Awesome!!! Really looking forward to this one, and hope to get some ideas from it - thank you for the generosity and time to share in this forum.
I was able to get onto Michael's queue for a mid to late 2019 build, but purchased a Bellezza GC Spruce/Koa on the secondary market to develop a reference point for my build. That guitar was also 12 frets to the body but the standard 18 fret fingerboard. What was the thinking behind adding the extra fret?
The original owner of the Koa had specified a 1-13/16ths nut which I had never tried but which I found surprisingly playable, though there are other tradeoffs such as access to the low E with the thumb (I have small hands).
This was my first Koa guitar and the wood was stunning (the pictures do not do justice to the "shimmer" that Koa has - and I have a sense yours will be just as beautiful, if not more so!). My other guitars are EIR so I was delighted at the lightness of the Koa, and the liveliness of the instrument when played. The Koa GC has a Port Ortford Cedar neck as the original owner was looking for a light and responsive build. No backstrip on this one - but I can see how adding one layers in a vocabulary that ties out other design details: can't wait to see how it comes together.
For my build I'm probably going to go with a fan fret, having experimented with it on an Avian, I like them. I'm also looking at a Carpathian/Swiss Moon top based on the attributes I described to Michael and his feedback.
Finally, Michael is a pleasure to work with - super detailed (or not, as you prefer) - incredibly articulate in this explanations, and seems to go out of his way to make the build an enjoyable and memorable process.
