A really big inlay on a total custom 7 string =o)!!

littlegreenman · #1 10-09-2003, 01:56 PM

Well, where to start.....

I guess about a year ago Shad Lowman contacted me about doing some inlays on a couple custom guitars he was having built by Scott Heatley from Vancouver. We discussed vines, and yin yang symbols, all kinds of different things. Then for a while I didn't hear from him. Well, about 2 months ago he got in touch with me again, he had a guitar ready for inlays, the body was sent to Darren for a swirl, and he had contacted me about doing a vine inlay.
My first reaction was, "Shad, this is a full custom guitar that you've already dropped a good amount of money on, do you really want a JEM style vine when the rest of the guitar is not JEM at all?"

He agreed and asked what else we could do on it. I asked for a picture of the swirl and he sent it. Well my first reaction was that it looked like water, I thought "dude, we HAVE to do something marine life on there" I suggested maybe dolphins. He really liked that idea, in fact he said on the back of the guitar in the swirl it looked like 3 dolphins jumping.

So, I did some designs for him, and we chose one, and here is what we now have so far

The materials are
Dolphins: White and Gold MOP
Water: Paua Rim Abalone
Setting sun: Red Heart Abalone
Birds: pink select paua
Clouds: figured MOP
water drops: Paua Rim Abalone

Currently the black on the dolphins is just ink drawn on, but it will be engraved of course once inlayed

You can see how physically tiny the birds are with the exacto blade

ATDVSBL · #2 10-09-2003, 02:42 PM

LGM, ATD, and Heatley...I couldn't resist having another custom guitar built, and these three guys consistantly rise to the top of my list, so I put them all to work

This whole project started with my love for the PAW UVMC. Instead of an exact replica, I decided to go with a custom guitar with fixed bridge. Scott Heatley built me a beautiful wide neck 7 string baritone hollowbody, so I had him build me a solid body, bolt neck guitar with the same neck dimensions as the HB. I also decided to go with different colors in my swirl. After much debate, I asked Darren to make me a swirl that looks like the ocean. He did a wonderful job. I knew Jeremy had to do an inlay on this guitar, but I was unsure what would look good with the swirl. After we decided to ditch the vine, I left it up to him. Jeremy is the artist and the craftsman, I basically asked him to make me killer inlay that would really compliment the ocean swirl. I feel he has done a masterful job so far.

I would like to thank Jeremy, Darren, and Scott for helping me put this project together. I can't wait to see how this comes together.
thanks
Shad

What do you guys think so far?

pawel · #3 10-09-2003, 02:46 PM

amazing....any chance for pictures of the two Heatley guitars?

Jason Stone · #4 10-09-2003, 02:49 PM

I like everything except the little droplets of water coming off the dolphins. I think they make the scene look a little....cartoonish (sorry, couldn't think of a better adjective

). I would consider dropping those. Otherwise, looks awesome.