Keisuke Nishi (Keystone) Woodstock build thread

[JJI]

This thread will document two guitars built for the Woodstock Guitar Festival by Keisuke Nishi (Keystone Stringed Instruments). A MadRose/Adi 00 and also a Cocobolo/German SJ.

Keisuke is a gifted builder who's apprenticeship was for none other than Mario Beauregard. When Ervin Somogyi first played Keisuke's guitars Ervin told him that he would be proud to call him his grandson (as Mario is one of the famous Somogyi apprentices), praise of the highest order!

Keystone guitars are exquisite in every way, as Benjamin Paldacci is very public with his praise of Keisuke and has said this about his wood stock " His woods are probably one of the best I've ever seen too, always a shock to discover one of his new project!"

Consider Keisuke's lutherie lineage for a moment...Ervin Somogyi is regarded as the best in the world and he taught Mario Beauregard also widely known as one of the best, who taught Keisuke. Keisuke has taken the knowledge of these two masters and with his own Japanese aesthetic and remarkable talent he is building guitars that are graceful, incredibly beautiful, and they sound like heaven. His Mod D has that Somogyi/Beauregard bass, his SJ is my favorite guitar in the world-haunting and sweet, his MC (OM) is truly beautiful and sings clear and true, while his 00 sounds more like an OM with a focused pure tone.

For Woodstock Keisuke has decided to build two new guitars, a gorgeous Madagascar Rosewood and Adirondack Spruce 00 and his Small Jumbo in a rich Cocobolo and bearclaw German Spruce. Here are the first pictures of the boards and as he progresses towards Woodstock so will this thread!

I should mention that both these guitars are for sale. Keisuki is a friend and I'm doing this thread in that regard (and I want to see his guitars come to life!)

Adi top for the 00






MadRose for the 00






Bearclawed German Spruce for the Small Jumbo




Cocobolo for the Small Jumbo

[JJI]

MC






SJ






Mod D









Wow, right?!

[Bulldozer27]

Wow, the details are amazing, like that contoured and flush neck heel/cutaway joint on the Mod D, or the asymmetric neck heel itself.

[BenjaminPaldacci]

What a great Thread Josh!

And yap, as you said I admire Kei's work a lot, and he has the gift to really honor the wood he work with! His work is outstanding, we are gratefull to have him in our builder-world

[fountainhead]

I was thoroughly impressed with Keisuke's work when I saw his guitars at last years Woodstock show. I was even more impressed with the kind, and welcoming man that made such beautiful instruments! He is an asset on all fronts to the guitar community, and I wish him much success!

[JJI]

Keisuke will chime in if anyone has questions about...well, anything I guess! And I think it bares mentioning that none of the pictures in the thread are mine, they are and will be provided by Keisuke. I am on his list and boards have been selected but that build won't happen for a few years...he is a friend and AGF member and I am honored to show off these two guitars.

[Marcus Wong]

I love Keisuke's design sense. His indented rosette (does this mean that the sound board is thicker than normal?) and many other unique features. For those interested, his Instagram is very well worth a look. Eye candy all the way!

[Keisuke Nishi]

Hello. This is Keisuke Nishi.
First of all, Thank you very much Josh for taking your time foe doing this! I know you are busy man,,,,, I really appreciate it!!

Bulldozer27: Thank you for comment! I am grad to know that you like that Cutaway on Mod-D! I call it 3D cutaway and I believe that its my original design!

Ben: Thank you buddy! I really enjoying watching your work of art too!! Can't wait to meet you at Woodstock!

fountainhead: Thank you very much for your compliment! Please feel free to stop by at my booth and try my guitar this year if you coming to the show!!

Marcus Wong: Thank you very much !! yes my instagram has many pictures too! Might be able to feel my shop's atmosphere
My top is not so thin as my Grand Mentor( I don't know if there's proper word for it). But not too thick either. It's about 0.120~0.130 inch around sound hole.

[BenjaminPaldacci]

Originally Posted by Keisuke Nishi

Hello. This is Keisuke Nishi.

Ben: Thank you buddy! I really enjoying watching your work of art too!! Can't wait to meet you at Woodstock!

[JJI]

And inlay work always done by Ogawa Inlay Craft

[stringjunky]

Japanese aesthetic at its best.

[dcn]

That SJ is killer!

[BBWW]

Originally Posted by JJI

And inlay work always done by Ogawa Inlay Craft

Sweet looking guitar!

[Keisuke Nishi]

Thank you very much stringjunky,dcn, and bbww!

[JJI]

Tops and backs are joined. Pics soon.