Official Luthiers Forum!

And giving big wet fishy hugs to everyone...

This is the "unofficial" Newport guitar, since the Spar guitar definitely seems like the "official" one..
Nice job on that one Tim!


Samantha (yes they are all named, and yes she has been in my work before) has on her triple tail fancy dress fins, there is a rock beauty angel below (South Florida and Caribbean native only), and on the pick guard the Cape Florida lighthouse, Miami- Key Biscayne to be exact.

The flag is Portugal though, in honor of the original Newport founder, Julius Borges.
Looking forward to seeing everyone there.

Thanks for looking.
Craig L

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www.handcraftinlay.com

Sorry, but I have to say the the arms are too low. Stunning as usual. Being a nautical guy I like the theme a lot. Arch top retrofit?

Danny

Thanks Danny.
Yeah, it's going on a Ribbecke Halfling.
Apologies for the arms. This is a showpiece, so it needed to be PG rated at least..



Craig

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www.handcraftinlay.com

Beautiful work Craig! Excellent color choices.....true ART!!

Are Samantha's lips a separate piece of red inlay material?

I think your engraving detail is more realistic than ever in this one....I guess you get better with practice, huh?!

Cheers,
Dave F.

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Cambrian Guitars

"There goes Mister Tic-Tac out the back with some bric-brac from the knick-knack rack"

Unreal....
Please post pics when its on the guitar, should be a jaw dropper for sure.

I know her!!! I wish....

Beautiful work arms and all Craig!!!

Fantastic work - I love the details on her!

Excellent work, Craig. Love her face, and use of paua heart for tail scales

That's one whopper hunk of MOP for the lighthouse. What kind of material is that for the sandy beach under it?

Stunning, Craig!

As you know, the lines in a line drawing can be off the tiniest bit, and the art just doesn't have the magic. This is magical!

Dennis

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Dennis Leahy
Duluth, MN, USA
7th Sense Multimedia

Superb. Took a while for me to think of another word That is such nice work. I would also like to see what it looks like when the guitar is complete.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Thanks Guys.
Here are some answers to the questions:
1) The face is all engraved, the mouth is filled with Grit Laskin's red filler. He gave me some many years ago, it's not available for sale. One stick still lasts all those years, I use it sparingly. Still almost all there too.

2) The lighthouse pearl is a big piece of mop gravlam. The only way to get it to be that big in one piece. The sand is sandstone corian.

3) Her tail is made of red abalone heart (hugepiece- some blue in there as well) pink mop, gold mop, and green sea snail, and little pieces of black abalone heart here and there between the fringes.

Drawing transfer to engraving is hard. For me anyway. This girl fully took me at least 15-20 hours. Most of them just re-drawing until the lines looked real enough. Wish there was an easier way, there just isn't. It makes you grow though, each seems more detailed then the last.
Hate to have to slot this.. The images are poor as well. Need to re-shoot this one.

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Nice work as always Craig

A question on the fret slots. How do you slot the shell for the fret slots?

Thanks for sharing your work

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John Ressler

I go in with teeny end mills, carefully open up the pearl by "sewing needle technique" (carefully going up and down, making little holes, then going through that easier after it's done), then I back bevel the slots a bit. Heading into that step right now actually.

Craig

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www.handcraftinlay.com