Luthara is a name given to this new guitar design, 2024. It's a guitar for a very special player, where every note is critical and the set is as much a work of art as the music. For more information about it and to hear an audio, please go to the Luthara page in this site.  

Luthara back and sides are East Indian Rosewood, with black mother of pearl inlay. All inlay throughout is BMOP. It's a guitar for a very special player, where every note is critical and the set is as much a work of art as the music.

This Luthara rosette is segmented with black mother of pearl inlay and black veneer edge banding for each section. It's a nod to Ervin Somogyi, who worked on the soundboard with me in his shop.

Luthara headstock is East Indian Rosewood with ebony, maple, and black mother of pearl inlay. Tuners are Schaller Gold and Ebony, 20:1 ratio.

The Yardbyrd was made of wood from my backyard--Torrefied Virginia Pine, White Oak, and Black Cherry. For more information, please click the link to the Yardbyrd page.

YardByrd back is made of white oak, filled, stained to a "mission" color, and finished with a very thin, glassy NC lacquer. 

This rosette was made from a rotated knot, bookmatched around the soundhole. The knot was cut just above the piece from which the soundboard was milled.

The headstock for this guitar was made from the same home grown cherry tree as the body. It's sapwood followed the splay of the profile. 

This guitar has the story of Jesus' birth as it was written in the alignment of seven stars and planets on the day Jesus was born--Regulus, Jupiter, Venus, Mercury, Earth, Moon and Sun. 

This view shows the swirly cherry back that was selected for this guitar for its similarity to photographs of deep space environments. The alighnement of Earth, Moon and Sun are as they were astronomically on the day Jesus was born.  The neck is curly maple.

The alighnement of Earth, Moon and Sun is shown as they were astronomically on the day Jesus was born.

This face plate was taken from the same section of the tree as the back and sides. The flamed pattern suggests fire, or heavenly power. Tuners are 21:1 ratio.

This J-50 is the guitar James Taylor began his carreer playing. It's a brand new build, to spec, but with signgicant modifications to emulate the sound of James Taylor's guitar. 

The only difference between this back and those made by Gibson is the center stripe matching the bindings. I nice touch. 

The top is torrefied red spruce, with mahogany back and sides. Tuners are vintage spec.

This J-50 is the guitar James Taylor began his carreer playing. It's a brand new build, to spec, but with signgicant modifications to emulate the sound of James Taylor's guitar. A curiousity: a Martin volute carved on the back of a Gibson Headstock.

This guitar has an interesting combination of tonewoods. The top is aged, and was milled over a century ago, from European spruce. It has been in my collectio for over 50 years.

The bnack and sides are made of pronounced, figured cherry, and were cut ten years ago from a tree that grew out back here. Dried on sight in a passive solar kiln on site, this set sounds as good as rosewood.  

The soundhole, headstock and other details were added from spalted, or Snakeskin Oak. 

Made from "crotched" maple", otherwise referred to as flamed and bookmatched, this back took to the finish with stunning vibrance.