Most manufacturers will send me the component to be inlaid. In this case, the 2-pc spruce soundboard(without bracing), the fretboard slotted and radiused, the bridge and the headcap being a slab of ebony with the perimeter and tuner holes located. I inlay them, then return them so the rest of the instrument can be built and finished. I still have the components for the 3rd guitar, but I seriously doubt Guild would complete it. The first two were built at the Nashville custom shop.
Working with Disney on this was quite an experience. I walked into the meeting to find full sized "story boards" of the instruments on easels. All hand-drawn and in color. The artwork was simply amazing and the thought behind each one equally amazing. They didn't approach them as art guitars, they wanted them to be conceptual stories to go along with the musical piece. The concept for the Firebird Suite (Tim's avatar) was that the sprite representing Spring would be inside the body with the art-nouveau flowers and butterflies all around her (the sound hole and fretboard). She would be reborn from the fire of the Fall and Winter just as the Stravinsky's composition represents.. They used highly flamed maple in a red burst as the back and sides to represent the Firebird. Then, each year, the Firebird would re-consume her.
I had brought samples of a variety of inlays, including butterflies and bees, that I had done on other projects. Seeing the amount of detail that could be achieved with inlays, the main artist Chris Schnabel immediately starting drawing and modifying to suit, and like a true artist - watching the design flow effortlessly from the tip of his pencil was simply unreal.
I have no idea what happened to them, nor the other guitars from the Fantasia set either. What a nice set to own either as guitars or as Disney art.
Ron