Here’s something special – a Boucher LTD OMH built with Flamed Black Walnut for the sides and back, and Adirondack Spruce in a Moonwood form for the top. Moonwood is not a specific variety of any kind of wood species. Rather, the name refers to when it was harvested; at varying seasons and phases of the moon, sap content is higher or lower. During autumn and winter, when the tree is moving to hibernation, and just before the new moon, sap content is at its lowest.
Limited Edition
This Larrivee L09 Koa was the fifth of a custom order of 10 guitars by The Twelfth Fret, with woods selected personally by Jean Larrivee for the year 2006. For this Larrivee L09 Koa, the top is Sitka Spruce and the spectacular sides and back are Acacia Koa, found in Hawaii. The body blocks and neck are Mahogany, with Ebony for the head plate, bridge and bound fingerboard. The gold tuners with creme plastic buttons are part of the custom specifications. No electronics are installed, this guitar is purely acoustic.
Here we have another fairly rare guitar, at least for North America – a Gibson CF100E Tamio Okuda model, cutaway with P90 and in very good condition. For those in Japan, Tamio needs no introduction. One of Japan’s most popular guitarist/singer/producer/songwriters, Tamio Okuda has had an almost 30-year career in the Japanese scene. The Gibson Custom Shop CF100E Tamio Okuda model was built as a limited edition model during 2014, based on Tamio Okuda’s own 1950’s guitar. The top is solid Sitka Spruce, the back, sides and neck are mahogany (the profile copies Tamio’s guitar) with a rosewood fingerboard.
Here is another rarity, a Gibson Les Paul Florentine Korina, Custom Shop built and with two features making it most unusual – the Korina top and the lack of F holes. This limited edition model, which later became the Les Paul ES, featured a heavily rooted Mahogany body and separate top, in this case Korina or Black Limba though many had heavily figured Maple tops. Most of the production had F holes, making sense given the nearly hollow body, but a few like this one have closed tops.
The Larrivee OM03 Austrian Walnut is a limited edition guitar from the recording series featuring an Austrian Walnut sides and back on the popular orchestra size body. Walnut as a tone wood tends to have a bright top end similar to Indian rosewood but with more midrange push. The combination of bright top end and more present midrange warmth puts this tone wood in between rosewood and mahogany.
Here’s a wonderful rarity and a natural blonde, a Guild GSR x180 archtop electric with a Spruce laminate top, dating to 2013. GSR stands for Guild Special Run, and this example is number 11 of 20 built. Originally, acoustic archtop guitars used solid, carved Spruce tops paired with solid, Maple for the sides and hand carved back. However, once pickups and amplifiers became more available and standard equipment, it was discovered that the tonal subtleties of the solid Spruce top could be overwhelmed by feedback.