Koa Burl Beauty

This is my 4th/5th build.I was given the architectural plywood you see on the wall of my wet bar some 35+ years ago. It was made using slices of Hawaiian Koa burls. It is truly a one of and will never be repeated.This build has used up the last of the Koa burl scraps left over from the bar project. I planed the plywood to a thickness of 5/16”.The main box used my LPG design and is 8” x 16” x 2.5”. BIG!The through the body neck is made from American black walnut with a CB Gitty Peruvian walnut fret board. I “dyed” the neck and fret board using an Aniline ebony coloured water based dye from Lee Valley Tools. The side fret markers were cut from 3/16” round brass rod. The face of the head stock is covered in book matched Koa veneer. I shaped the neck using my brand new Rigid router and Kregg table with a ¾” round over bit.I made the nut, bridge and truss rod cover from brass stock I have in the shop with files and my drill press.The pickups are Deville Hot Rod mini humbuckers from CB Gitty. I wired a separate volume/tone circuit for each humbucker. The 3-way switch is used to select the neck, bridge or both pickups. I also used a copper grounding strap for all electronic hardware and grounded the mandolin tail piece as well. Having done this there is ‘zero hum’. To say the least this gitty produces some serious ‘hoop’. The only improvement will be to add the CB Gitty UK2000 preamp sometime in the future.Having used a different wiring schema for each of my builds so far I have now determined using a preamp, rod piezo pup under the saddle/bridge with a humbucker at the neck and a 3way switch is probably the route I will take in all future builds. The rod piezo provides that vintage gitty sound we are all searching for. The humbucker is what it is. The preamp produces a stage-ready gitty.All of the remaining gold hardware: tuners, box corners, sound holes, volume/tone knobs, 3-way switch, mandolin tailpiece and jack plate are from CB Gitty.If you have any other questions… don’t hesitate to ask.

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Comments

George McLeod August 24, 2015 at 12:41pm

Thanks Gary. Much appreciated.
Gary W aka Rev. Bluejeans August 24, 2015 at 11:46am

Masterfully done! And thanks for the detailed description, George!
George McLeod August 23, 2015 at 7:52pm

Thanks Uncle John. Same for you Pic.

This story has evolved since 1981. The sheet of Koa plywood was part of a "samples wall" in a lumber distribution company I first worked for as a professional accountant. I stared at this sheet of Koa burl everyday for 3 years. IT CAUGHT EVERYONE'S EYE! When I resigned from the company they gave me a number of going away gifts... Crystal Glasses (very nice), this sheet of Koa burls, sundry Koa lumber, a lifetime supply of Koa book matched sequence matched veneer and enough red oak mouldings and doors for my new house. WOW! My wife and I will probably move now since I can take a 'piece of the rock' with me!
Uncle John August 23, 2015 at 5:28pm

Beautiful. Thanks also, for all the good info.

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