Molluscs

[Michael Watts]

I thought you might like to see one of the highlights of this year's Holy Grail Guitar Show - firmly in the Weird and Wonderful (with equal fighting on both words) is this mollusc-savaged guitar by Eric Weigeshoff of Skytop Guitars



The top is Sinker Alaskan Sitka that was partially eaten by underwater invertebrates who burrowed into it centuries ago and helpfully created a series of tiny sound holes in the process!

It sounded good too

All the best

MDW

[DamianL]

Oh, now that really appeals on me...I love a bit of nature in my guitar.

D

[Stevien]

Very natural & organic, I'd say. Must have an earthy tone.
Steve

[Guitars44me]

You don't see that every day!

I'm kind of surprised he didn't Make it an arch top, as it already has the F holes added by nature...

Thanks for showing us all!

Cheers

Paul

[j. Kinnaird]

Torpedo worms. Strange animal. Its a bivalve like clams and oysters but the body is outside and worm like and the two shells are like teeth or beaks and for some reason they live to tunnel through wood. Used to be the hulls of wooden boats which is how they got their common name.
Here endeth the lecture.

Very original use of worm damaged wood that could have ended in the scrap heap without imagination. Very cool guitar.

[barricwiley]

Wow, beautiful gift from the unexpected.
Since the animals created nice sound hole, why the need for the big opening on the side? Just curious.

[Silly Moustache]

mmm, Sehr Interssant !
Good to hear from you Michael,

Best,
Ol' Andy

[jomaynor]

Originally Posted by j. Kinnaird

Torpedo worms. Strange animal. Its a bivalve like clams and oysters but the body is outside and worm like and the two shells are like teeth or beaks and for some reason they live to tunnel through wood. Used to be the hulls of wooden boats which is how they got their common name.
Here endeth the lecture.

Very original use of worm damaged wood that could have ended in the scrap heap without imagination. Very cool guitar.

Thanks for the explanation!

[Inyo]

Originally Posted by j. Kinnaird

Torpedo worms. Strange animal.

Its a bivalve like clams and oysters but the body is outside and worm like and the two shells are like teeth or beaks and for some reason they live to tunnel through wood.

Used to be the hulls of wooden boats which is how they got their common name.

Uh, no--not quite correct.

The poster is actually describing the destructive shipworm, a catch-all popular moniker that refers to several genus-species of highly specialized wood-boring molluscan bivalves (brief aside--instead of bivalve, I prefer the older, presently obsolete designations: pelecypods and even the Lamellibranchiata)--among them, Teredo navalis (plus, T. bartschi, T. fulleri, T. furcifera, and T. clappi), Bankia carinata, Bankia fimbriatula, Lyrodus bipartitus, Lyrodus medilobatus, and Lyrodus massa.

Taxonomicly speaking, "torpedo worms" traditionally refer to the so-called arrow worms, phylum Chaetognatha, class Sagittoidea; they're of course neither mollusks, nor of the phylum Annelida-- the true worms.

Chaetognatha "torpedo worms" are small (0.2 to 12 cm long) translucent dart-shaped creatures covered by a cuticle that live in every open ocean environment; they're all carnivorous, preying on other planktonic creatures (they prefer copepods); and they've certainly been around an incredibly long time--earliest evidence of their existence, for example, is from a geologic rock deposit in China some 518 million years old.

[j. Kinnaird]

The problem with common names. Lets go with Teredo navalis. Aka shipworm. Aka torpedo worm because it was the cause of so many wooden boats going to the bottom. Linean classification helps prevent confusion.

[ACraig]

Sweet guitar. Thanks for sharing, Michael.

And you’re all wrong. This was no doubt the work of a water kelpie.

[CycleBob]

He he. Pretty cool. Very original!

[Michael Watts]

I must admit I did not expect to learn as much as I have about water invertebrates as I have when I first posted! It never ceases to amaze me just how much incredible knowledge there is here on the AGF outside of the guitar sphere.

[jmat]

Indeed...learn something everyday. I had to check out the Wikipedia entry and other articles. Wild animals. Here was an interesting site: "Teredo Navalis – Look Like Worms, Taste Like Clams" (or the AGF version..."Teredo Navalis – Look Like Worms, taste like rosette")

Here's a thought: Perhaps a Glen Hansard endorsed Mollusc Model.

[Michael Watts]

Originally Posted by jmat

Indeed...learn something everyday. I had to check out the Wikipedia entry and other articles. Wild animals. Here was an interesting site: "Teredo Navalis – Look Like Worms, Taste Like Clams" (or the AGF version..."Teredo Navalis – Look Like Worms, taste like rosette")

Here's a thought: Perhaps a Glen Hansard endorsed Mollusc Model.

Brilliant!