Bowerman 2021 build
 

I was trying to keep my mouth shut until the process was further along, but I'm too excited. And i don't have anybody else to talk to about it that would understand... so, here goes.

I had reached out to Jayson about commissioning a build back in March, a few weeks before everything went all pandemicy. But didn't go ahead with it because of all the uncertainty.

But after much thought, I reached out again last week. After having a nice chat on the phone and feeling really good about that, I sent off my deposit to lock in a build slot.

There are a few moving parts in the build schedule, but if the stars align it'll be ready next summer... and hopefully I'll be able to get out to Oregon and pick it up in person. But it might end up being closer to the end of the year, and that's ok too.

The build:
OM
Oregon Walnut B&S
salvaged "Cook Shack" Sitka top (reclaimed from logging rafts; same story as the top on Mark Hatcher's RWB guitar)

I was having a bit of a wobble on the "Cook Shack" choice rather than going with Adi, because I can't find a ton of info about it how it might sound... but that's what I'm drawn to, and Jayson says it has a "fantastic dynamic range" and a good harmonic series on the tap tone (or something like that).

Going to hammer out the cosmetics later, he does a "Working Man's" package which is basically vintage 28 style appointments and a sunburst and looks really good. Might do that, or might upgrade to wood binding. But nothing too crazy.

Should have some back and side sets to choose from before too long.

Congrats! Jayson makes great guitars. I can't wait to see the wood and build photos.

I don’t believe that we have seen a build by Jayson here before. Thanks for sharing it here...:up:

I'm a big fan of Jayson's work.
Looking forward to seeing the progress!

Congratulations! Nice to have something good happening in these strange times.

I'm a big fan of walnut and I'm looking forward to your photos.

Looking forward to this one. If Jayson likes that particular spruce, that’s what I’d go with. There is a lot of variation in spruce within a species and a lot of overlap without, so it’s important to trust the builder’s judgement about a particular set.

Walnut should make for a pretty guitar. I assume “Oregon walnut” means black walnut grown in Oregon?

He was pretty honest with me about the fact that he hasn't used that "Cook Shack" spruce on many guitars yet. So I'll be a bit of a Guinea Pig, I guess.

But, he says it's both stiffer and lighter than typical sitka. On the phone I felt like maybe I was just hearing what I wanted to about it, but I followed up with him, and he seems pretty confident that it will be good and meet my needs. Although I'm primarily a flatpicker, I don't need unlimited headroom in an OM, and this seems like it will offer some things that Adi might not. Plus it'll be pretty unique.

When I asked him about the walnut, he said it was a hybrid. And after doing some research, my understanding is that the Oregon Walnut is a hybrid of Black and Claro ( juglans nigra x juglans hindsii): https://gobywalnut.com/blogs/article...n-black-walnut

Well, still several months off, and looking more like the end of the year, but that's ok.

We sent a couple of emails last week, and I was thinking about going with walnut from the same billet as this guy:
Attachment 57152

But we talked on the phone tonight, and I mentioned that I was more concerned with tone than looks, and didn't want to upgrade the aesthetics if it was going to compromise the sound. So, after having another chat about what I wanted tonally, he suggested this might get me closer:
Attachment 57153

So, I'm taking his advice on that... and it should still look pretty darn good. I kind of like that it's a bit more wild and still lots of figure going on.

Jayson is incredible and I’m so happy to see a build here. Congrats!

I have no knowledge of the Cook Shack sitka, and admittedly am not someone who is generally drawn to sitka. But years ago I played a Baranik with a sitka top that was super light and stiff, and Wow, what a sound! Super sensitive and clearer to my ears than I could believe. It was a powerful lesson that the generalizations we often make about the different spruces have more to do with their “typical” weight and stiffness than their species. Find an outlier, and check your assumptions at the door. This sitka could have been the best, lightest Italian to my ears. So if the Cook Shack wood has the right properties ...

I like the look of the back you selected. Should look beautiful when finished.

Here's a link to a discussion of the "Cook Shack" sitka from the Preston Thompson site: http://pktguitars.com/acoustic-guita...alaskan-sitka/

Some excerpts:
"One of the unique characteristics of this Sitka spruce that was submerged in water for a long period of time is that the very soft tissue in the cells literally is dissolved, so when it is dried out, the cells are far more “open” with very little cottony soft tissue to be seen. This achieves 2 advantages for guitar building..

1). the wood becomes lighter, in that there is less wood.
2). The cell pores are much larger and have very little “cotton” to muffle the sound. This creates a very lively sound for brace wood and guitar and ukulele soundboards. The look of these Sitka tops range from clear straight grain to some exhibiting a unique blueish/grey shade to it with wider and narrower strips of this coloring."

"The “Floats” were made with 6 or more very large Sitka Spruce logs, usually each 90 feet long or so. [...] There was always a “Bunkhouse Float” or “Cookshack” as it was nicknamed, which consisted of a spartan living space, wood or oil-fired heat/cook stove, and bunks for the loggers to sleep."

I'm not 100% sure that Jayson's is from the same batch (though I wouldn't be surprised). The stuff he has is all pretty much straight grained. Not the wild blue stained bearclaw stuff that Mark Hatcher has been using...

I've never heard of this builder before. I have to say, he's got some beautiful guitars, and the prices are nowhere near as outlandish as some other builders.

His website could use a little help, though.

Would love to see pics of the OP's guitar when it's done!

He hasn't updated his website in a couple years... and the prices have gone up a bit.

I pickup my forth Bowerman Instrument the end of the month! I'm super excited. Jayson stays under the radar even though his builds are among the best!