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I finished up a guitar a month ago or so and finally got the photos mostly corrected. I met a local musician through my roommate who was interested in a real old styled guitar. He sent me lots of photos of old Gibsons, Stella's etc... and it was pretty obvious what he wanted. We had a good time working together to flush out the details and came up with a nice solution. He definitely wanted the classic Gibson style sunburst and the white plastic binding and rosette. He also wanted a unique pickguard and we worked this one up looking at some old harp guitars. I put the little accent on the bridge to tie it together. It was great to work with someone who was excited, creative and open to suggestions and different ideas. There were some things he knew he wanted and others he was willing to work together to figure out. In terms of having a customer be local and involved it was a blast. Here are some specs and some photos:

Curly Mahogany back and sides
Red Spruce top
Mad. RW FB and bridge
Spanish Cedar neck
Bone pins, nut, and saddle
plastic binding, rosette, pickguard
Stew Mac old timey tuners
Joe White's finish (spectacular job from Joe as usual, it really makes the whole thing)
The guitar is my model CL, 14 1/4 across the lower bout and 4 3/16 deep at the tail









more photos and details here:
http://legeytguitars.com/2011/01/06/sun ... our-shots/

Thanks for looking.

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Burton
http://www.legeytinstruments.com
Brookline, MA.

Beautiful, Burton. Great job!

Chuck

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"To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong"
- Joseph Chilton Pearce

I've got a couple of old Kays and Truetones. You've captured the feel of those old style boxes in a very elegant way Burton. Too cool.

Burton:Nice job on the guitar as usual...! That pick guard sure....DRAWS...the eye..!Maybe too much...???
Tom

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A person who has never made a mistake has never made anything!!!

Nice Burton; does look like an old Stella

Very cool, Burton!
When I first saw the pic, I thought the white pick-guard was the shiny finish reflecting light!
Ha!

Great job on a wonderful custom guitar! I think the combined design effort really shows and pays off in a positive way.

Ok so... How does she sound?

Thanks guys.

Tom, I agree the pickguard is a little intense. When it came back from finish I was really not excited about putting it on, it looked so nice with just that perfect sunburst. My customer was adamant however and he reminded me that he wanted something kind of kitschy, he didn't want a precious guitar, he wanted something someone across the room would look at and say, "what is that?". Seeing it that way helped me get through my hesitation and now I am really glad it is on there. The more I look at the photos the more I like it. I do agree though that it becomes a total focal point for the instrument.

The sound is very nice. It is nice and even and has the characteristic punch in the midrange of mahogany. The trebles are clear but not boring, there is some sparkle to them. The bass is enough so that when you dig in there is some growl. There is nice difference between playing with fingertips and with a pick or fingernails, you can exert a lot of control over how round or crisp the extremes are. The mahogany was pretty soft (and light) so the note separation is not rosewood like but it is not muddy either. Fingerpicking sounds very nice but it really sounds great strummed. It sounds and feels like it wants to be played, which I love.

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Burton
http://www.legeytinstruments.com
Brookline, MA.

The pick guard almost looks like a handlebar moustache type of thing.

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"Preoccupation with an effect gives it power and enhances the error"
from "Your Owner's Manual" by Burt Hotchkiss.

Great design to fit the player's needs, Burton. I'm only a little curious about the tuners. I don't see any picks so I can't really say how they look with the guitar. I was thinking maybe some Klusons or Spertzels. Otherwise, bravo!

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Ken Franklin
clumsy yet persistent
https://www.kenfranklinukulele.com

Ken, here are some shots of the headstock. I tried out the Stewmac new old timey tuners (and swapped out the black for white buttons) and ground one edge to a circle to match a few other details. They seem fine, not great but not bad either. They certainly are inexpensive. I liked how they looked on this guitar a lot.

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Burton
http://www.legeytinstruments.com
Brookline, MA.

Where would I get that kind of idea?

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Burton
http://www.legeytinstruments.com
Brookline, MA.

+1. Elegant is the word I would use. Just a sweet looking guitbox.

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Mike

The only thing nescessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.

I have no earthly clue. Seriously.

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Mike

The only thing nescessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.

That is sweet, great job on the sunburst and neck, right on. T