I'm now in the midst of rebuilding a small guitar-collection, having settled-in on 25"/24.9" as a "standard" scale length.
The first guitar (last Fall) I had really bonded with (tonally and in every other way) when I was examining full-scale (25.4") guitars again was a RJN-3C from Tom Rein...his "3" model is essentially an OM with a slightly "classical" flavor, shape-wise...and the "RJN" stands for Tom's adjustable neck-angle feature, which has proved to be a great feature...
...so when I did then decide to move forward in replacing the 25.4" Rein, the obvious direction was to commission a new, slightly shorter scale guitar from Tom!
We agreed on an experiment with Osage Orange, which many of you know is a wood whose tap-tone resembles Brazilian, but is a domestic wood that can most easily be found in sizes that require a 4-piece back, which would have been fine with me.
However, Tom had one set of O.O. that was full-sized, and rather straight-grained...visually a good thing for me, if not somewhat plain. I'm more than "good" with this, for sure!
Tom also recommended a Euro moon spruce top that he had, something from Switzerland, and with a "FSC" designation...FSC is Forestry Stewardship Council. They give their certification to companies who practice sustainable forestry.
So we're using rather responsible-woods for the top/back & sides...and Tom has now also purchased some other full-sets of Osage Orange for future-builds. Good deal.
This guitar will have some of my usual specs for fingerboard widths/geometry (tapering a bit wider), and will use a 2-1/4" bridge spacing.
I'm excited that this guitar has now been started! Here are a few initial photos that Tom sent...we'll see what his time permits for additional photos...I'll try to keep this thread updated as possible.
Thanks to Tom for sharing this ride with me...should be a great instrument...
