This month's Featured Custom really evokes memories of the 60s and early 70s, our hippies days, the golden days of peace and love. There could not have been a better title chosen to describe this guitar with its 5A Quilted Maple top and inlays. Can't you just imagine the Dead Heads dancing in Golden Gate Park? Keith is a new Alembic owner who loves playing guitar. For the design of his custom Further, he wanted to combine his love of music with the love of his family - a potent combination to say the least. After discussing the idea of representing his family through inlay, Susan roughed out some sketches to review together. Then she and Keith could make the decisions about the arrangement and materials, and another beautiful custom Alembic was ready to be born.

	The Peace inlay is for Keith. At first, it was a small inlay at the bottom of the fingerboard, but the space was too cramped. It needed to be larger and have a more prominent position on the instrument. So it moved below the tailpiece where the design could be expansive. The mother of pearl peace inlay is ringed with a wide abalone border. The background is Ebony.

		The fingerboard inlays each symbolize a member of the family. The combination rose and heart is for Jennifer, wife and mother to their three sons. She is an artist, the beautiful rose in Keith's life as well the center and heart of the family. She is where they all look to for inspiration. The heart is white Mother of Pearl while the rose is red pearloid. Their oldest son Zack is eleven and an aspiring musician, Saturn with its rings in motion represents him best. To get the color of Saturn, we selected a piece of black Tahitian mother of pearl for the disk. This piece was positioned so that the blend of color suggested the form of the planet. The rings are white mother of pearl, complete with Casinni's division. Austin is nine and also an aspiring musician. He is symbolized by this sun in golden mother of pearl. As on Saturn, we positioned the mother of pearl to use the natural color gradient and let it suggest the spherical "surface" of the sun. Susan's drawing for a stylized solar wind captures the playful spirit of youth. Luke, the youngest of the three is only one year old. He is represented by a stylized star that seems to reach up towards his older siblings to be his teachers and protectors. His star is white mother of pearl surrounded by a shining outlne of pure sterling silver.

	For the Futher guitars, we use an Ebony veneer on the front of the peghead and a Flame Maple veneer on the back. Since we use an Ebony fingerboard, we just love the look of the extention of this wood to the face of the peghead. Like all the guitars and instruments we make, Keith's has a height adjustable nut. This little marvel allows you to raise or lower the string height at the nut, so the setup can be tuned to your needs, even if they change over time.

	The Ebony face veneer also sets off the inlaid logo with shell very nicely. The cloud of the logo is white mother of pearl with abalone circled by the Alembic dragon below. Take a close look at the inlay near the tip of the peghead, where the glossy finish shows you how smooth the surface is. After Tony selected the right pieces of shell, he cut them to fit the shapes of the sterling silver logo. Once most of the finish was on the guitar, he then routed out the logo's shape through the peghead veneers. Then in goes the logo - just barely below the painted surface of the peghead. We then cover it with a special optically clear epoxy to bring it flush with the top. Once the final coasts of finish are sprayed, the inlay is invisible to the touch, but thankfully not to the eyes.

	Premium Quilted Maple graces the top of Keith's guitar. The body of the Further is actually quite small at only 11 and a half inches at the widest point. Each half is a little over four inches, and these deeply shaded quilts run nearly across the whole side. Like the logo inlay, you're compelled to wipe across the surface to confirm it's actually flat (it actually is).

	We deeply enjoyed making this sentimental piece of art that will rock the whole family for years to come. Peace and love, baby.

	SPECIFICATIONS Further 6-string guitar 5A Quilted Maple top Western Flame Maple back 4 layer Purpleheart and Maple accent laminates Purpleheart hollow core body Side LEDs in red Inlaid silver logo with shell Western Flame Maple, Purpleheart and Cherry through body neck Custom medallion inlay "Peace" Custom fingerboard inlays Polyester gloss finish with satin neck feel Sold by Mammoth Music
Wallpaper: 1600x1200 1280x1024 1024x768 800x600 Order this Featured Custom on a coffee mug Photographs of guitar © 2004 Alembic, Inc. Original inlay artwork © 2004 Susan L. Wickersham

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