The story of this guitar starts back when I was just starting to collect select pieces of wood for my personal stash. Eight years ago I found a slab of 6 year old air-dried maple for an archtop guitar back that yielded enough for 2 backs, one large and one small. When I bookmatched the piece it had the perfect look for a flame top electric. The tap tones were bright and deep and so the vision started for the perfect maple/mahogany solidbody electric. The second piece of wood is a gorgeous piece of Brazilian rosewood that I bought from a private collection that has a slightly figured grain pattern and rings like a bell. These first 2 pieces captured the tonal properties I wanted but also determined the look. The burst color was mixed to match the Brazilian fretboard tones and it is just gorgeous as it ties in the top and neck. The next pieces were from an amazing score of Honduran Mahogany I found a few years back. The body and neck are perfectly quartersawn and both yield a deep and rich tap tone full of midrange and excellent sustain. The most important quality of these 2 pieces are the weight. I wanted to build a solidbody that was fairly lightweight and this set of mahogany had an ideal density. With these 4 pieces of wood the tonal vision was complete. With hand selected woods and very simple appointments of Madagascar ebony I designed and built what I believe is the ideal maple/mahogany/brazilian solidbody electric. All in the classic Myka form factor, of course, with all the comfortable ergonomic details and the Full-Access Neck Heel that are the hallmark of my work. Enjoy!~



2011 Custom Classic Brazilian #144

Top: 14 year old air dried Western Bigleaf Maple (hand selected 8 years ago from a 6 yr old stash)
Body: Select Quartersawn Honduran Mahogany
Neck: Select Quartersawn Honduran Mahogany
Fingerboard: Old Quartersawn Brazilian Rosewood
Headstock Front/Back: Jet Black Madagascar Ebony

Nut width: 1-11/16"
Scale Length: 24.625"
Fretboard radius: 12"
Frets: 22

Pickups: Lollar Imperial Humbucker Neck and Seymour Duncan JB in the bridge

Electronics and Switching: Volume and Tone per pickup, 3-way selector

    Switching: 3-way:
        1. Neck
        2. Neck and Bridge in parallel
        3. Bridge

Bridge: TonePros Wraparound tailpiece
Tuners: Hipshot Locking Tuners


Hardware: Nickel
Logo: Pearl
Side dots: Pearl
Finish: Nitrocellulose Lacquer with Brazilian Burst (to match fretboard)