Spohn Guitars builds for Holy Grail Guitar Show

[Max Spohn]

I am happy to say that I will be exhibiting at the final edition of the Holy Grail Guitar Show in Berlin on the first weekend of May! Since the first edition of it took place in 2014 I have attended each show as a visitor and I am proud to be there as an exhibitor this year.

So for this special occasion I have planed two special guitars and I am going to share the build of them in this thread with you!

The first guitar will be my new 00 shape with a cutaway and some rather spectacular woods!

Last year I had the chance to acquire a few Brazilian Rosewood back and side sets from the inheritance of a German luthier. The wood was imported to Germany in 1965 and came with all the proper paperwork.

Here it is!





And with some naphtha on it



I will pair this fantastic back and sides with one of the nicest Master Grade Swiss Moon Spruce tops I have in my stash.





Thank you for watching and I hope you will following along the builds.

[colins]

That wood is mind blowing, Max!

Looking forward to more posts.

[pandaroo]

Wow, that set is just insane!

[cigarfan]

Haven't laid eyes on a BRW set quite like that. Amazing!

[Max Spohn]

Originally Posted by colins

That wood is mind blowing, Max!

Looking forward to more posts.

Originally Posted by pandaroo

Wow, that set is just insane!

Originally Posted by cigarfan

Haven't laid eyes on a BRW set quite like that. Amazing!

Thank you guys, the set is truly special and I feel very fortunate to work with such amazing pieces. And the best thing... most of the other sets I acquired are as spectacular as this one!

[Lonzo]

.. I look forward to hopefully seeing that one in person.
I will also be at the holy grail and can’t wait to eye and possible also pluck some of those treats ! ... that wood....

[Max Spohn]

Originally Posted by Lonzo

.. I look forward to hopefully seeing that one in person.
I will also be at the holy grail and can’t wait to eye and possible also pluck some of those treats ! ... that wood....

You will definitely have the chance to play this one at the holy grail!
And if you are living in Bavaria, it might also be possible that you are living fairly close to my workshop

[Deft Tungsman]

Hey, Max, this is excellent news!

It was great meeting you last time and I'm hoping to make it again this year so I can finally see not one, but two of your instruments in person!

[Max Spohn]

The second guitar I will have with me will be a MD Baritone.

As some of you might have already seen in this build thread (https://www.acousticguitarforum.com/...d.php?t=522101) I finished my first baritone for my good friend Don Latarski almost a year ago. The guitar was a great success and in the interim Don has written and recorded an album on it!

The baritone for the holy grail is a commission from a great client in Germany and will get close to the one I built for Don with only some slight changes.

For the back and sides we chose a spectacular set of quilted Birdseye Maple.





This will be paired with a nice Swiss Moon Spruce top.



The bridge, fretboard and bindings will be made from this piece of Honduran Rosewood.





This build will feature some nice extras so watch out for them!

[Max Spohn]

Originally Posted by Deft Tungsman

Hey, Max, this is excellent news!

It was great meeting you last time and I'm hoping to make it again this year so I can finally see not one, but two of your instruments in person!

Great! I really hope you can make it and we can catch up again!

[Max Spohn]

The guitars are coming along great but before I am going to share some pictures of the progress, I have some pictures of the material choices.

I will keep it simple on the BRW 00 and use Spruce, BRW and Ebony almost exclusively on it, besides the Honduran Mahogany neck.



and with some naphtha



The Baritone will be a bit more blingy. Besides the Birdseye Maple and Spruce I will use Honduran Rosewood, Amboyna Burl and horn with gold leaf.



and with some naphtha



Thank you for following along and stay tuned for some more pics.

[Max Spohn]

I am super stoked about how the soundhole inlays turned out!

Here are the results...



I used Amboyna Burl and Horn with gold leaf on the first one. The gold leaf really brings out the translucency of the horn and adds some nice depth to the look.



The second one is based on some ideas of my mentor and good friend Raymond Kraut. Instead of inlaying some segments into the top I added two additional rectangular soundholes. It is the first time I tried it and I am really pleased how it turned out!







The tops are ready for voicing in the next days and I can't wait to show you the closed boxes soon.

[TomB'sox]

I am a little late in joining this thread, but let me echo many others, that BRW is probably the prettiest set I have ever seen!

Also, am I understanding you, the Holy Grail Show is ending after this year?

Thank you and beautiful work.

[Max Spohn]

Originally Posted by TomB'sox

I am a little late in joining this thread, but let me echo many others, that BRW is probably the prettiest set I have ever seen!

Also, am I understanding you, the Holy Grail Show is ending after this year?

Thank you and beautiful work.

Thank you Tom! This is indeed a special set and I am fortunate to have a sister set of it left.

Unfortunately, yes. The HGGS is ending after this year, you can read more about the reasons here: http://holygrailguitarshow.com/about-the-show/

[Bill Kraus]

Oh, that BRW, very nice.