Build thread: Circa OOO-12 (Euro Spruce/Mun Ebony)

[bho]

Hello,

I am excited to share that John Slobod aka Circa Guitars has begun construction of a guitar for me. This will be a 000-12 with a Venetian cutaway. The top is master grade European spruce. The back and sides are made of Mun Ebony.

Mun Ebony comes from Laos and Vietnam. Logging and export are currently banned, so sets of guitar wood come from fallen trees, and are extremely rare and highly priced. You just don't see a lot of Mun Ebony out there. I selected a set that I found mesmerizing.

[Nemoman]

Beautiful woods--this should be a fun one to watch for sure!

[bho]

Under Construction
[IMG][/IMG]

Body with kerfing


Back
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Braces with hot hide glue

[BrunoBlack]

Sweeeeet!!!

[Steve Kinnaird]

Originally Posted by bho

I selected a set that I found mesmerizing.

[IMG]Mun Ebony by BaturOktay, on Flickr[/IMG]

Wow, that's really nice! I find it mesmerizing as well.
Congrats,

Steve

[antsdmb]

Man I’ve got to be getting close. When did you sign up? Gorgeous woods!!

[bho]

Originally Posted by antsdmb

Man I’ve got to be getting close. When did you sign up? Gorgeous woods!!

2 years, 3 months ago.

[antsdmb]

Thank you. I will be following this one closely.

Mark

[justonwo]

John Slobod is my hero. I played a 00-12 they had ebony back and sides. A very memorable guitar from HGF 2011.

This one will be rad!

[gitarro]

Bho, since john slobod can do both equally well, will your vision for this guitar involve it having a prewar vintage voice or will it be voiced to sound more contemporary? From your tonewood choices, I'm suspecting that your brief will be a more contemporary voice but with a solid vintage martin base.

Whatever it is, I don't think you will be disappointed- my circa is making a strong case to be my favourite guitar to play!

[bho]

Originally Posted by gitarro

Bho, since john slobod can do both equally well, will your vision for this guitar involve it having a prewar vintage voice or will it be voiced to sound more contemporary? From your tonewood choices, I'm suspecting that your brief will be a more contemporary voice but with a solid vintage martin base.

Whatever it is, I don't think you will be disappointed- my circa is making a strong case to be my favourite guitar to play!

Great question. I prefer a more traditional-sounding, vintage Martin vibe. And that tends to be the style in which John builds. Ebony is not exactly a traditional-sounding vintage option though, and originally, John suggested pairing it with Engelmann which would have resulted in a more modern-sound. But after much discussion we landed on European spruce to bring out a little more of what I wanted while still pairing well with the Ebony.

[gitarro]

Originally Posted by bho

Great question. I prefer a more traditional-sounding, vintage Martin vibe. And that tends to be the style in which John builds. Ebony is not exactly a traditional-sounding vintage option though, and originally, John suggested pairing it with Engelmann which would have resulted in a more modern-sound. But after much discussion we landed on European spruce to bring out a little more of what I wanted while still pairing well with the Ebony.

That's great, I'm sure it will come out vey well. He seems to be able to achieve what he sets out to do in terms of voicing to an impressive degree based on what I have noticed on this forum and others. Despite its very traditional looks, my own circa is voiced with a more contemporary voice but with still the power and fundamental of the vintage martin. That makes for a wonderful fusion to my ears and fingers.

[Diamondave]

John's one of my FAVORITE builders, I've owned more than one and he's building me another, welcome to the tribe!

[colins]

Wow...you could just hang those pieces of ebony on your wall as a work of art. In a guitar they are going to look phenomenal .

Congrats on the build and thanks for sharing this with us. I look forward to your next post!

Col

[rlxnply]

Congratulations!! That wood looks amazing. We must be close as John started my build a few weeks ago. I’ll get a separate thread started soon on my OM.