Taking the Custom Guitar Concept to a New Level

We've done a lot of custom guitars for customers in the last 39+ years, but this most recent one, built by the Santa Cruz Guitar Co., is exceptional for a number of reasons. The ornate inlay on the fretboard and headstock is what catches the eye, but it's not the only special feature. For one thing, this guitar is a presentation model in the true sense of the word, although the intended recipient in Stuttgart, Germany, Dr. Bodo Rasch, won't see it for several more weeks. Below is a summary of the story behind this very special guitar.

Twenty years ago our old friend, Jay Bonner (who grew up in and around Palo Alto) began working as a designer of architectural ornaments for the firm SL-Rasch GmbH in Stuttgart, Germany. This architectural company is run by Dr. Bodo Rasch and specializes in building projects at two of the most holy sites to Muslims the world over: the Kaaba in Mecca, and the Prophet's Mosque in Medina, Saudi Arabia. Jay is a specialist in Islamic ornament and in 1989 Dr. Rasch hired him to design the interior ornament for 27 domes for the Prophet's Mosque, the burial place of the Prophet Muhammad. These domes were part of a substantial expansion project initiated by the King of Saudi Arabia to meet the needs of the increasing numbers of pilgrims who visit this site annually during the Hajj. The wood used for the interior decoration of these domes was select old growth cedar from the Atlas Mountains in Morocco. This is a highly regarded wood that is strictly protected in Morocco and Algeria, and the controlled harvest is not allowed to be exported as raw lumber. (Atlas cedar is one of only three true cedars in the world, the North American varieties used by guitar builders is "cedar" in name only, as it's actually a variety of cypress). Because of the special nature of the project, the King of Morocco allowed a shipment of aged Atlas cedar to be sent to Germany to be milled into the multiple ribs that formed part of the ornament for the domes; and as usually happens there was some wood left over after the domes were completed.

It is when Jay, who was a musician long before his career as a designer began, recently learned of this rare stash of old cedar that the story of this guitar begins. He knew that Atlas cedar had been used in Morocco for the soundboards of ouds, the ancient ancestors of the western lute, so it made sense that it would also make an excellent top wood for guitars. Jay's favorite steel string guitar has a top of Western red cedar, and since his German boss was a guitar player and collector with a number of Spanish classical guitars, plus several electrics, but no American steel string acoustic, well, you get the picture. Jay brought some of the cedar boards to Santa Cruz, where it was resawn into guitar-top thickness. Richard Hoover of the Santa Cruz Guitar Co. tapped and flexed the results and gave his enthusiastic OK, and Jay's Atlas cedar guitar project began to take shape.

But getting a guitar made with this rare cedar for the soundboard is only the first stage of the saga, for Jay also wanted a rare wood for the back and sides. We spent a lot of time going through the wood stash in Gryphon's attic trying to find something appropriate. Highly figured koa? No, too many distracting stripes. Brazilian rosewood? Nope, a new guitar made of that restricted wood might get stuck in customs on its way into Germany. Then we remembered the last of our rare quilted mahogany guitar sets, from a special tree discovered over 25 years ago where it had fallen across a ravine deep in a forest in Central America. After playing several Santa Cruz models, both at Gryphon and those in use by friends, Jay settled on the 12-fret 000 model, adding a subtle band of abalone bordering around the soundhole and the edge of the top. Yet as it turned out, the rare Atlas cedar for the soundboard and highly quilted mahogany for the back and sides, and even the pearl bordering, would be upstaged by what came next.

Jay, who has a graduate degree in Islamic design from the Royal College of Art in London, wanted the guitar decorated with floral designs in the same style he developed for the architectural carvings in Medina where the rest of the Atlas cedar was used. Once Jay completed the complex inlay design, it fell to Gryphon to find someone who would do the inlay on both the fretboard and headstock blanks from the Santa Cruz Guitar Co. We settled on Custom Pearl Inlay in upstate New York, headed by Frank's pal Dave Nichols, whose credentials date back to the earliest days of Martin's Custom Shop almost 30 years ago. Executing such a complex design is not an easy task, but even Jay was impressed by the results.

Santa Cruz was finally able to begin building the presentation 000 in late 2008. It was completed about 6 months later and Jay flew out to pick it up. Both the tone and appearance exceeded everyone's expectations, and the Atlas cedar is clearly an exceptional tonewood. Soon Dr. Rasch will have an American steel-string guitar to round out his collection that will now include this very personal instrument: certainly the only guitar in existence with an Atlas cedar top and inlays that match the architectural ornament found in the Prophet's Mosque in Medina. This was a very rewarding project for all involved, and Gryphon is now poised to work with the same parties to produce an identical twin sister for Jay.

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