Lefty Guy Posted June 27, 2013 Share Posted June 27, 2013 I've recently returned from my annual pilgrimage to Steve Kaufman's Acoustic Kamp in East Tennessee & as always it was a blast. Wonderful people, beautiful music & lovely setting. Teachers this year were Russ Barenberg, Mark Cosgrove, David Keenan, Fred Sokolow, Beppe Gambetta, Mike Kaufman & Tim May. But one of the biggest excitements of Kamp for me this year was the opportunity to finally sit down & discuss a new guitar order with Ken Miller. He & Virginia were Kamp "doctor" both weeks & I'd been admiring their work for many years. Given my love for the J-45/SJ genre, I've settled on a short scale slope dread, with red spruce top & hog b/s, rosewood binding, bridge & headstock facing, ebony fretboard, black tuner buttons. I'm still undecided on the core material for the rosette, fretboard dots & headstock inlay, being undecided between mother of pearl & green snail (opinions here welcomed). I also have to come up with an idea for the headstock inlay design as Ken does not put his name on his guitars. I can expect to take delivery at Kamp next year, so its going to be a long wait! Here's a snap of our all-lefty trio performing at open mic last week, with my Gibson SJ centre stage! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blindboygrunt Posted June 27, 2013 Share Posted June 27, 2013 You'd all be better spending money on shoes :-D A years wait for a guitar would kill me. I hope it's worth it though. Congratulations . I'd go with green snail . when you say' choose a headstock' .... Does that mean shape? Or just what's written on it? Best of luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParlourMan Posted June 27, 2013 Share Posted June 27, 2013 Naked feet... what has been seen cannot be unseen.... as the resident foot pervert I must agree with BBG, choose a less costly option for one of the appointments and get some fine quality footwear into the equation. ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lefty Guy Posted June 27, 2013 Author Share Posted June 27, 2013 ha ha, I accept the footwear criticism but its darned hot & humid in East Tennessee! BBG, the headstock shape is Ken's standard, rather nice understated one, I have to choose an inlay design but have no inspiration on this. Most people seem to choose an animal or moon/star type configuration. Now if only I had a family coat of arms, I could use the crest! Why the green snail preference? More understated? Here's a link to Ken's site, which shows the headstock shape & some of their inlay work nicely. http://www.kenmillerguitars.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blindboygrunt Posted June 27, 2013 Share Posted June 27, 2013 ha ha, I accept the footwear criticism but its darned hot & humid in East Tennessee! BBG, the headstock shape is Ken's standard, rather nice understated one, I have to choose an inlay design but have no inspiration on this. Most people seem to choose an animal or moon/star type configuration. Now if only I had a family coat of arms, I could use the crest! Why the green snail preference? More understated? Here's a link to Ken's site, which shows the headstock shape & some of their inlay work nicely. http://www.kenmillerguitars.com/ I have a lowden that was built by one of the guys out of hours for want of a Better phrase and he has used exactly that shape of headstock for it . theres a moon shape on mine of abalone. I'll send a PIC later when I'm not at work. It looks OK but something more imaginative would be nice . the example on your link is wonderful. Maybe they could do a sandal ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lefty Guy Posted June 27, 2013 Author Share Posted June 27, 2013 Maybe they could do a sandal ? =D> =D> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mojorule Posted June 27, 2013 Share Posted June 27, 2013 Or swap the abalone for sandalwood? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red 333 Posted June 27, 2013 Share Posted June 27, 2013 Or swap the abalone for sandalwood? Good one! Red 333 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigKahune Posted June 27, 2013 Share Posted June 27, 2013 . Footwear is fine. Heck, around here it's barefootin' time. Looking forward to your review . . . in a year. . B) . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onewilyfool Posted June 27, 2013 Share Posted June 27, 2013 Or swap the abalone for sandalwood? LOL By the way, I notice this from his website: "He tends to build in "traditional" styles although his Acousteel guitars use an adaptation of the new "Kasha-Schneider" bracing concept." Are you going to go that bold? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spankytele Posted June 27, 2013 Share Posted June 27, 2013 The work displayed on the inlay page is out of this world. Congrats on the NGD Lefty... next year! I hope it's what your looking for and even more. I'm surprised there are no inlays with favorite states, or schools or sports. As you mentioned there is a lot of animal inlays represented. I especially like the one with the moon and stars as well as a bear headed down a hillside. That's a cool visual. Not for me, but I appreciate the effort and the results. That is some sweet eye candy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiloMinderbinder Posted June 27, 2013 Share Posted June 27, 2013 If it weren't for sandals and bare feet, I'd be crawling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mojorule Posted June 27, 2013 Share Posted June 27, 2013 Wouldn't a left hand be an appropriate insignia? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lefty Guy Posted June 28, 2013 Author Share Posted June 28, 2013 The work displayed on the inlay page is out of this world. Congrats on the NGD Lefty... next year! I hope it's what your looking for and even more. I'm surprised there are no inlays with favorite states, or schools or sports. As you mentioned there is a lot of animal inlays represented. I especially like the one with the moon and stars as well as a bear headed down a hillside. That's a cool visual. Not for me, but I appreciate the effort and the results. That is some sweet eye candy! Virginia surely is a master of inlay. I wish I had some favourite animal of constellation worth recording on the headstock but I don't & it would be seriously tacky to use anything related to my sports passion (Southampton FC). I'm currently considering my mother's family crest, which is a gryphon's head - a little spooky but interesting.... ...or my sign of the zodiac... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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