hit me up for Wilborn Fanboy Dues through 2030. Really, your extraordinary effort to fix something that wasn't your fault at all, is well, pretty darn swell!

The new back is pretty dang special. Congrats on joining the fanboy club; I'm on the board of directors!

Is it possible to find an even prettier set than the original? Well yes, yes it is!

Thanks, John and Tom.

We toyed with the idea of just subbing the back to see if anyone would even notice. Alas, we are both too honest and we worried that we would be expelled from the AGF Custom Shop, branded as cheats for the rest of our lives.

As a moderator with endless power, I still may do that and then be forced to confiscate this guitar!!!

Geez--what a turn of events!

But in typical Ben fashion, he comes through--welcome to the fanboy club!

That replacement set looks mighty tasty indeed!

Alas, but onward.
 

So, the most grating aspect of this is that you literally cannot find these cracks on the back right now. It was the heat of the buffing wheel that I believe caused the lacquer to swell slightly, and reveal these underlying fault lines. But I know very well (Can I say "very" on here?- we will see....) that the very first time the guitar experienced dry conditions, those babies would yawn open like a crevasse,
and Eddie, along with his extensive collection of Little House On The Prairie paraphernalia, would fall in and never be seen again. I would hate to be responsible for that. BTW, I think I might be delirious, so please disregard that strange reference.

The fact is that we luthiers are constantly skirting disaster, building these extremely delicate structures out of not carbon fiber or metal, but wood, with all its inherent unpredictability. Ziricote has a reputation for cracking, and it is certainly prone to it- I have had one other Z guitar develop cracks, again in construction, but as far as I know the dozen or so others I have made have remained intact. So, tendencies aside, I can't help but build with this gorgeous and lovely sounding wood. I was momentarily crushed when I realized what the situation was, but I would never succeed as a luthier if I couldn't rebound from this kind of thing. So, no big deal! A new back! Luckily, Eddie is an awesome client and very understanding. (Thank you, Eddie)

I was fortunate that my friend Sparky (Randall) Kramer had a set he was willing to part with that really is an excellent replacement. In fact, it is better than the first back, I think. (Ha Ha- the FIRST back) He only lives about 30 miles from me, so up I went this morning, and even now , the back has been sanded, and glued up. We will be back in business in no time. I will strip the lacquer from the sides, carefully remove the back, install my new plate, lacquer again, and voila.

Apparently not.

I trust you meant "darn". ;-)

I cannot believe you shared our little secret about Little House on the Prairie. Next you know, somebody will want to join our Michael Landon fan club and we'll have to print a third membership card.

Wow!
 

How great that the "secret top tier Luthier Bat Light" worked! What a spectacular set!!!

Way to go, Ben.

Looks like a speedy resolution to this set back, knowing how Ben works at Top Speed!

I do believe he is much too upbeat of a fine gentleman to be driven mad by setbacks, but fortunately we will not have to find out!

Salud

Paul

OK, now it is just getting a little uncomfortable with whatever you two have going here...:D:D:D

Industrious Ben, as I affectionately call him, wasted no time removing the "bad" back. And into the bin it went! Take that, you bad, bad back!

Post-removal, the sound box sans back looks as tidy as ever. And the new back is in the go-bar deck.

That's some dang pretty firewood...

I can't imagine how careful one would have to be to remove the back so cleanly. Looking awesome!