I've been talking about this guitar for years, during which time several people have asked me to post photos. Hans recently asked me for some too and since it was a bright sunny day today, I took some shots for him.
Since the geniuses at LTG recently made it so easy to post photos, I thought I'd better post 'em here too, mainly to ease my guilty conscience. (I complained about the old photo system more than once.)
Back story: I'm in Cambridge, MA. The guy I got the guitar from was in Florida. My recollection is that he listed the guitar for sale (as a "needs work" guitar, cheap) on his local Craigslist. But he also posted the ad on the Saratoga Springs, NY, Craigslist (which is how I came across it), where he and his wife were planning an upcoming vacation.
One of my best friends lives In SS, so we arranged to all be there at the same time. He and his wife had their car loaded onto a flatbed train car, and the guitar rode up in the back seat.
As I say, the guitar needed repairs.
The neck block had shifted and to fix that the neck needed to be removed. As Brazilian rosewood tends to do, the back had cracked in a few places. There was a crack in the top. Finally, there was damage to the bridge.
I took it to good ol' Guild in New Hartford almost a soon as I got the guitar. They did all the repairs, and did a beautiful job. Since the original bridge couldn't be salvaged, it was replaced with the then-current New Hartford version.
When Kim Keller, their public relations guy and official greeter, saw the guitar, he called two guys in from the repair department to come take a look.
They both ooh-ed and ahh-ed when they saw the Brazilian back, which is almost 3-D, it's so deep and rich. But interestingly none of them could say for sure whether the sides were also Brazilian. (I'm assuming they're not.)
Anyway, for everyone who ever bugged me for pics, here ya go!
And the rest of you, enjoy!
Glenn