Some updates.
The wood that goes under the fretboard extension is attached. It’s dovetailed into place then glued.
John cuts the frets by hand. That’s how he does it!
The headstock is then shaped and overlayed with the beautiful landscaping Brazilian. Had a hard time deciding if we needed to purfle the headstock as I really like the clean unpurfled look as well. In the end we went for it and I’m glad it happened!
For the backstrap John selected a really nice Cocobolo with striking grain and the slightest tinge of sap, this matches the back perfectly. From this photo you can also see the multi-piece laminated neck which has Honduran Mahogany, Fiddleback Mahogany and African Blackwood down the middle.
Then the fingerboard extension got an elaborate Fiddleback Tree swoosh design, EVO gold frets installed and they went for a suntan.
I am loving how the Fiddleback pops on the fingerboard and headstock. The Brazilian fingerboard is also gorgeous and has great character.
Won’t be long now and we still have a couple of interesting features in the pocket! Neck carve to suit my small hands in progress.
This neck will be satin finished as I prefer the smoothness and hassle-free nature of satin. The headstock and backstrap will be gloss though!