I've been working towards a guitar design to call our own. I've owned and played a lot of different guitars and I've also built several different styles, trying to learn a bit from each design, trying to tease out what seems "best" to me as both player and maker.

From a player's perspective, the extended upper horn brings more frets under your fingers -- particularly interesting for us shorter-armed players. The body is a bit smaller to make it easier to wear and less of a burden on your back. As a maker, I appreciate the stylized lower horn (which looks cool and requires much less effort) and the smooth lines which are easier to sand and finish.

Currently named the "Anhinga" (I love our Lowcountry birds and the upper horn on the guitar is reminiscent of an anhinga wing as it is spread to dry in the sun). A finished Anhinga model won't exist until very late 2025, but they are coming soon and will be available with different pickup configurations.

Pictured here is the in-progress prototype of an Anhinga short-scale (30") bass guitar with a birdseye maple cap, custom green dye and faux binding. The reverse headstock (and through body stringing) give the Low E string enough play to make it feel right at this scale. Fitted with a Kluson Icon "Claymore" in the bridge and a Gibson Thunderbird Plus in the neck position. Gotoh Cosmo Black hardware everywhere.

Currently priced to remain in my collection at $1795...

In the style of a Gibson/Epiphone Firebird, a tribute to one of the coolest guitars. Gibson was having a moment and hired an automotive industry designer (Kalamazoo isn't that far from Detroit...) to design this one. They even created a special pickup for it (the Firebird pickup). The one in this guitar may be the "best" (everyone's ears and taste are different): A D'Urbano Magnetics Firebird hand-wound my Mr. Fabulous down under. I added the Vibrola because it is not uncommon, looks cool, and if you only have 1 pickup, you need some extra tricks. There's also a push-pull to split the pickup to more of a single-coil sound. 

The "banjo" like tuners are from Riot Tuners in Oregon and are beautifully made and designed. The scratch plate and truss rod cover were designed and hand cut by me. I hand-carved the tremolo bar tip from a piece of cocobolo. There are some finishing touches I still need to attend to.

It will be ready in time for Christmas, if you know anyone special enough (perhaps yourself) and will come in a very nice padded Road Runner bass bag (as it won't fit into a normal guitar case). A lot of special parts and a lot of work made a special guitar --  $1400.