| I
can hardly breathe. 
It's been a long time coming, first due to my daft wood choice and then due to a bad
choice for pickups on my part. First up, a *huge* thank you to Ron for going the extra
mile on this. After a few months, the best piece of figured mahogany was not big enough
for a one piece body. I said "OK, let's use it", but Ron must've detected my
disappointment, because he secretly kept looking and turned this up.
I wanted it in a true cherry - I've got some old cherry Gibsons, but they're all faded.
And with a finish that would let the wood speak for itself. If the guitar is even half as
good as it looks in these photos, I'm going to need an anti-drool device when it arrives.
Other than the wood figure, I wanted it to look unfussy. We toyed with the idea of a Peter
Green inspired inlay(s), but what the hell does a Green Manalishi look like? So I stuck to the 'ordinary'
inlays.
The recessed pickup rings (how Ron keeps cool when we come up with these ideas is beyond
me) were my way of trying to get close to the way that P90s seem to nestle into their
hole. Of course, with no pickup rings on the top, the bridge pickup would jut so far out
of the body that the bottom of the pickup cover would be visible. So Ron tweaked the neck
angle a little to fix it. You guys don't need me to tell you about Ron's attention to
detail, but it's just another example of how he solves problems we didn't even know we
were causing. I think he might've sworn a few times when he was painting and buffing those
rings, though 
The Peter Green thing is my little tribute. There's a phase change on one push-push, and
coil-tap on another. Two volume and one tone for simplicity.
I cannot wait for this guitar to arrive. Here's something interesting - I had serious
guitar GAS up until I ordered #093. But once our favourite Yeti was on to it, I've not
looked at another guitar.
Oh, and just to state 'the bleedin' obvious' - Cherry Obsession (as I call her - another
nod to a long-time guitar hero) was finished on Valentine's Day. Must be fate
Barry |
