Jeffrey Jones' "Dragonwing," 6-string relief-carved solidbody [Pictures] - created 04-11-2008

Jones, Jeffrey - 04/11/2008.10:08:42

Hey, everyone. Here are some photos of the guitar I just finished this week. The body is solid 1-piece walnut, Indian rosewood neck, ebony fretboard and floating bridge. The pickup is a humbucking P90, custom built by none other than the illustrious Clint Searcy.

This is a smallish guitar with a 24 5/8" scale length.

These are just some quick bench photos I took of the guitar right when it was completed.

I've since taken some more professional photos and this is a much better representation of the headstock. The logo inlay is figured walnut with a carved outline to give it an embossed feel.

Wow! Nice carvings!

Impressive work. The design carries well through out the instrument. It certainly has a "dark" feel to it. I am impressed with the carving also.

What Charlie said. Keep building and posting photos, please. That thing rocks.

Holy Schmoly Batman! That is outrageous!

Keeping the 'wood' theme (ie, no metal) running through out the guitar really brings it together.

Yow! That's incredible. Beautifully done.

That is wicked, in every sense of the word. Amazing. Is that hand carved?

Where did you find that string block on the back? Did you make that?

Whoa!!!

Oh, meant to say - beautiful work!

Thanks, everybody. I began to make more time for my instruments this last year and put the same sculpting energy into them as I did my other sculpting gigs. I think I've sculpted my last toy prototype, so here we are.

"Hand carved" means something different to a number of people, Ben, so I'll answer your question a couple of ways. I've got nothing against CNC machines as the tools they are, but they're not practical for me, not fast enough, nor remotely spontaneous enough for creating on the fly. They're also very mechanical, which kinda makes my work look cheesy. I much prefer the human, organic element. For the work I do, I'd have to sculpt the original by hand anyway, then scan it into a computer to carve with a CNC that I'd have to clean up by hand. Again. It doesn't make sense for me.

If you mean manual tools versus power tools, I use a variety of tools, both hand and power. Whatever does what I need it to do. I can hog the waste away with a powercarver or simple gauges, then gradually refine the tools down until I'm just working with small hand tools at the end... scrapers, gauges, tiny scalpel blade knives, riffler files, and sandpaper. Some powercarving burrs rip the wood too much, so I try to use knives, gauges, or scrapers whenever possible for a cleaner cut.

Unlike clay that I can work with additively, wood is primarily a subtractive medium, so I do a good control drawing that I work from after I design the piece. Sometimes, I do clay studies just to help me think around the form.

Michael, I made the string block on back. The ebony part that you see is actually a cover for the main string-stop piece, which is made of brass. It's got a groundwire soldered to it. I think a number of builders here do it that way. It's fairly practical and I think it's just as if not more attractive than ferrules.

Let me know if you have more questions. I'm taking the day off!

I'm taking the day off!

And you deserve it! Congratulations on completing a really fine work of art!

Man, your carvings are clean as a bean. Nice!!!!!

HOLY CRAP! Jeffrey, that is wicked awesome! I love this guitar. It's a work of art. Congratulations on finishing it!

Nice! I normally hate carved guitars like that, but that one is just otherworldly and awesome. Well done!

Pretty cool, Jeffrey. Kind of similar to Doug Rowell's work.

Wow...totally in awe of your talent. I thought some of your commercial clay work was oustanding, but this just comes back home.

Wow.!!!!

To quote Clint Searcy from a long previous discussion:

HOLY MAMA! I GIVE UP!

Another WOW!! I really like it.

Oh and the truss rod cover is just perfect.

I believe that is the only carved guitar I've ever seen that I like. Your background in figurative "toy" prototyping has to be the clincher. Most I've seen have lacked elegance and style and depended solely on "wow that guitar looks like a __________" . I really like how you've framed the image with the shape of the guitar instead of making the guitar dragon shaped.

Am I making any sense?

Thanks, gang! I'm deeply grateful for all your comments about the guitar or even about my clay work.

Johnathan, you make complete sense. My whole rationale for concentrating on this type of instrument is the notion that my sculpting experience is an asset I can bring to the table. A number of people don't care for carved guitars and I've heard that a lot lately, but every one of us should play to our own strengths and sculpting is what I do, so it makes sense to exploit. Thanks for your affirming take on it. That said, I'm fully capable of producing something that sucks, though I'll never knowingly show that stuff publicly if I can help it. :)

A big part of my process is design. I make sure the design is as sexy as I can make it before I even pick up a tool. My goal is to design the face of the guitar as a whole, rather than just an applied ornament. The guitar's necessary features are - by default - a part of the vignette, so I don't just design around 'em, I incorporate 'em if I can. Does THAT make sense? Rather than settling for the industrial-looking hardware available, I'd rather make the bridge, knobs, and pickup facade participate more effectively in creating the desired aesthetic of the instrument. Even though I used them a lot, I was never satisfied with the look of chrome bridges and open-faced pickups, because they seem so alien to the organic landscapes I prefer.

One other aspect of the equation is working "clean as a bean." :) A decent 12" action figure sculpt takes me 4-5 weeks of concentrated claywork, detailing, and cleanup, so I've no apprehension whatsoever about spending that much time on the relief carving alone of a fine guitar. The real secret to remaining focused? Books on tape.

Gorgeous! What a relief (no pun intended) to see a carved guitar without any beaks, wings, talons, claws, teeth, etc. either breaking the lines of the guitar or dictating its shape. This is an object lesson in how it "oughta" be done. I fully understand why some goth and death metal guitarists want the scariest-looking instrument of mayhem they can get, but this is so much more usable--without the need for Kevlar pants or NFL pads on your thighs if you sit down to play. Bryce Muir's prototype carved-body dragon guitar for PRS http://www.brycemuir.com/New%20Layout/DragonGuitar.html is similarly successful, although I like the more fully integrated design here better.

Great work.

How does it sound?

I agree with Bill on this: this is how it "oughta" be done. I really appreciate the organic feel that this guitar has because you did not take the easy route by using a store bought bridge or knob. I, like most of the other people posting. do not usually guitars that look like other things, but this is masterfully and tastefully done. Your sense of design is rare and impeccable.

Just wanted to add my "Holy crap!" to the mix here. This is absolutely the best relief-carved guitar I've ever seen. I really like your basic body shape a lot too. I'm finding out how difficult it is to design one of these offset shapes and maintain a "balanced" feel, like you have here.

Thanks so much for the high praise.

It's always difficult for me to put sound into words. Let me start by saying the guitar is my favorite solidbody that I've ever played. The sound is really clean and clear with lots of sustain. The solid walnut body isn't as acoustically responsive as it would be if it was semi-hollow, but it's still really, really nice. I'd stack this guitar up against most any other solidbody out there. The pickup was built to my specs by some guy named Searcy. I wanted a P90 sound, but with humbucking capabilities, because I was only going to be using a solitary pickup. This is THE pickup I wanted in this guitar. My intent was a pickup that could play clean, straight-ahead jazz, then fusion or rock with whatever warmth I dial into the amp, but still with the same definition. There's no mud, even when I dial down the treble and mids. Clint nailed it.

Some folks get put off by the single pickup and lack of tone control, but I've steadily trimmed down my gear to the bare bones on purpose. I like it. A lot. I put the pickup back toward the bridge for a bit of extra treble, but not too much. I suggest using a wah-wah pedal for tone control. I can also adjust the sound via the EQ controls on the amp and get a huge range of sounds. Huge.

This is the first rosewood neck I've ever made, too. I'm completely sold. I've always been a maple, walnut, cherry kinda guy.

I can't say much more about the sound, because I only got to play it for barely a day before I had to ship it out to beat a deadline for the Newport Guitar Festival in Florida this weekend. It's not coming back, so I've got some serious post-partum thing going on. I guess it's for the best, because if I'd have had it much longer, I'd never have let it go. If the new owner or even my dealer has something to say about the sound, I'll try to pass it along.

Keith, interestingly enough, this is one of the few shapes of mine that I designed on the fly directly on the blank. After cutting out my initial drawing, I altered it using a bandsaw and an oscillating sander until I had what I wanted. Sometimes it's good to shake up your own usual methodologies by trying different techniques. After I had the shape, I traced the pattern onto full-sized paper and started drawing dragons to develop one that best utilized the space. I was as concerned with the negative space shapes as I was with the form of the dragon.

That looks fantastic!

I'll echo what a lot of others have said- this is the best looking carved guitar I think I've ever seen. Awesome.

Beautiful!

Incredible! I hope to get to that level of craftmanship.

You are the man, Jeffrey! I would LOVE to give that one a test drive. That's seriously a MET museum-quality showpiece you've made. Excellent workmanship.

Well done!

I vote we all get to take turns with the guitar... two weeks enough for everyone?

I say "Aye!"

Needless to say I couldn't be more proud to have my pickups in such a guitar. To me Jeffrey's work is the difference between a guy carving a guitar with a dragon on it and the work of an artist who has spend a lifetime perfecting his eye. I have had the privilege of seeing a few more concept drawing from Jeffery and all I will say is, keep an eye on this guy.