[Cocobolo Kid]

I visited Ray at his shop yesterday for a few hours, and took some photos of the latest progress.

This photo shows the titanium truss rod that I ordered for this guitar. Ray builds such a light guitar body, and I wanted the neck to be as light as possible too (for balance when playing). The titanium truss rod feels noticeably lighter than a steel one - about half the weight. This photo also shows the top part of the dovetail joint that Ray uses to join the neck with the guitar body.



This is another shot of the peghead veneer that Ray designed for this guitar. The green and blue dyed, spalted woods match the rosette and end graft inlay.



Here is Ray gluing the fingerboard to the neck. Ray uses a certain type of fish glue for this. The fish glue is similar to hide glue, in that it can be heated up later to be easily removed. The fish glue, however, is easier to work with as it is applied at room temperature and does not dry/set nearly as fast. This photo also shows the newly inlaid maple purfling line around the perimeter of the fingerboard.



The next photo shows Ray clamping the glued fingerboard and neck.



I have been hanging out with Ray at his shop for about a year-and-a-half now, and he usually builds one or two guitars at a time. This next photo shows the rare batch of four he has going now, two modified dreadnaughts and two 00's. Mine is at the far end.



Ray should be shaping my guitar neck next and also completing the end graft inlay.

That's it for now. Thanks for following along.