Sorry for the late update, life has been swinging fast and furious since the beginning of the New Year and doesn't seem to want to slow down much. Nonetheless, Joel has been faithful with keeping me updated with build photos and I was able to spend some time today getting them sized for the web and uploaded to my host site.
We have all the bracing completed. Joel uses a hybrid X-brace for the top and radial fan bracing. Here are some finished photos of the top with another from the back and sides waiting to be boxed up.
There are some aficionados and players who look at the guitar more as an instrument and tool, which is fine... I also acknowledge this, but I also embrace the guitar as something more. I see the guitar, especially one that has been imagined, talked about, then tooled and built from a customized approach as something organic. These guitars are truly unique, having voices and personalities of their own. I could go on and wax even more poetic, but I'll spare you. In the case of this build, I asked Joel to "breathe" life and personality into the instrument. I encouraged him to speak to it as if you would a plant and even write encouraging words, thoughts, and inspiration on the insides of the soundbox. I do believe this helps the guitar know who it will be and also know what will be it's purpose.
And now a few shots of the box getting closed up.
I'm getting excited about the next stages as we begin to see binding bringing the soundbox together and soon we'll tackle the neck. Thanks for sharing this ride with me! More to come...