[alohachris]

Aloha,

Hey BrasGuy (I never use Z's either), nice looking guitar. Not trying to spoil the mood, but you'd better make sure that your luthier finishes the inside of your new BRW guitar as well - post-construction. Why?

Although you may have fallen in love with that completely flat-sawn back & sides set of Brazilian Rosewood, it is the absolute worst choice for a long-lasting, uncracked BRW steel-stringed acoustic guitar.

That is because BRW is about the worst of all species for cracking, & it really does not like changes in humidity. It hates an accidental sharp hit to it, or a bump against a mic stand, even in its case. And those are true whether it is quartered or flat-sawn BRW. This guitar body is all-flat-sawn BRW except for it's nice German Spruce top. And it's under 250 lbs. of pressure per square inch w/ steel strings. So...

But to me, flat-sawn BRW is the absolute worst choice for a long-lasting, stable, uncracked guitar, no matter its care. Note: I repaired hundreds of old cracked BRW Martin's, & way fewer EIRW (or other species of RW) guitars. Long ago, I also travelled & gigged with BRW guitars. I also tracked & hand-selected my entire supply of BRW kants in the 70's in Sao Paulo. So I know (& love) the species & its issues here.

Now,.....IMO, a luthier should lightly finish the inside of such a guitar as yours in order to reduce the overall mosture-exchange rate & thus, give this guitar a chance to survive more than a year or two - uncracked. It's common sense based on history & knowledge. AND it's the traditional approach that luthiers have understood & applied for 1000+ years, until recently. Quarter-sawn wood is what you use in musical instruments. Not flat-cut.

Today's luthiers, in today's economy, with a dwindling supply of tropical tonewoods, & with this raging COVID in control, will always try to satisfy the customer's every wish in building their dream guitar...and also try to keep the orders coming in. Unfortunately, that includes choosing flat-sawn guitar sets or even promoting them as an option for the customer to choose - often in BRW b/c of its mystique, rarity & many values.

Many luthiers don't even source BRW any longer because it's largely unavailble or what is available is of unacceptable quailty. It's also on the CITES list of endangered species (since 1991) & so would make it difficult for you to travel with it to many countries.

Yes, there are almost no quarter-sawn BRW planks or kants readily out there any more, even recycled wood or in Brasil. As a coastal wood, it was easy for humans to love it to death, But, that, FOR ME, is no excuse for using today's inferior woods now just because it's pretty & Dalbergia nigra.

Questions: Was this guitar constructed & finished in a dehumidified shop? Where will it mostly be played?

The only scenario that I can see for the woods used in this guitar surviving is if you keep your guitar ALL the time in a solid, humidified case,. Or, you don't play very often or out at all, and never, ever travel or use an airline with this flat-cut BRW guitar. And still it will probably crack someday.

Additionally, if you experience large seasonal humidity changes where you live, you MUST consider that strongly every year when you turn on indoor heating sources to protect your guitar accordingly from the drying air & moisture loss, pressured tonewoods' biggest enemy.

I cannot say that I've never used slightly off-quartered BRW for my guitars/customers. But I can say that - despite stabilizing my woods for at least 10 years in a dehumidified shop, taking all precautions in design & finishing to protect them inside & out, - BRW guitars, by far, cracked more than any other species I used overtime. So, it's not just theory talking here, it's common sense, history & experience as well.

I hope I am wrong about this new, nice looking instrument & that it will become the Dream Guitar you are seeking as you play it in. And also that it will remain unscathed in its lifetime. Of course, I don't know all the facts here. But I do have enough luthierie experience (218 acoustic guitars) to be able to make an educated guess in this case, visually. Ask your luthier about finishing the inside of the guitar, if he hasn't already.

Good Luck! Enjoy your new guitar, BrazGuy!

alohachris