December 30, 2008

Wow.  I promised Larry way back in October that I would have his guitar ready for him.  I failed, did not fulfill my obligation, and felt a bit awkward, but he and I agreed that things take their time, and his guitar would be ready at the appropriate time.  And now is the appropriate time.  I finished (relative term) his guitar and delivered to him this very evening.  It still needs the LR Baggs electronics installed, but I want him to take it home and give it the old go around and come back to me next week for tweaking and fine tuning and.. the install of the LR Baggs.

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Many steps to getting the guitar ready for Larry.  Strings on is one.  Spent several iterations getting the strings settled properly.  Did have to shim up the saddle twice, but well worth it.

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Just damn proud of the SMG label inside the soundbox.

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The sycamore headstock turned out very nicely and without my compete knowledge, I bought (gold) strings which were complementary to the whole gold tuner/fret thing.

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So, here’s the baby, bridged, stringed, cradled, and ready for Larry to accept.

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So, the first thing is, you must nestle the thing in the new case.  Just to make sure it fits and it has a home.  And…yes, it fits.  More importantly, does the player/owner love it?  Oh yes.

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This almost looks like a Shamwow commercial.

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Now here he is riffing some Pink Floyd, or is it Moby Grape?

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And finally, he looks so happy, the next thing he did was walk out the door.  I suppose he really likes the guitar.  He’ll tell me next week.

I spoke with Carl tonight, and with the combination of giving up one of my babies (guitar) and speaking with my music partner who has moved on to another city, I got a bit schmelke (sad, melancholy).

It’s hard to see your craftwork depart and your music partner so far away.

The good part is they both will come back to you someday.