New Day, New Hartford, Guitars as Usual

As the sun rises on a crisp clean new day here in New Hartford, we're busy building as usual. The NAMM show is behind us now and as the din of the hype-fest recedes into memory we quietly get on with the business of making individual guitars by hand. This is how we step up in a world of mass-produced appliances marketed as the latest-thing-that-the-world-has-been-waiting-for.

Quilt maple, Brazilian rosewood, abalone inlay and yards of stacked cellulose binding painstakingly being crafted into an instrument.

A duo of quilt-topped guitars (one Talladega and one Talladega Pro) had been commissioned by a loyal customer—a man of taste and a collector of fine things who knows the difference between good and great. We took some photos of the guitars while they were in progress, but to add a little value to his experience we decided to send them to the NAMM show. Here's a few of the construction photos. Così bella!

Tom has just hand-fitted the neck and is applying pore filler to the mahogany back just before spraying

Once the first coats and color have been applied, Todd levels the lacquer

A few weeks later Todd has buffed out the finish and installed the hardware.

The headstock overlay is cut from the same piece of maple as the body.

Closeup of the mitered ivoroid binding.

Far from the glittering lights and fanfare of the music biz convention, this is who we are and what we do.