I love starting a new instrument. This will be the third one in a row for a local customer! John's a yoga teacher here in Santa Cruz who makes really fantastic multi-instrumental CDs. I'm a Weather Report and Zawinul (So long, Joe...) nut and John's music hits a lot of the same buttons for me. Very compelling listening! Anyway, some time ago John approached me about building an acoustic Chapman stick, an instrument I'd messed around with a little bit but really didn't understand how to play, so I told him I felt like it was out of my range. "No problem", he said, "How about an 8-string acoustic guitar/bass?". Now that I know how to do. In fact, I've done it once before and Jim Saxa and I were both delighted with the results. John came over to the shop and we picked out the woods together. This instrument will have a Sitka spruce top, pau ferro back and sides, bloodwood trim and a madrone burl rosette. This is my first time working with pau ferro. It's just a little harder and denser than a typical set of Indian rosewood. Sure is pretty!. Another very interesting thing about this guitar will be the finish. John really dislikes the shiny, polished under glass look, and he wants his guitar to feel like wood. So we're going to have a super-thin coat of unpolished lacquer with no pore-fill whatsoever, you know, "au naturale!" I think it's going to be really beautiful. Thanks for a fantastic idea, John! I can't wait to see, feel, play and hear this one. :)
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