I have a great custom cedar topped fingerstyle guitar built for me my Christian Druery, but sometimes you want to smack down a spruce topped guitar and revel in the power. So I searched to find a builder who would indulge me with an offset sound hole and found Dehradun guitars here on AGF. Besides making great guitars they have a very inspirational story. They are based in India and they change lives with lutherie. Here's their video:
I talked to Dave Murray at Dehradun about what I wanted. He is a great guy and very knowledgeable. In the end I chose:
Lutz spruce top
Wenge B/S
Small Jumbo size (Dave feels this shape has the best string to string balance)
Venetian cutaway
24.9" scale
16" radius
jumbo frets
thumb scallops (to help those hard to reach over stretches)
1 3/4 nut
2 1/4 saddle
Sound port (love 'em), eventually it became a bass port.
armrest
Gotoh 21:1 tuners
Dave suggested a cantilevered fretboard and a tail piece so I went with those as well. Both were new concepts to me but the way Dave explained the benefits it made sense.
Here's the initial design:
Last here's the Lutz David selected:
Onto the build!