Hi everyone, here are the rosette and end graft designs Michael shared with me today.
Since the guitar is not going to bear Michael's signature
"leaf" art-deco headstock pattern but will have Jimmi's Japanese maple inlay instead, I did not have the advantage of a strong motif, as on a traditional Bashkin, to echo on the rosette (e.g. Michael's
"torched wood" compass inlays) or the end graft (e.g. his beautiful
interweaving geometric designs which remind me of the body of turn of the century Tiffany lamps).
Absent the anchoring motif, we explored the idea of borrowing the woods used in Jimmi's marquetry, koa and walnut, instead. Hence the ebony binding will have koa and walnut purfling, and the rosette will consist of two concentric circles, one of koa and one of walnut.
For the rosette, I asked Michael to think of a way to fit form to function with respect to the angled fingerboard (fan fret). Here are his suggestions.
Attachment 21624
For the end graft, I suggested we replicate the hallmark "semi-circle tab" at the top of Michael's headstock, by creating two semi-circles, one walnut and one koa. This design, it turns out, bears more than a passing resemblance to
Japanese maple seeds and thus presented a very subtle coherence to the overall guitar design, considering Jimmi's wonderful work on the headstock, a "seed to tail" secret message, if you will, for one paying close attention. Here are Michael's proposals.
Attachment 21625
I'm going to take some time to think about these, and also how they impact the still-open back strip question, but I thought it might be interesting to share the thinking that has gone in to date as I continue to crowdsource everyone's incredibly valuable opinions!
As a final thought, while the individual designs are not as decorative as some of Michael's amazing guitars, I'm really grateful for how seriously Michael is taking my desire for a minimalist theme, and his willingness to depart from his more signature presentation. I do wonder whether the guitar will completely lose all secondary market value because it will hardly be recognizable as a Bashkin (visually speaking)...but if that was a real concern I probably wouldn't be doing a commission build, and the hope is that this one is a lifer anyway.