Ardent Guitars

with at the historic I've seen these guys quite a few times but this was the best yet!

It's a good day to celebrate the Irish Bouzouki! Here's a look back on some Celtic themed work from years gone by.

Here is the Padauk guitar from last week after it's first round of pore filling.

This past week my lovely fiancée joined me in the shop and learned about everything that goes into building a custom acoustic guitar.

Guitar No. 25

Completed last year for Christopher Gold

Christopher said something like, dude, what do you think about a 3 piece back? I was in wholeheartedly!

I had this one piece of Brazilian rosewood that I had gotten from a guy who purchased the piece in the late 70s. It was meant to be the center piece of this guitar. We paired that with some beautiful honduran mahogany and the result was the perfect sound for Christopher.

The collaboration in design that comes with building a custom guitar is always an awesome experience. We were shooting for a vintage theme that still represented my work as a builder and Christopher as a musician, hence "ROLL ON"! If you have been to a Christopher Gold show you know, for those that haven't, this is the title of a song that he does with his son Ollie and it is always a hit with the crowd.

To finish the vintage theme we used tortoise shell binding along with tortoise shell pickguard and kept the fretboard clean with no inlay work.

Modified slop shoulder dreadnaught body with a 25.4" scale

Back and Sides - Honduran Mahogany with Brazilian Rosewood center piece
Soundboard - Sitka Spruce
Fretboard - Royal Blackwood
Bridge - Royal Blackwood
Inlay - Gold mother of pearl

If you are interested in your own custom guitar please visit my website for ordering details. I do a limited number of instruments each year to ensure every piece is meticulously crafted.

📸 By Adam Koepke Dave Jackson

These guys have done fantastic photography. They also did an amazing promo video of my work.

Guitar #24

Completed last year for Brad Bordini
We had a great time collaborating and coming up with the theme and inlay design of this instrument. The turtle holds a special place in Brads world and we wanted to incorporate that and bring in the turtle theme without it looking gimmicky. So we used some Burl wood to look like a turtle shell and tortoise shell binding along with tortoise shell pickguard.

We'll get a demo video of Brad playing this beauty, soon!

OOO body size with 24.9" scale

Back and Sides - Indian Rosewood
Soundboard - Sitka Spruce
Fretboard - Brazilian rosewood
Bridge - Brazilian rosewood
Inlay - Abalone Shell and Cherry Burl

If you are interested in a custom guitar of your own please visit my website for ordering details. I do a limited number of instruments each to ensure every piece is meticulously crafted.

📸 By Adam Kopeke and Dave Jackson

These guys have done fantastic photography they also did an amazing promo video of my work.

French Polish.... Thoughts?

A standard in classical and high end guitars and a favorite of mine. Well executed French polish leaves a sheen that is unmatched by most modern finishes and will last a very long time and is easily repaired when needed.

While I do offer modern finishes on my instruments I never pass up an opportunity to French polish a guitar!