[invguy921]

A LONG while back I coerced John to begin a build for me with the thought..."I'm in no hurry...take your time". He said he would work it in as time permitted. I said that was totally fine. He and I had talked on several occasions before that about another build...more of a somewhat traditional look with Cedar. I've owned cedar top guitars before and two things bothered me...mostly that I was allergic to cedar and thought I was having sinus issues related to the wood. Then I traded for a guitar that had a cedar top that was very satisfying and it didn't give me any sinus issues . So to try it again (build with Cedar) became a possibility. I felt that if anyone could get me the total package of looks and sound that I wanted, certainly John could deliver as well or better than anyone.

So we finally mapped this guitar out over a year ago and decided on Cedar for the top and African Blackwood for the back and sides. That decision came about as a result of my question to John, which was "what wood combination would provide the best tone?", his answer was "anything with African Blackwood"!!

Some particulars...

This one was slated for an extra bevel...THREE bevels in fact...one for the arm, one for the ribs, and...well...one for extra good measure and looks LOL!! Standard scale length 14 frets. Lots of Paua without overdoing it. Oh yes, and a sprinkle of Cocobolo here and there . So this one was slated to be a slightly bigger guitar than most I've owned, and the looks to replace a Taylor 914ce that I have loved dearly. My Taylor has a florentine cutaway and a gorgeous tobacco burst up front (of course with abalone all around the top). So this new one was originally intended to replace the Taylor. Make no mistake, I love the Taylor but I have come to the realization that I want to play customs and I can only afford a few so the Taylor will find its way to my nearly famous table and be sold at some point in the future.

Since this one has been in process for a while, I'm gonna accelerate this picture display considerably as time permits over the coming days without so much nitty gritty details.

Here are some early pictures...