“Deep Blue”

I met Richard Gilewitz at the Acoustic Alaska Guitar Camp.  Richard is a well known finger style player who tours worldwide.  He was very specific about what he wanted – a guitar with a red cedar top.  Red cedar is a very good tonewood with a sweeter sound than spruce.  By sweeter I mean that it lacks the brilliant high harmonics and sharpness that spruce has, and produces a rounder tone. 

The body is 15.5″ across the lower bout.  The scale length is 25.5″  The back and sides are cocobolo, a very hard rosewood from Central America.  Cocobolo is very reflective, and it adds to the power of the guitar. 

Richard did not want extensive inlay art on his fingerboard, but he said that he likes the color cobalt blue.  He wanted clear, easy to read position markers, so I used mother of pearl rectangles next to cobalt blue glass.   I also used cobalt blue glass for the soundhole ring, and accented it with a ribbon of mother of pearl and abalone.

Richard loves his new guitar.

“This is the best guitar I’ve ever played.”    – Richard Gilewitz

I recently saw Richard play in concert with Tim May at the Citrus County Center for the Arts in Hernando, Florida.

Photo Credit: Sit a Spell Photography