Keeping One

In all the years of making guitars I have only ever kept my very first. I decided to hold onto this Spartan Model that I made last year to have something nicer to play. It happened to get a fingernail mark on the top and a few sunken pores on the back so it is technically a “second” and it helps me justify not putting it up for sale. I still figure I should post a few pictures as it is a different combination of things that could be interesting to some.

It’s sort of an upgraded Spartan Model with and elevated fingerboard and an 18 hole tie block on the bridge. The Bone Nut and Saddle is dyed with black dye. The bone only partially absorbs the dye so it’s more of a grey color I like. I also did a gradual shading with the same dye on a few lines in the rosette and tail block inlay. I used some black and gold Schaller Grand Tune machines and matched that with Jescar EVO Gold frets. I lacquered the back and sides while leaving the top french polished. The other main materials are Wenge, European Spruce and African mahogany.

July 2019

It’s always a joy to string up a new guitar. What is it going to sound like? The anticipation of those first few notes starts to build while your fretting it and cutting the nut and saddle. I was just on some short trips to Montana and California and this guitar was waiting for me and thus in the back of my mind the whole time I was supposed to be on vacation. I’m excited to get it shipped out to the customer for their feedback and response.

This Spartan guitar is by many standards a plain guitar. It has a matte finish on the back and sides with nothing really fancy going on but I like that unassuming quality. It hides the fact that this guitar is everything a concert guitar should be in terms of sound and playability. This guitar has a unique looking Western Red Cedar top and East Indian Rosewood back and sides with a simple ebony binding and Honduran Rosewood accents. The customer opted for some Gilbert tuning machines, an elevated fingerboard and a sound port. This guitar is also the smaller of the two templates I use with a 640 mm scale and a 50 mm nut width.