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STEEL STRING GUITARS

The above guitar is a fairly close copy of a Martin 1-18 parlour guitar, made of Australian blackwood with a fir top. I finished it with a dark shellac to try to give the instrument a 'vintage' look. It worked well, and the instrument looks like a fine old guitar which has been preserved in a closet for the past 70 years.

Here's another 1-18, this one with a spruce top and Indian Rosewood back and sides. The neck is mahogany, the fingerboard and bridge are ebony. The front and the back of the peg-head are covered with Indian rosewood. It sports gold plated Gotoh tuners. It is finished with shellac. This instrument was built for Heather Peat (check here).

This guitar is a Dreadnaught size guitar. The top is bear-claw grained Sitka spruce, the back and sides are osage orange, the neck is mahogany, the bridge and fingerboard are ebony and the head-plate is osage orange. Like all my guitars, the finish is French polish. Set up with Schaller gold plated tuners. This guitar is a pleasure to fingerpick. It has become my 'working' guitar.

This guitar is another Dreadnaught, this time with a cedar top and rosewood sides and back. The neck is mahogany, the bridge and fingerboard are ebony and the head-plate is birds-eye maple. The instrument is French polished and set up with Grover tuners. The body depth is greater than usual, and it provides a huge voice for this country guitar. I gave this guitar to my son Schrader.

Here is the latest: A parlour guitar in the style of a Martin 1-18, but with a tailpiece and a floating bridge. The top is Douglas fir, the back and sides are osage orange. Headplate, fingerboard, bridge, heelcap and binding are ebony. There are pearl dots in the fingerboard and a little inlay in the headplate, also of pearl. The saddle and nut are bone. The neck is mahogany, and the tuners are Schaller three-on-a-plate. This thing has a big blues-y voice for such a small guitar.

Don't even TRY to take this guitar.....

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