Never thought I'd have a custom build, but...

[Vanderwall]

I met with Bob last night and we finalized most of the design questions. I am beginning to be able to visualize what the guitar will look like. All of Bob's guitars sound great and are a players dream. The hardest part is waiting.

[storm54]

Really nice Theo. Don does some fine work. Looks like the box is about ready to assemble. Can't wait to see it together. Thanks for sharing!

[theotigno]

Originally Posted by cotten

I'm looking forward to seeing the finished Sharp Walnut, and to stopping by his shop on my way to Mississippi some time - nice guy who obviously knows his stuff!

cotten

Hey Cotten. If you get a chance to see my guitar finished before it has a chance to make into my hands, by all means, feel free to play it!

Vanderwall... Waiting is hard. Being busy with work definitely helps that.

Storm, thanks for the comments!

Peace y'all!

The box on Theo's guitar is nearly assembled. I made a new top for it using some of my best engelmann (20+ grains/inch). The tap tone after voicing is out of sight. With great resonance and sustain. It's going to be one sweet instrument.

Thanks for all the interest. Don

[theotigno]

I got more pics last night and it really hit me that this was all coming together.







I did have another design change request to go from flamed maple binding to koa binding. After I saw the Taylor Web site with the fall limited 814 walnut with maple binding, I started to feel like the contrast was too much. I wanted something more subtle. I thought koa would bring down the contrast so I sent him a picture of a walnut / koa binding McPhearson and we both agreed that we like the look of the two woods.

Thanks for allowing me to share this joy!

[storm54]

Wow Theo!! That is one sweet looking guitar!! I love the grain pattern on the back. I think that koa is a good choice for binding on this one. It'll compliment the orange brown colors on the back. Thanks for sharing with us. It's really exciting to see this coming together. Don is a top notch luthier and a great guy. You're going to love this one!! Keep the posts coming.

[theotigno]

Hey all! Got some updated pics...

I'm a guy who likes low contrast between the binding and the tonewood. Well, I talked to Don and suggested koa versus maple for the binding to compliment the walnut.

So, he dropped it in. Here are the pics. Let me know what you think about going with the koa versus the maple binding.

[Ujitsuna]

Looks great to me Theo!

[james55]

Very nice!!

[sharkydude50]

T- How is Don finishing the guitar? Satin or gloss? Nitro or Poly? Just curious.

[theotigno]

Thanks guys!

Sharky, all I know is that the finish is gloss. Maybe Don can chime in on this.

I did have a question, though. What's the difference between nitro & poly?

[jperryrocks]

Nitro has always been the standard for guitars. But nitro lacquer is more hazardous to work with and takes longer times to cure. Poly has been becoming increasing popular. Poly can be buffed out in a matter of days, but nitro takes more like 3-4 weeks. The water based polys can be a lot easier to work with in terms of health. Nitro will continue to shrink, and it can take years to really fully dry. Nitro will sparkle like glass, and some feel poly doesn't have the cyrstal clear sheen that nitro does. A lot depends of the quality of the paint job, and if you know what you're doing with poly.

[SongwriterFan]

Beautiful walnut, and gorgeous rosette!

HI All: The finish on this one is going to be nitro. Although I shoot poly and nitro, nitro will make the figure in this wood pop. There's a lot of it and I want to see it all. Poly is nice because it is quicker and safer but I think nitro is unsurpassed whe it comes to depth on figured woods.

Sorry about the rough photos. I had just finished leveling the bindings and wanted Theo to have a look to make sure it's what he wanted. There's no sense in finish sanding at this stage. So, we all get to see a dirty top.

Theo doesn't know this but I cut off those top bindings to redo them. I just wasn't happy with the way they came out so off they came (one of my biggest faults is perfectionism). It's got the new binding almost done. I'll send clean photos next time.

[Joe Peel]

Are you going to put pictures of the final product? Really, good pictures of the building.