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Here are a few teaser pics, I'm hoping to borrow a camera this weekend and take some better shots. But just couldn't wait to share the excitement!
Koa top/back/sides/backstrap, East Indian Rosewood rosette/binding/endwedge/heelcap, Macassar Ebony fretboard/bridge/headplate. Behlens Rock Hard Table Top Varnish over Zpoxy for finish on the body, TruOil on the neck.

Darren, I understand your excitement the guitar looks great. What is it like playing a multiscale instrument? I have only seen pictures.

Thanks John! The scale difference isn't too large (.75") so it only requires a slight change in hand position on a few 1st position chords. After a few minutes I didn't have to make any conscious adjustments at all.

This one sounds better than any of my other guitars. Intonation is almost perfect and it has a nice enveloping, full sound. (could be the sound port, I haven't played a guitar with one before) The finish could be improved upon but what I was most concerned about (would it play in tune or be a wall hanger) turned out to greatly exceed my expectations.

The finish looks great! If I remember you brushed it on. How many coats before you were happy. How did you get it to brusdh on that well?

Darren, very nice job! I really like the way you accessorized it (if that's the word). The headstock looks so good against the koa and the gold tuning keys.
Finish looks great. How did you find it as far as ease of finishing?
How was pore filling? Did you spray or brush the Behlen's? Cans? Spray gun?
Wonderful work.

Thanks for the kind words, gents.


John, I ended up brushing 7 coats, but it really looked amazing after the first one - I was really surprised. I didn't do a very good job leveling so there are still some brush marks, and I probably should have waited a few more weeks before going through the micromesh sheets and the final polish. I went straight to micromesh after the 7th coat had cured for 3 weeks, but I think starting at 600 grit would have left with a better surface. By the time I realized the brush marks weren't coming out I just decided to keep on going and get'er done. This is only my second, anyway, and I'll have plenty more to tweak my finishing on. All in all I really like the Rockhard product. I just don't have much finishing experience! The final polish was with the Nova plastic polish, which does a great job of clearing up the haze left over from the micromesh.


Bob,
Porefilling was fairly straight forward with 3 coats of zpoxy. I could have done a 4th application but having a few pore shadows here and there are fine with me. Like I said the Behlens brushes on nicely, its taking it down to a consistent level final coat that I need practice on. I'm glad you like the color scheme - I was afraid it would be too monochromatic with all the gold/red/browns.

I feel like improvements were made in the binding, neck carving, and bracing. Even little things like making a nut and saddle go much easier the second time!

Oh yeah, some of you may remember I started with a bookmatched koa headplate, but it had to go when I botched the tuner holes. I ordered a Mac.Ebony headplate from LMI, asking for 'striped' to match the fretboard. What I got was blond with black stripes instead of the other way round, and I thought long and hard about whether to use it or not. In the end I think I like it. Certainly is different!

Cool.
What brand of tuners did you get? And how do you like them?