I figured it'll be a little while before I can post any more of the acoustics (have little time, and binding and finishing and setup to do on the next), and Sylvan (Wells) and Steve R (who've both seen this guitar hands-on) both said I should post a few pics here. Special thanks go to Sylvan for helping me set the action/relief ideally (gotta get/make one of those relief guages now..) and letting me borrow his nut files to get it playing smoothly. Then there's all the thanks he deserves for showing me around his shop and letting me play/handle some mighty fine guitars, and draw inspiration from his plethora of deceptively simple (sometimes) jigs. Thanks also go to Craig L for his engraving tips and hints
Anyway, some details: it's a carved top and back maple on mahogany guitar in the Gibson/PRS tradition, and was made for a friend's wedding. He likes it, I think :-) African Mahogany body, honduran neck, maple top, pickup rings, tremolo cover plate, ebony board, EIR overlay. Inlay materials are silver wire, abalone, white and gold MOP and river/ivory Pearl, all from DePaule supply. The shell, that is. The silver I got from Cookson Gold over in the UK. Finish is Target USL on the body and headstock, shellac on the pickup rings, cavity covers and the back of the neck. DiMarzio pups, series/single/parallel mini switches for both, volume, blend pot, standard 3 way, and a push/push tone controle to switch the two pickups in series with each other.
Full frontal overview, probably most accurate color representation:
Body closeup. The silver wire vine on the body came about thanks to hidden worm damage to the wood. Need disguising.
Upper horn, fake binding, slightly smudgy fingerprinted finish, home-made pickup ring, lowest and biggest of the MOP roses:
More of the inlay:
The engraved laydee. Came out quite well for a first try, I think. I'll be doing that again, though. Engraving's fun!
Badly smudged headstock:
The back:
I didn't have time to make one. Probably going to engrave a white MOP cover with my friends' initials on it and mail it to him. That's what happens when you're buffing the guitar the day before you fly! 