My Winters work are a couple of Weissenborn or Hawaiian type slide guitars, and a couple of open back banjos. One of the guitars top, back & sides are made from koa wood, with black walnut binding, fretboard, bridge and headstock veneer. The other is the opposite, black walnut body and koa trim and bridge & fretboard.
They both have Sitka Spruce bracing, chestnut lining, bone saddle & nut, Gotah tuners with ebony buttons and a K&K Pure Mini under bridge pickup. They both come with a hardshell case, and are available as of this writing. Something I’ve been wanting to do, and haven’t made the time for until now is to make a ‘logo’ inlay on the headstock. #23 inlay is white mother of pearl, #22 is Pau abalone, they also have said shell for fret markers. Definitely not perfect, but I am happy with them
I also finished a couple of banjos last year (before I started on the rims noted in previous posts). They both have bent maple rims, with black walnut root trim and English walnut necks. Douglas or Rocky Mountain maple fretboards. One is a four string ‘plectrum’, and the other a five string. Both open back, the four string is mine, the five string is for sale. Check the ‘available’ page and/or email me.
The reason I only get a few or a couple of instruments made each year is my real job. My wife Liz & I own and operate a small farm which consumes most all of our time from March through October and into November. Winter is when I get my shop time. We grow mostly tree fruit, cherries, plums, peaches, apples, pears, hardy kiwis, walnuts etc.. We do all the work ourselves and sell it at a farmers market in Seattle all Summer and Fall. http://grousemtfarm.wordpress.com if you’d care to check out our farm blog.
Hampel Guitars 