Has yours arrived yet, Steve? Waiting for it to be delivered has got to be the worst. I hope you give us some more pictures when it gets home, and maybe a sound clip or two. I'm going to try to talk Steve K. into posting a sound clip of mine before it's delivered to me - that would give a better impression than if I try to do it myself.

Hasn’t arrived yet, but should ship sometime next week. I like the idea if Steve and Ryan posting a sound clip before it ships - I’m way too self conscious to post my own - so if you’re reading this Ryan and Steve......

Sure. You guys have any requests? Actually, I've been working up some authentic Pete Townshend licks. I don't get quite the air he gets--or got--but I can smash with the best of them. What say?

Hmmm. I've heard redwood has more headroom than cedar, but I don't think I want a graphic demonstration. You haven't forgotten "Stairway to Heaven" have you? Something celestial, anyway. TomB'sox promised me I would hear angels singing in this guitar.

Here’s some pics from the farewell to the guitar spa.

A shot with the neck and fretboard inlay and bridge.

https://i.postimg.cc/wT4Q38CB/318688...D9048753_F.jpg


And all taped up, ready for finish.

https://i.postimg.cc/kgVFbYCv/79_EBD...F329018837.jpg

Oh yes, a celestial choir can be expected, of course, a little wee bit of that is the player, but I know you got it in you!

At this point Steve has more celestial choirs at his fingertips, for demonstration purposes. I promise to share it with everyone as soon as I can make this baby sing!

So this guitar is getting close enough for me to start getting ready for it, as best I can. I have been concentrating lately on playing blues and bluegrass, but I don't intend to play those styles on this guitar at all - it is a finger-style guitar, and that's what I want to use it for. Right now I play a few songs finger-style, mostly rough Travis-picking, and only a handful of what might be called true finger-style arrangements. I have to get to work!

I'm going to hijack my own thread for a minute and post my current arsenal:

https://scontent-dfw5-2.xx.fbcdn.net...b2&oe=5C1F8AB0

So as you see I'm really set for blues or bluegrass, for folk style strumming, for rainy days, plugging in, filling in the bass and treble. My Middlebrook OM is the best all-rounder and the new one might fill that niche well enough, but I have been instructed by the boss not to sell the OM, Steve and Ryan will be happy to know. My new Kinnaird will be, I like to imagine, the one Segovia would choose if he chose to play a steel string.

We’ve started to fret if this thing will ever get done (or we have to fret?). Anyway, pics.

https://i.postimg.cc/br8NxCDF/3_AF1_...4203_DA574.jpg


https://i.postimg.cc/FzZFDy0F/4671_E...7_E97_E7_F.jpg

Thanks.

Nice collection Stan, it about to get even better. I probably should recognize the headstocks of the first two on the left, but don't? I got all the others!

I hope you get to play them someday, Tom, but let's not discuss the competition in this Kinnaird thread. ;) ;) I've already highjacked this thread too much!

How 'bout them golden position markers to match the gold frets? Pretty snazzy. Ryan likes them so much he posted the same picture twice.

So I did. Corrected now.

Neck carving day.

Rough shaping the neck.

https://i.postimg.cc/5yK3NSXN/E92_DF...ACAFFB01_B.jpg


Checking the cross section.

https://i.postimg.cc/wxwFVgw8/0585_D...FA2_FD99_E.jpg


Ready for final clean up.

https://i.postimg.cc/Hnkzghsh/B0_EC2...4825417_B9.jpg

Thanks!

Looking good. That's a cool tool in the second picture!

When I was a kid, my dad got me one of those metal pin boards where you could stick your hand in one side and get a 3D relief...or maybe the side of your face...or anything else a young boy would like to capture until your parents made you shake it back flush. This tool is like the Luddite 2D version of that, just way more useful for this task instead of making tongue mountains.

Stan, you have a real artist working for you! Impressive work. I sensed some jealousy coming from your other guitars ;)

Ken

Thanks, Kenneth! You may be right about my other guitars, but I'm going to try to not play favorites too much. I just learned to play the lead break on "Back In the USSR" - I don't think I'll be trying that on my Kinnaird! :D

Finishing the neck...

https://i.postimg.cc/fLsZPp4n/4_C727...7_CC901_B9.jpg


And with some color...

https://i.postimg.cc/MGVqdxFm/7_D2_F...6_AF7205_B.jpg

Thanks.

Looking good. Thanks for trickling out a few photos so I don't have to go cold turkey while the body is at the finishers. ;)

Being starved for pictures while the guitar is getting finished, I thought I would bump the thread with my favorite picture so far.

That is a nice pic Stan! We spent all day today on a wood prospecting trip to central Louisiana. Former AGF sponsor Michael Armand of Aubade Acoustics is a fabulous furniture maker and restorer. I think he’s realized his passion is in that line of woodworking, so he opened his wood chest to us. We got some fabulous stuff from him especially some beautiful mahogany, koa, and sinker cypress. And fretboards...tons of fretboards.

Anyway, just some cool woods that might look good with a redwood top...

Sinker cypress? That sounds pretty cool!

Sinker cypress? That would be the tree's knees. ;)

Would that be for a top? More like spruce or cedar, or a hardwood?

Didn't Michael Armand build some pine guitars? Are y'all ready to go that backwoodsy?

It would be for back and sides but pretty light weight. He did build pine guitars and was willing to just give us some pine he cut, but we didn’t come home with any. While someone may convince us to build a guitar out of an old cabinet, we’re not quite to the point of building out of wall studs.

Hahaha--that brought out a guffaw, Stan. Great line!

SK

Ha! I take it you're not ready to go that far down the local wood wormhole.

You guys should do a post about your wood haul - we're interested in seeing what that sinker cypress looks like, and whatever else you care to show off.

Good idea Stan. I’ll try to get something together on Monday.

Here you go Stan. Here’s a selection of the woods we picked up. We have two sister sets of Koa, three of the cypress, four of the sapele.

Sinker Cypress:

https://i.postimg.cc/G262wxbZ/DE64_A...4_D008_BDD.jpg


Curly Wavy Koa:

https://i.postimg.cc/QtFtyyZQ/AFBA17...9598_CAC25.jpg


Quartersawn Sapele (unreal fleck in these):

https://i.postimg.cc/sDdXTm6W/1_D93_...0_C2106239.jpg


And some Black Limba that Steve hates but I say is cool.

https://i.postimg.cc/D0sz24Zm/B41_C6...19_C53_DB5.jpg


What do you think?

I agree with Steve that the cypress wouldn't go that well with redwood. Neither would the black limba, but I'm intrigued by it anyway.

Don't you dare give Ryan the satisfaction of saying "I told you so"!

:D