My first luthier build: Sean Spurling GS Mini (24.5" scale, cutaway, arm bevel, more)

[nolegsfngrpickn]

Some of you may have read my posts on other parts of the forum. I was paralyzed and lost my legs in 2012 so all of a sudden acoustics that were once totally fine size-wise became very unwieldy being in a wheelchair.

Once I found AGF and started researching specs, the cyclical buying and selling began. I've gone through tons of guitars now, and every time it was the same: scale length was pretty comfortable, but body was a bit too big. Body was pretty good, thickness was too wide, etc, etc.

I would always come back to the GS Mini, it just "fit" in terms of body dimensions, however, some parts of the guitar I really wanted to change, if I could. After going down the Google rabbit hole and searching tons of old sales records from various sites, I came across luthier Sean Spurling https://www.spurlingguitars.com/.

He has made 4 or 5 GS Mini custom builds now, but not as custom as the one I'm getting. I do love koa guitars, but knowing this is going to be a smaller body, thinner, and with an even smaller air volume due to the cutaway and thinner dimension I want, I decided to go with a torrefied adi top and koa back and sides.

The tentative delivery for this is going to be by beginning of February the latest. I'll be posting images as I get them.

Specs of my build:

• GS Mini Body
• Koa back and sides
• Torrefied Adirondack spruce top
• Ebony fingerboard
• Gibson Advanced Response fingerboard profile
• 3.75" width at lower bout
• Cutaway
• Ebony arm bevel
• 1-11/16" nut width
• 24.5" scale length
• K&K Mini pickup
• Koa and abalone rosette
• Abalone purfling on front of body
• Abalone center stripe down back
• Abalone purfling on fingerboard
• Single abalone dot on 12th
• Side dots 3,5,7,9,12,15,17
• Sound port

I'm real excited for this one!

[nolegsfngrpickn]

[draelyc]

Oh, wow — that is going to be gorgeous!!!

[SoCalSurf]

What a tremendous undertaking you have been under. The woods look incredible. Have you considered a burst, at least on the koa? The flaming of that particular set looks like a burst may compliment it nicely.

Either way, congratulations. Very excited for you.

[ChrisN]

Except for the whole "I'm paralyzed" part, that's a great story with a hopefully happy ending. I know how frustrating it is to keep searching for the unicorn that has all of what you've determined actually meets your particular needs, rather than accept what some generic factory pumps out for the masses to garner the most market share. Sometimes, you need to take it to grade and start over.

I had no idea someone was building off the GS Mini. When you say "GS Mini" body, I assume you mean mostly dimensionally, and that it won't have the NT Neck or other Taylor-specific stuff. The cutaway and longer scale will be very sweet!

[Vancebo]

Saw your guitar for sale. Excellent. I mentioned there but I’ll mention it again here. I have written Bob Taylor asking for a solid wood version of the GSmini but with a standard nut width. They can make it part of a regular part of the series. 316mini, 816mini, etc. I am great with the 3/4 scale length, just make the neck thicker like a normal neck. I know that the problem is the cost would be similar to the regular version. Smaller doesn’t mean cheaper. I wonder how that would sell?

[nolegsfngrpickn]

Originally Posted by SoCalSurf

What a tremendous undertaking you have been under. The woods look incredible. Have you considered a burst, at least on the koa? The flaming of that particular set looks like a burst may compliment it nicely.

Either way, congratulations. Very excited for you.

No burst, I just like plain wood. I'm also going for a mid-gloss finish, and satin on the neck. I'm not a fan of super mirror glossy guitars, so this will be a bit subdued.

Originally Posted by ChrisN

I had no idea someone was building off the GS Mini. When you say "GS Mini" body, I assume you mean mostly dimensionally, and that it won't have the NT Neck or other Taylor-specific stuff. The cutaway and longer scale will be very sweet!

Correct, pretty sure none of the other Taylor-esque features are being built on this one. The only difference is I'm going 3.75" thickness at lower bout. When I was playing a Gibson Parlor that 0.25" really made a huge difference in terms of making my arm go numb after playing for awhile (I think I really dig in with my forearm). So 3.75" + an arm bevel will hopefully be the sweet spot.

Originally Posted by Vancebo

I am great with the 3/4 scale length, just make the neck thicker like a normal neck. I know that the problem is the cost would be similar to the regular version. Smaller doesn’t mean cheaper. I wonder how that would sell?

Well GS Mini is quite small with 23-1/2" scale length which is pretty short. I like it but it gets super tight when capo'd up to the 5th and 7th. Maybe you're referring to Taylor's short scale which is 24-7/8"? I still wanted shorter.

[Guitars44me]

Sorry to hear of your hardship!!!

Good for you for not settling and commissioning what looked to be a very interesting Guitar indeed!

I'm sure Taylor has received a LOT of requests for upgraded GS minis, but so far they have not seemed interested in going there.

Thanks for sharing this build with us. A lot of us will be watching this for sure…

Carry-on and have fun

Paul

[colins]

This looks like it will be a guitar that is super comfortable to play and very pleasant on the eyes. Love those woods!

Congratulations on your build and I'm looking forward to more pictures.

[chippygreen]

I think Spruce/Koa is a great combination and I'm looking forward to this thread.

Congratulations on the build!

[cigarfan]

Really nice. Just curious how come no one ever makes a mini with a 1 3/4" nut?

[nolegsfngrpickn]

Originally Posted by cigarfan

Really nice. Just curious how come no one ever makes a mini with a 1 3/4" nut?

Sean does. There's a different model of his GS Mini I put in the classifieds right now, it's 1-3/4". I prefer 1-11/16" so that's why I'm getting it with mine.

[jaymarsch]

Very cool custom build and February is just around the corner! How exciting.

Best,
Jayne

[wooglins]

Wow! What a wonderful build.

[nolegsfngrpickn]

Edges are getting cleaned up, sealer and finishing this weekend.