Instrument updatge

Made a major modification to #14 below. Also picked up #32 which is..

32 Gibson ES 335..

Stringed Instrument collection.

Quite a few people have asked about my stringed instruments, so I decided to post a couple of pictures of most of the collection. Reference the numbers to the text below the photos.
1 Violin - first one I made. Maple back/sides, spanish cedar top.
Gargoyle headpiece Ebonyfingerboard.
2 Violin - Gilga professional.
3 Violin - second one I made. Electric violin totally carved from single piece of flamed maple.
Headpiece is a bird (like a dove).
4 Violin - third one. Maple back/sides. Spruce top. Ebony fingerboard.
Tradition scroll headpiece.
5 Violin - fourth one I made. Flamed sapale back/sides, spanish cedar top.
Snakewood fingerboard. Headpiece is a bird.
6 Mandolin - first one I made. "F" style. Maple back/sides, spruce top.
Snakewood fingerboard and headpiece with dragon inlay.
7 Mandolin - Fender "A" style electric.
8 Mandolin - second one I made. My own design.
Brazilian rosewood neck/back/sides/fingerboard and headpiece. Spanish cedar top.
9 Ukulele - second one I made. Domestic cedar back/sides/top.
Ebony fingerboard with box-elder inlays.
10 Ukulele - standard Hilo uke.
11 Ukulele - first one I made. Flamed maple with purple madagascar rosewood fingerboard.
12 Ukulele - Ovation electric.
13 Balaliaka - only one I've made. 6 string balaliaka variant with dragon headpiece and
engraved / painted dragon top. Lacewood back/sides. Spanish cedar top with ebony
fingerboard and corners.
14 Guitar - Electric semi-hollowbody. Made this one. Flamed maple back/neck with purple
heart stringers. Bubinga (african cherry) top. Ebony fingerboard. Snakewood inlays.
15 Guitar - Electric. Made this one. Birdseye maple neck. Black limba body.
Bloodwood trip and pickguard.
16 Guitar - Electric. First one I made. The "Beatle Axe". Mahogony back/neck. Cherry top.
Ebony fingerboard.
17 Guitar - PRS (Paul Reid Smith) CE22.
18 Guitar - PRS Custom 22 with bird inlays.
19 Guitar - PRS Modern Eagle. By far my best guitar. Brazilian rosewood neck/fingerboard.
"Ten Top" flamed maple. Gold and silver hardware. Bird inlays.
From PRS custom shop
20 Guitar - Electric. Made this one. Black limba body/neck. Brazilian rosewood fingerboard
with abalone inlays from alternating sides of the neck.
21 Guitar - G&L Telecaster. From custom shop/ special order.
Birdseye maple neck. Maple bindings.
22 Guitar - Danelectro. Great neck, but original body sucked, so I made my own body. Maple
top and sides and pickguard. Works great for slide playing. Hollow body. I did the
artwork also.
23 Guitar - Les Paul style. I made this one. Mahogony back/neck. Paduk top. Self portrait
inlay is mother of pearl.
24 Guitar - Epiphone Les Paul.
25 Guitar - Electric hollowbody jazz guitar. Made this one. Maple back/sides/neck.
Spanish cedar top.
26 Guitar - Gretsch Nashville 1960.
27 Guitar - Hofner Verythin Classic.
28 Guitar - Ovation classical. I made the dragon to cover a hole in the top. Still sounds great.
29 Guitar - Madeira. This is my oldest guitar. I keep it in the bed room so I can reach for one
when a wild musical idea just pops into my head.
30 Guitar - Ovation Legend 12 string.
31 Guitar - Ovation Collectors Limited Edition. African cherry top.

I have other guitars at the house, but since they are technically my son Paul's I didn't include them. Paul is getting quite a good collect of quality instruments of his own, and even made a great stratocaster last year. Also I saw no need to post pictures of my 2 piano's 'cause it just wasn't part of the the 'theme'.

Another Mandolin

Finished another mandolin today. Turned out interesting. Back, sides, neck, and fingerboard are all brazilian rosewood. Top is spanish cedar. Fingerboard inlay is the 'man in the moon'. All inlays are abalone.

Year End update

Vacation is ending! Gotta go back to work. Will retirement never come?? Didn't do a lot during time off, but some of the things I did are listed below:


1. Remodeling the deck/patio area. Shortened the deck so it wasn't so close to the house and put in a stone walkway. (Did this because if it ever rains again - we are 2o inches short for the year - , I didn't want the rain which comes off the roof hitting the deck and splashing up on the lower two rows of siding. I've already has to replace these rows once due to water damage).



2. Made a walnut table to put a violin display stand on.

3. I'm working on another mandolin and it is turning out rather nice (solid brazilian rosewood back, neck, and finger board with a spanish cedar top). Should be finished in a week or two if work isn't too busy.

4. Went to see kids for Christmas. All doing well. (see links to their blog sites for latest pictures of grandkids).

Saturday son Dan bought a new truck (see pictures below). Its a 2006 Ford F150.
Dark blue color. He's happy about it and got it totally himself without my help. (great!).


Welcome to my brother Ken as a blogger. Added a link to his website. There are
some pictures on his site of the flooding a my dad's place which has damage his
driveway up to his house.

Later....