Its always a blast when I have a special project in the shop, and this guitar definitely qualifies. From stem to stern this guitar has it “goin on!”. Starting from the top it has my inlay interpretation of an Alphonse Mucha painting (not sure of the title) done with pearl and various stained woods. I also did a version of this inlay on my 250th guitar project a while back. From there we have my deluxe crown inlay design in koa and brass. The soundboard is a sitka spruce top I got from a vendor years back, evidently it was cut wayyyyy back in the 80’s. So some very nice natural aging and curing on this one (!). Last but not least is the master grade koa back plate. This is one of the finest examples of fiddleback koa I have ever seen let alone worked with. And with this species getting more scarce by the day it might (hopefully not) be a unique opportunity for me to have and use. Definitely grateful for the chance and honestly I was very nervous throughout the process. Lets just say it was very expensive to acquire. The flames are incredibly tight with that classic amber brown koa look. Incredible!!!
Well here it is, video and sound below!!
Heres a video I recorded using the guitar with some friends (and great players!). I wrote this tune the night before and brought it to the session. Was amazing to write a tune and have it performed less that 24 hours later 1st take by some killing musicians… I love NYC!! But more importantly I am very pleased with the sound and play-ability of the guitar. It performs great with the group, and the larger sound ports have no feedback issues. WOOHOO mission accomplished.
Mitch Marcus- Sax
Peter Brendler- Bass
Brian Fishler- Drums
Here’s a chart of the tune if ya wanna check it out.
