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I built this guitar for the 2016 SBAIC show that's upcoming next month. I tried a few new things- a slightly modified headstock shape, a pinned bridge, purfling on the top of the fingerboard (never done it with this shape of fingerboard). Overall, I am extremely pleased with the guitar, both tonally and visually. On a fun note- the center of the rosette came from a chunk of wood my father-in-law saved from someone's firewood pile. I believe it's spalted pine.

Also want to say thanks to DannyV for the great cedar top! I wish I had more of it.

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ELEVATE || Next Level Lutherie
http://elevatelutherie.com
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That thing will give you diabetes!
Very well done.

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

Excellent work, Chris, as usual. You have a wonderful design sense that really sets your instruments apart. It may be my eyes playing tricks, but is the upper bout slightly asymmetrical? Optical illusion or not, I love the elegant flow of the shape and the way you've tied all the disparate elements together into a unified whole. The little detail with the heel block is perfection. Well done and very inspiring! Thanks so much for sharing!

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George :-)

Just lovely and very well executed. The curl in that walnut back is to die for!

Cheers, Bob

Beautiful. The design elements are really well integrated and give the guitar an overall look that works as a whole. I like the body shape a lot. I also like the color of the top. Is that the natural color of the cedar?

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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

Dang! That one is fantastic looking!

(5 claps, darn good!)

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

very nice!
What's the asking price?

Mike

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Mike Collins

Lovely! I like all of your design choices. The back is amazing and the rosette matches the guitar in scale nicely. Kudos

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"Building guitars looks hard, but it's actually much harder than it looks." Tom Buck

That's a real looker!

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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.

Very Very nice Chris!!!

Well done all around.

I use to do the purfling lined fingerboard but got away from it. After seeing yours I might just go back to it

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Joe Beaver
Maker of Sawdust

George,
Simple optical illusion from the angle of the photos. Nothing asymmetric in the shape of the body.



Jay,
That is the natural color of the cedar. I love how dark it is. I seriously wish I had more... Hey DannyV...



Mike,
Full specs, more pictures, and buying details can be found on my website.

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ELEVATE || Next Level Lutherie
http://elevatelutherie.com
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Thanks everyone for the kind words. I love this forum and the community of people and knowledge present here.

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ELEVATE || Next Level Lutherie
http://elevatelutherie.com
&
http://ensorguitars.com

Nice, Chris! I like the little detail of matching side wood as the end graft. Sweet.

Steve

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From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

Very nice! I'm pretty fond of that.

Beautiful! Reminds me that the nicest guitar I've ever had in my hands was cedar/walnut.

What did you use for the side dot fret markers? (Just curious).

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Jim Kirby
kirby@udel.edu

Nice colors! How much saddle is showing?

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Pat

nice guitar! The walnut is stunning, beautiful rosette and binding the end wedge is a great detail.

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http://www.Harvestmoonguitars.com

Beauty!

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Max Bishop
Brighton, Michigan

Hey! Just got back from a road trip.

Nice Chris! There are a lot of beautiful details. FB and bridge design to pick a couple.

That is a nice top. I really have to try another Cedar guitar. I've built one, and over built it, and was not happy with the outcome and have been a little gun shy ever since.

Cheers!

Chris this is stunning!! So many features I love about it. I'll mention when on my PC and not my iPhone. But bravo!!!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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"There's really no wrong way, as long as the results are what's desired." Charles Fox

"We have to constantly remind ourselves what we're doing....No Luthier is putting a man on the moon!" Harry Fleishman

"Generosity is always different in the eye of the person who didn't receive anything, but who wanted some." Waddy Thomson

I really love the new bridge shape, especially the soft ridge/curve between the pins and the saddle. I like that better than a hard ridge look and how is sweeps out to the outer back corner is very nice. easy to look at.

I think you did an outstanding job at joining the back so the book match of the sapwood was as perfect as you could get. I love the swooping grain in the back and the sapwood accents this nicely.

The tail wedge is great. I really like the extreme point at the bottom.

Great looking guitar Chris!!

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My Facebook Guitar Page

"There's really no wrong way, as long as the results are what's desired." Charles Fox

"We have to constantly remind ourselves what we're doing....No Luthier is putting a man on the moon!" Harry Fleishman

"Generosity is always different in the eye of the person who didn't receive anything, but who wanted some." Waddy Thomson

Jim,
The side dots on this one are hollow aluminum rod.



3/16"



Rod,
Thank you so much for the kind words. I appreciate you taking time to really give it a good look.

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ELEVATE || Next Level Lutherie
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Chris,

I haven't posted (or looked at the site) in a very long time, simply due to the boring demands of making a living, which gives me the benefit of perspective.

Your craft has just gotten better and better. I love the total lack of inlay on this guitar. Really elegantly spare.

Bravo

That bridge is nice!

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Expectation is the source of all misery; comparison the thief of joy.
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