May 2002

Further and Beyond
Steve's Dream Patience, that's the key to going further. But you need dedication, cooperation, and a little faith to go beyond further. Steve contacted us in August of 2001 with the original concept for this guitar. He loved the look of Jerry Garcia's guitars Wolf, Tiger and Rosebud. He wanted something to give a feel and sound worthy of his inspiration, without being an outright replica of any of them. His idea was to combine the overall shape of Wolf with some of the decoration of Tiger and Rosebud, and add some of his own touches to create his own unique guitar.
After many emails, phone calls, drawings sent back and forth, the final form of this guitar took shape in all our minds. By the end of September, we were all confident enough to start building Steve's dream guitar, and start our journey Beyond Further. Of course along the way, more changes were made, some parts had to be made more than once, but when we finished the guitar in early April, everyone thought it was worth the wait, and that Beyond Further is a great place to be.
peghead front peghead back
From the first concept, Steve knew he wanted this custom peghead shape, one we've taken to calling a "Rounded Crown." Originally, he called for the logo to be placed just above the nut, but when Jonathon did the inlay, he suggested raising it slightly so it wouldn't be totally obscured by the strings. The front of the peghead is Ebony, and the logo is inlaid in sterling silver, Mother of Pearl, and Abalone, all recessed under the finish. When you rub across it, you can't feel anything but the glass smooth surface of the finish. On the back of the peghead, we matched the AAAAA Quilted Maple that graces the back of the guitar.
satin neck

The high gloss polyester finish really brings out the depth and beauty of the Coco Bolo and the Quilted Maple face plates. Steve elected to have our satin neck feel on the back of the neck. The feel is fast and doesn't catch or stick even when you're really sweating.

sandwich Back to front:
Quilted Maple
Purpleheart
Maple
Purpleheart
Maple
Vermilion
Maple
Coco Bolo
That's a mouthful, and a most delicious 8-piece Hippie Sandwich, Bon Appetit!
pickup ring top pickup ring bottom
The pickup ring is at the heart of the design of the guitar. It was important for this decoration to not look like an afterthought. We worked out serveral different shapes, and when Susan, Mike and Mica presented Steve with this form, it was brass cuttin' time! The top and bottom echo the tulip tip on the end of the fingerboard while the sides reinforce the form of the body shape. You can just see an end of the pickup selector switch plate, which was designed to match the curve of the lower horn. Mike made all the plates and buffed them to a high lustre finish.
tailpiece Mike also buffed the tailpiece to a high lustre finish, and all the brass parts coordinate well. The simple shape is designed so that if Steve later decides to have an inlay below the tailpiece, this curve will wrap around it. The ball end of the string is fed through the large opening in the top of the tailpiece, then slides up to secure under the smaller slot when the guitar is tuned.
inlay inlay inlay inlay
Susan got really excited when Steve ordered fancy inlays. He asked for symmetrical curves in the standard positions. The result is a new inlay pattern, Alembic Scrolls, where the waves sway to and fro. In the shop, Jonathon selected the Mother of Pearl, hand cut and inlaid each piece to the pattern.
When we drew the first curves, little did we know that this would be the beginning of a whole new line of guitars.
Front Back

SPECIFICATIONS

  • 6-string Further guitar
  • 25.50 long scale
  • Ebony fingerboard
  • Alembic Scrolls inlays
  • Inlaid logo with shell
  • Custom peghead shape
  • Coco Bolo top
  • Flame Maple core
  • AAAAA Quilted Maple back
  • Continuous Wood Backplates
  • Gloss finish/Satin neck
  • 5-piece Flame Maple, Purpleheart and Cherry neck
  • Custom electronics
    • master volume
    • 5-way pickup selector switch
    • mid pickup tone control
    • switchable neck/bridge tone control
    • switchable caps for tone controls
    • on/off for effects loop
  • Gold control knobs
  • Custom pickup ring
  • Custom jack plate
  • Custom switch plate
  • Concealed hardware bridge

Price available on request

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