Guitar No. 2

Guitar No. 2 is a traditionally fanned braced cedar guitar that employs a bracing pattern very similar to those employed by famous Spanish luthiers. The guitar was constructed during a two year period of my life living in Livingston, TN alone in a house I bought on Linder Mountain. The wood for the original instrument sat in my apartment in Cookeville for about two years and enjoyed a lot of “talk” about how it was going to be a guitar. Women were especially enthralled to hear me rant about my dreams of being a guitar maker, but they didn’t hold up too well to my day job as a non-profit director.
The guitar was finally completed with its German Spruce top before making a move back to Cookeville TN in June of 2012. Before it was completely finished (French Polished) I strung up the guitar and carried it to the GFA convention that June. I met a lot of great guitarists there and enjoyed showing this guitar to other talented luthiers.
After I moved back to Cookeville, TN carrying the finished Guitar No. 2 with me, I completed Guitar No. 3 and scheduled a trip through North Carolina and Virginia to visit some old friends from the guitar world that I had not seen since a 2 year hiatus in the Peace Corps. The guitars were received well and I returned home with the confidence that I had buyers for both guitars.
On October 7, 2012, I was doing some touch ups on Guitar No. 2 in preparation for the buyer. I balanced the guitar on its side, reached behind me to pick up a towel, and turned back to find the guitar on its way to a concrete floor. I picked up the guitar and quickly realized that the top was damaged beyond repair. After spending about 30 minutes cursing myself, I stuck a chisel through the guitar top (sealing its fate) and called the buyer to tell this sad story.
Fortunately this story has improved. Guitar No. 2 has a new top. A cedar top that is about 20 years old or perhaps even older. Thankfully the original buyer still has confidence in the instrument and still wants to give it a good home. This buyer, Dylan Flanagan is a Freshman guitar performance major at East Carolina University and studies with Elliot Frank. It’s exciting to see this guitar resurrected and at home in one of the best guitar programs in the Southeast!