Pam is a mainstay at the Acoustic Alaska Guitar Camp. She wanted a small guitar with a big sound. I paired a Sitka spruce top with Cocobolo back and sides to achieve this. For the art she wanted a loon and Forget-Me-Nots, Alaska’s state flower.
I could have put a small loon on the headstock of the guitar, but I decided to go big. The roundness of the sound hole rosette reminded me of the loon’s back, so I decided to put it there. Only the loon’s head protrudes outside the circle. The inlay is mostly ebony, with mother of pearl for the loon’s feather patterns, black mother of pearl for the beak, and red mirrored glass for the eye. The rippled surface below the loon, suggestive of water, is sapele pomelle. The Forget-Me-Not flowers are made of stained glass.
Cocobolo is in the rosewood family. It’s very beautiful, hard, and resonant.
She’s beautiful, and she sings!