(While coming to the realization that the universe had granted me my time in the presence of a backwoods guru -- I first thought I was just borrowing a corner of a cool local's woodshop -- Uncle Johnny showed me how to better work with the materials & tools, how to refine my guitar woodworking and to really feel what the wood was saying... to make it Higher Art. All I had to share with him were the mechanics & measurements by which he could take his art and do it in the shape of a guitar. He then became quite the guitar repairman, fixing up battle-scarred guitfiddles of all manner & shape that were tired, ornery, or had been broken over someone's head. Shoot, I build these things for a living and I think Uncle Johnny's big, meaty thumbprints are on every instrument I own! He then became a presence on projectguitar.com and while still learning himself (his greatest lesson - even a master still asks & learns), he passed on whatever he knew to whoever needed it. The man had a learning curve that went straight up. Here are his guitars, he made these, all now out bashin' the blues, pickin' the country and rockin' houses wherever they are. Sleep easy, Unclej... your ripples are safe.)

UNCLE JOHNNY'S "Texas Naturals" GUITARS:
I'm going to fill in what I know about them over the next few weeks (and any missing from this page). All writing in blue will be Johnny's. I can't remember the exact order but I'll do my best. I know there are less than a dozen, and three lap steels. If any of these ever should come up for sale, I'd like to know...

The first was this solid wild Mesquite guitar. Sold to our friend Jim, and so far as I know he still has & plays it. 


The second was the Buffalo guitar (not pictured); Mesquite top & back, center core of Oak. Copper trim, with a definite Southwestern / Native American vibe to it. It had two Lawrence XL500 humbuckers and a phase switch.

 



The Hawk - Walnut body. I think the bird was Maple and copper... went to a local.



The Yellow Rose - this Spalted Pecan guitar was lost in a break-in at the music shop. It later surfaced in the hands of a player who absolutely loved it and was trying to find more info about it. I think I told him more than he wanted to know...


I don't know why I can't remember too much about this guitar... but that's spalted Maple top wood...

This one was made for a young guy that "menteed" at the music shop we had - I think it was 2005. Mahogany body, hand painted (yet another talent of Unclej) horseshoe & rose vine.



"Cascade" ~ This one was a crowning achievement, and sold out of his new shop in late 2006.

Its neck is Maple with a Birdseye Maple fret board and was made for me by USA Custom Guitar Parts.

The three way adjustable bridge is by ABM and the tuners are by Gotoh.

The pickups are from DiMarzio and include a PAF Fred in the neck position, a PAF Classic in the Bridge and a Virtual Vintage Blues in the middle.  Each of the humbuckers features an on/off/on switch which changes from humbucker to single coil.  The middle pickup switches from normal to out of phase with any other  pickup that is on.  With these combinations you can get just about any sound you're looking for.

The inlays feature approximately 20 species of local and exotic woods and includes about 150 individually cut and sanded pieces.

"Blues Boy"... I think this was from 2004.

Standard 3-way switching with tone and volume control. ABM bridge and Allparts tuners.  It also features Walnut pickup surrounds and control plate with Zebrawood capped Rosewood control knobs.

This is a wacky "fabric topped" Strat-style called "The Parrot" - sold to one of my adult students, still has it, will try to get big pictures. The only thing louder than this guitar's finish were some of the shirts he actually wore. We used to give discounts based on how horrid your shirt was. There were some during our peak "loud shirt" phase of 2003-4 that I think might have violated some code... 

There was also a Strat-style painted like, well, a cow. That one was lost in the break-in. Perfectly fine new guitars on the wall and they grab a parts Strat painted like a cow. Go figure, this is a strange little town. 


Update: December, 2007: This was Johnny's final luthier project, a ukulele of local Pecan with a Texas soundhole. I had the honor of completing it. I traced John's signature off of some old Music Shop paperwork onto the back of the headstock and woodburned it in. A nut, some frets, and the bridge I found on his workbench... then it got oiled. Tuners & strings tomorrow... then it becomes a Christmas gift!
    
 



More to come...

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