I promise the next one will be a build thread, not just finished pictures. We don't actually build much with ziricote, but it's just so lovely I can't help showing it off. This one has a lutz spruce soundboard, ebony binding, bridge & fretboard with a custom rosette (Matsuda-inspired, as requested by the customer) of ziricote, Honduran rosewood burl and heart abalone, also with heart abalone purfling (thank you Duke of Pearl and Kevin Ryan for the help with this!).
This is a small instrument, 14-5/8" at the lower bout, 9-1/8" at the waist, tapering from 3.9" at the tail to 3.4" at the heel. 13 frets to the body with a short scale (24.9"), so it's easy to get yourself wrapped around it.
It has a 4-joint lattice brace, with the braces tapering to nearly nil about halfway between the bridge and the tail. I can post pictures of what this looks like if anyone's interested. To my ear, it helps give the instrument a very quick and even response, great for recording and the stage and for fingerstyle playing. When we build with the traditional X brace (normally moderately scalloped), we tend to be looking for more of a swell in the mid-lows.
