Tyler Robbins R.1ca - German Spruce - Koa "Plumeria"

[Carpinteria]

That neck inlay is as elegant as any I’ve ever seen. And craftsmanship-wise, it’s really quite an accomplishment. With this and the stunningly beautiful Koa, you have an exceptional instrument in the works. Congratulations! Dave

[TennesseeWalker]

Stunning build Doug - - -

Very, very nice

[NTS]

That inlay came out very nice. The pictures explained the process very well. Thanks for posting that.

[doodahdoug]

Originally Posted by rockabilly69

This is some exquisite artistry! Wow!

Thank you rockabilly69 glad you like it.

Originally Posted by bendandsnap

holy crap, that neck inlay is amazing! Didn’t even know that could be done! Nice!!

It took Tyler and Tom a while to sort out how to make this design work but they pulled it off beautifully.

Originally Posted by Carpinteria

That neck inlay is as elegant as any I’ve ever seen. And craftsmanship-wise, it’s really quite an accomplishment. With this and the stunningly beautiful Koa, you have an exceptional instrument in the works. Congratulations! Dave

Thank you Dave and that's some high praise. Tyler and Tom deserve it.

Originally Posted by TennesseeWalker

Stunning build Doug - - -

Very, very nice

Originally Posted by NTS

That inlay came out very nice. The pictures explained the process very well. Thanks for posting that.

Thank you Nicholas and NTS for your generous comments.



Stay tuned...next up we'll look at the filigree end graft.

[TomB'sox]

Wow, simply wow. It is even hard for me to check this thread as I am so jealous.

[doodahdoug]

Originally Posted by TomB'sox

Wow, simply wow. It is even hard for me to check this thread as I am so jealous.

Glad you like what you see Tom. I confess to a similar feeling each time I am in the room where your stellar collection of guitars are displayed!



Tyler will install a K&K pickup on this guitar so I asked him to design an end graft that would accomodate this option and still tie into the guitar's overall design theme. Here is that feature -








Thanks for having a look!

[cigarfan]

This build is spectacular in every way! I'm with B'sox. Just count me green!

[NTS]

Very nice looking inlays. I like it a lot. Looks like Tyler has become quite a guitar tattooist.

[doodahdoug]

Originally Posted by cigarfan

This build is spectacular in every way! I'm with B'sox. Just count me green!

Dennis, I'm sure I'll be feeling the same way about your Circa build once it is underway!

Originally Posted by NTS

Very nice looking inlays. I like it a lot. Looks like Tyler has become quite a guitar tattooist.

Glad you like the inlays NTS.


Let's have a look as Tyler checks the fit of the neck into the body of this R.1ca -








I love that the white purfling from the neck heel lines up perfectly with the white purfling outlining the interior of the top's ebony binding.



Thanks for viewing!

[doodahdoug]

Tyler is currently building three additional Robbins guitars alongside my R.1ca. He also assists his boss and mentor Bryan Galloup with certain aspects of the extraordinary Galloup guitar models that Bryan offers, which speaks to his trust and confidence in Tyler's skills as a builder. Reminding myself of this and playing another of my Robbins Acoustics makes it much easier to be patient about waiting for this one to be completed.






Next we'll have a look at the fingerboard with Evo Fretwire installed -







A good bit of sanding and this guitar will be ready to receive it's finish soon!

[Godfather]

This is one of the most elegant looking guitars I have ever seen!

Tyler’s artistic talents, luthier craftsmanship, combined with your vision Doug, is creating a true work of museum quality musical art.

I look forward to the next installment.

[doodahdoug]

Originally Posted by Godfather

This is one of the most elegant looking guitars I have ever seen!

TylerÂ’s artistic talents, luthier craftsmanship, combined with your vision Doug, is creating a true work of museum quality musical art.

I look forward to the next installment.

Thank you Godfather. I have worked with Tyler on 2 other commission builds and they are both stunning in design, fit and finish and sound. For this build, I challenged Tyler and Tom to explore design concepts and techniques which they had not previously attempted and once again they have raised the bar of excellent craftsmanship and design for a modern fingerstyle instrument.


Tyler does his own guitar finish work using nitrocellulose lacquer at the Galloup Lutherie facility. Below is a picture after the first of several coats of finish was sprayed a few weeks ago -






Very promising indeed! Thanks for sharing the journey with me.

[doodahdoug]

Happy Thanksgiving Weekend everyone! This build thread has now caught up to where things currently stand. Multiple finish coats have been sprayed and we're a little over 3 weeks into the "finish curing" process.


While we wait, Tyler shared a few pictures of the Custom Robbins Branded Calton Case for this R.1ca model.


We upgraded the case to Calton's "Smooth Sparkle" finish and selected "Bonfire Orange" as the exterior color with a Gold interior. -






Enjoy your Holiday weekend!

[doodahdoug]

Tyler is currently working on the other 3 guitars in his current batch of builds while the finish curing process does it's thing on my Koa R.1ca.


Below are some pictures from a couple of weeks ago with all the finish coats sprayed -









That's all for now...more waiting as the finish continues to cure.

[cigarfan]

Man, that is a lovely guitar in every way! You are a lucky man Doug.