STEPHEN KINNAIRD GUITARS: 000, 12 Fret [Adirondack Spruce | Macassar Ebony]

[iim7V7IM7]

I received a note last night from Steve that the neck and body have been reintroduced to each other…



Additionally, they installed the Rodgers tuners with their 10 mm bushings as well.

[j. Kinnaird]

The whole thing is coming together very nicely. A work of art.

[Steve Kinnaird]

Originally Posted by j. Kinnaird

The whole thing is coming together very nicely. A work of art.

High praise from Kinnaird East—thank you bro.

Steve

[iim7V7IM7]

Steve ramping the string slots.



Here he is re-surfacing the bridge after the minor surgery of bridge pin-fitting.



Here is the system Steve uses for proper bridge pin placement. He uses a small file, some gold paint to mark 5 degree Ebony pins. These pins could probably be interchanged as to location, but this is the proper order for a good fit.



Here are the Ebony/MOP bridge pins in place in the Brazilian Rosewood Belly Bridge.



This is a shot of Steve prepping the unbleached cow bone nut blank. The fret height is scribed on the nut’s face with this half-pencil. (Thank you William Cumpiano!).



You can see that the nut is rough-fitted and slots established with their initial cut. All of this gets refined at set up as well as the nut being polished/buffed.

[Nemoman]

Perfect--this really looks to be a gem of a guitar!

[dcn]

So classy! Will turn out to be a stunner.

[iim7V7IM7]

Originally Posted by Nemoman

Perfect--this really looks to be a gem of a guitar!

Originally Posted by dcn

So classy! Will turn out to be a stunner.

Thanks gentleman……it will make noise soon…

[iim7V7IM7]

Here is Steve’s shop mate, fellow luthier Ryan Middlebrook cleaning up the Gaboon Ebony fretboard as well as executing some refined leveling of the EVO frets.



Ryan is fitting a unbleached cow bone saddle blank quite snugly to the top and bridge slot. Steve and Ryan both marveled today how pretty this top is. Aesthetically, about the nicest Adi that they have built with.

[iim7V7IM7]

Tomorrow, Steve will finish shaping the unbleached nut and Ryan was also making some noises about taking photos of the guitar. Steve had some playing impressions after initially stringing it up with some PB strings and a few hours later under string load. He was very positive about what he heard and the typical first few hour transformation of the bass. I am sure I will hear some more tomorrow once it realizes that it is now a guitar.



Check out the medullary rays in this set of Randy Lucas Red Spruce…. The Macassar Ebony and Zebrawood appointments look great! I also think the Macassar Ebony heartwood/sapwood peghead veneer and the dark brown, Brazilian Rosewood belly bridge aesthetically work well together.

[Guitars44me]

Looking GOOD!!!

Wolf whistle …

Paul

[Steve Kinnaird]

Originally Posted by Nemoman

Perfect--this really looks to be a gem of a guitar!

Thank you, Kevin!

Originally Posted by dcn

So classy! Will turn out to be a stunner.

And you, too, dcn!

Originally Posted by Guitars44me

Looking GOOD!!!

Wolf whistle …

Paul

Thanks Paul, you RAWK!

[iim7V7IM7]

Ryan was kind enough to take some photos of the guitar today (thank you…).

I really like how the Brazilian Rosewood belly bridge, Macassar Ebony rosette and peghead veneer visually work together.



The hue Macassar Ebony sapwood and neck’s Pear center core are a great color match.



The Zebrawood/Maple purflings provide a beautiful visual sparkle.



The Gaboon Ebony bindings contrast nicely and the Maple viola purflings frame the body.



I really like the whimsical swirl in the end graft figure.



I am really glad that we went bold on the peghead veneer with the heartwood/sapwood.



The Rodgers tuners are beautiful.



Larry Robinson’s inlay of Steve’s signature is a nice touch.



Looks great…

[nootis]

Beautiful guitar all around. Also, nice pictures Ryan!

Bob, for every build I've seen of yours, you seem to do an excellent job being a "conductor of class", if that is even such a thing. What I mean by that is that you seem to bring out the best in the luthiers you work with. I do, however, resent the statement, "Steve and Ryan both marveled today how pretty this top is. Aesthetically, about the nicest Adi that they have built with.", for I have a CS model with some blistered Adi that the boys built about 6 years ago that is also aesthetically pleasing. I'll give you a pass though because you used the word "about". All kidding aside, this is a top shelf guitar (and top) you've got there.

[iim7V7IM7]

Thanks…

The guitar will be staying in Nacogdoches for a while due to my travel schedule. Hopefully, they can begin to break it in for me…

Originally Posted by nootis

Beautiful guitar all around. Also, nice pictures Ryan!

Bob, for every build I've seen of yours, you seem to do an excellent job being a "conductor of class", if that is even such a thing. What I mean by that is that you seem to bring out the best in the luthiers you work with. I do, however, resent the statement, "Steve and Ryan both marveled today how pretty this top is. Aesthetically, about the nicest Adi that they have built with.", for I have a CS model with some blistered Adi that the boys built about 6 years ago that is also aesthetically pleasing. I'll give you a pass though because you used the word "about". All kidding aside, this is a top shelf guitar (and top) you've got there.

[Joel Teel]

Originally Posted by iim7V7IM7

Thanks…

The guitar will be staying in Nacogdoches for a while due to my travel schedule. Hopefully, they can begin to break it in for me…

I’m sure Steve and Ryan really hate this development
Congratulations on this beautiful guitar!!!