Although I have often followed build threads here, I seldom post because I usually have nothing to add. I don't build, rather I'm mostly just an interested observer. So, this is a thread I didn't really expect.

I own many (probably too many) guitars, but my variety is in numbers, not size or design. My guitars are mostly traditional, mostly Dreadnaughts, mostly Martins, and increasingly skewed toward vintage guitars. However, there are some newer guitars that I really enjoy, a Martin CS-D18-12 and a cocobolo Proulx OM/D as examples. While not wildly out of the norm, owning the Proulx for a while gave me the idea that perhaps I should, at least one time, commission a custom guitar from an independent luthier.

Howard Klepper was squarely in my personal short list and after kicking the idea around in my mind for a while, I contacted Howard last year. We chatted by email and phone a bit, just to cover the basics and help me figure out if this was something I wanted to pursue, and once the decision was made I sent my deposit so that the process could officially begin.

From then until now we've discussed what I like, don't like, and want in a guitar generally. Then it was on to body styles and woods, and more decisions still to come.

Well, my turn is nearly here. Howard says the build may start as soon as a few weeks from now. To that end I've settled on his own design, the Small Sloped Dread, or SSD. Partly because I think it will make a great guitar, and it's very much his design and will stand on its own among my Martins. I don't think an OM or other size would have been a bad choice, but this is it for now.

So, long scale SSD with curly Oregon Claro. The rest of the decisions await.

Oregon Claro