Gary Zimnicki - 1925 L-5 Derivative Archtop [Sitka Spruce | Red Maple]

[iim7V7IM7]

Gary applied the nitrocellulose lacquer sunburst finish to the guitar. Here are a few shots of it from his spray booth. The Ceylon Satinwood bindings and Maple purflings contrast nicely against the burst!

[iim7V7IM7]

Just a shot that forgot to post so it is now out of sequence.

The is guitar masked off with green tape. This is the first amber tinted nitro coat of the sunburst before the darker tobacco hues are applied. You can see the beautiful fiddleback curl in the Michigan Red Maple used for the back, rims and neck in this shot. The stinger on the back of the peghead can be seen terminating in the Black Walnut center laminate of the neck.

[iim7V7IM7]

Coming along

Ebony Pickguard bound in Ceylon Satinwood



Check out the chatoyance in the Ceylon Satinwood bindings.



The peghead

[iim7V7IM7]

Since it is so cool out it should arrive on Friday, but I will leave it in its box to equilibrate to house temperature on Saturday before opening it to avoid traumatizing the nitro.

[Rustic]

Yikes, that is some gorgeous work!

[Woody Sound]

The is guitar masked off with green tape. This is the first amber tinted nitro coat of the sunburst before the darker tobacco hues are applied. You can see the beautiful fiddleback curl in the Michigan Red Maple used for the back, rims and neck in this shot. The stinger on the back of the peghead can be seen terminating in the Black Walnut center laminate of the neck.

That's a pretty wild shade by itself!

[joe2758]

I always liked those pointy things at the end of the fretboard

[iim7V7IM7]

Well, the guitar arrived on Thursday, but I was having one of those weeks at work so I really didn’t play it in earnest until today! The guitar plays and sounds GREAT. Enjoying making music with it. Like any great guitar, it gets out of the way and lets you focus on the music.

It is the classic 1920s Kalamazoo formula of a 16” parallel braced body with a 24-3/4” scale length. I believe Gary’s arch may be slightly prouder than its Loar namesake. It has a quartersawn Sitka Spruce top instead of Red Spruce and a curly, fiddleback Red Maple back and sides vs. Yellow Birch.

The modern touches are Jescar EVO 43080 fret wire, an Ebony finger rest and truss rod cover instead of celluloid and Ceylon Satinwood binding with maple / black fiber purflings.

Here a few shots of the guitar.

[QAman]

Congrats - it’s a real beauty !


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[deacon Mark]

Beautiful guitar. I have never played one of his guitars but have watched a few of his videos. He definitely knows what he is talking about and doing. My guess is the guy makes a great guitar.

[Sam b]

That's a beautiful guitar, congratulations! One of the things I like about it, that it shares with Collings' 16" and some other is that the upper bout has more of a curve into the fingerboard, if that makes sense. Gibsons mostly flatten out their curve before they hit the fingerboard, but yours doesn't seem to.

[pawlowski6132]

Looks good. What does Gary charge for these now?

[Noswad]

Stunning guitar. Hope you enjoy it for many years to come. Thank you for sharing the build process.

[iim7V7IM7]

Well, I have had the guitar about a month now so I am beginning to get to know it. It is truly a superb guitar in all respects. I am really enjoying playing it. Gary took some photos of it before he shipped it last year that shows off some of the details of it.