Official Luthiers Forum!

I wanted to share my latest guitar that went out the door this afternoon. It's an all koa Grand auditorium model. This was for a customer that wanted a "pretty" guitar for his wife's 50th birthday. I'm not a fan of the sound of Koa topped guitars, but I was pretty happy with how this one sounded. Not as much booty as a nice rosewood or Blackwood model would have made, but good enough. I hope you enjoy.

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Chris Alvarado
www.ChrisAlvaradoLive.com
www.Driftwood-Guitars.com

Wow! That's beautiful. Lot's of really nice details. Very cool bridge design. Do you have a photo showing the fretboard inlays? She should be quite happy when she opens up the case.

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Once in a while you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right - Robert Hunter

Thanks Jay. Unfortunately, the customer picked her up in the middle of this photo shoot so I didn't get any shots of the inlays. I'll get he back sometime next week so I can get some more pictures. I used the Van Eps style #2 inlay from Luthiersupply.com though. Such a nice and classy look once it's installed. It looks a little gaudy until you add the frets and strings, but it's super subtle and understated when the guitar is done. I plan on using it on future guitars for sure.

http://www.luthiersupply.com/fretinlaytradpage.html

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Chris Alvarado
www.ChrisAlvaradoLive.com
www.Driftwood-Guitars.com

Beautiful, really nice work!

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Jim Watts
http://jameswattsguitars.com

Wow! Inspiring work! There is a lot going on design wise but it all holds together beautifully. The wood is stunning.

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http://www.Harvestmoonguitars.com

Very beautiful. Anything that looks that good just has to sound great!!!

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Joe Beaver
Maker of Sawdust

well you certainly hit the "pretty" mark on the bullseye! Very nice indeed. Like your bridge design too.

Cheers, Bob

Very nice. I like the paw prints from the body to the neck.

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Mike Lindstrom

Very nice!

So he got the guitar for her 50th... What's she gonna get?

Stunning!
Can't beat the beauty of natural wood and the inlaid highlights make it sparkle.
Terrific execution .... heirloom quality!

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Dave
Milton, ON

Definitely passes the "pretty" test. Should have no problem remembering what she got on her 50th birthday. Like the bridge, headstock and wide nut.

Buttery smooth!

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

Thanks for all of the kind words. I forgot to mention that I did a very subtle "Brown Burst" on this guitar as well. I used a tobacco brown and very very lightly sprayed a bust with it to bring out the depth of the grain. I also did the brown burst on the maple neck to tie it in with the koa better. As for the bridge design, I came up with that shape about a year ago as my official "Driftwood Guitars" style bridge, and I'm very happy with the results. It looks nice, and it has a lot going on with it that I hope serves a purpose, and adds to the efficiency of sound energy. This one in particular is made of African Black wood from Stewmac. They have the ABW bridge blanks right now for less than $5! But don't buy any because I plan on scooping up all that they have haha.

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Chris Alvarado
www.ChrisAlvaradoLive.com
www.Driftwood-Guitars.com

That's all tied together beautifully! Too bad no back shot. I'd like to see the whole neck.

Gorgeous! I love all the personal touches and the entire instrument is exceptionally well executed. That's a great gift from a good husband for a very lucky wife. I'll bet she is thrilled! I've heard some all-koa guitars that I liked very much.

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George :-)

I can't say it any better than Dave Stewart did. I love it. Normally, I dislike slotted peg heads (I don't like fussing down in there when re-stringing). But your is particularly beautiful and well executed. Beautiful instrument!

Chris... One thing I was wondering. did you darken the koa any? It is beautiful.

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Joe Beaver
Maker of Sawdust

I used a tobacco brown to do a very light burst, si it was just a little lighter originally.
Got the wood from Notable tonewoods

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Chris Alvarado
www.ChrisAlvaradoLive.com
www.Driftwood-Guitars.com

drool..... beautiful!

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Tony Flippo

Very nice
He got the guitar for his wife? .... seems a fair trade.

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Greg
http://garibaldiinstruments.com/

Really amazing looking guitar. Can we have some sound samples?

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We are all in the gutter but some of us are looking at guitars.

Doesn't get much better than that beauty.

Steve

Beautiful guitar Chris. What kind of finish did you do?

Goodin, I always spray with shellac for build coats and spray with Seagrave Lacquer. Buff out with Menzerna compounds and a Stewmac buffing outfit.

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Chris Alvarado
www.ChrisAlvaradoLive.com
www.Driftwood-Guitars.com

Chris, very tasteful, like the details.
Lovely guitar.

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.