Hey everyone! I've had some cool stuff in the shop lately. Like this 1930s Gibson L-00. This guitar came in for a complete restoration, and it needed it. I started off this restoration by taking the neck off as it needed to be reset. As for the body of the guitar I went through the sound hole and reglued the braces that were decoupled and fixed the cracks.

Once the body was solid I put the neck back on, refretted the fingerboard, and made a new bridge. Of course, the guitar was cleaned and hand polished. It also received new tuners and Stringjoy strings.

I've also started on another Brooks Acoustic Custom, inspired by a Martin  D-18. This guitar will have a slightly thinner body, my scalloped X-bracing, and a V-shaped neck.

I asked people to vote on the paint over on Facebook, so put your vote in: Natural or Burst top. What would you like to see?

If you need a set up on you guitar or need one restored, or maybe you just want to play a Sleeper Conversion or a Custom Brooks Acoustic, come on by and I'll get you sorted. 

  I've been busy in the shop so far working on this Rosewood custom RB-11. I've also done some restoration work for a few customers. I received an email from Dave over at The Healing Box Project and was informed that the green Keith Urban guitar I rebuilt last year will be signed by an artist; Charlie Daniels, Marshall Tucker, Sara Evans, or Toby Keith are possibilities. Then it will be auctioned off to benefit The Healing Box Project.

 Colton James @cjd573 came into the shop and is now the owner of the Harmony archtop guitar we named Humpty Dumpty. I posted a video of him playing it over on Facebook @BrooksAcoustic.

Above is a picture of the braces glued in place before carving them to shape. Below is the rosewood back ready to be glued to the sides.

And here I'm routing for the binding.

  Stay in touch! I'll be posting more pictures as I move along with this build. You can always check Facebook and Instagram for goings on at the shop that might not make it into the blog.

  So the custom guitar build is almost finished! Since the last post I've glued the neck on, made a bridge, and put on the tuning gears. I will let it sit under tension for a day or two then finish it off with a pickguard and LR Baggs pickup. 

   I'm still calling this guitar the custom build so if you have a good name for this guitar based on the Kalamazoo KG-11 leave it in the comments section and if I like it, we will call it that name. I've already got the wood for the next custom. That one will be rosewood back and sides, spruce top, and red cedar braces.

   This guitar sounds amazing, and I made a short clip of it. Keep in mind that my musical abilities are suffering right now as I have a torn muscle in my left shoulder making it hard to hold my fretting hand up on the neck. Once this guitar is completely finished, I will put up a better video going over all of the things this awesome guitar has going on. 

Progress on the custom guitar slowed a bit as I was having issues with my spray guns, but I have fixed the problem and moved forward. After a few more coats of nitrocellulose lacquer, it was time for sanding. I started to level the surface with 320 grit sandpaper then 600 and finally 1500. I have to wait a few more days for the finish to harden then I'll be able to buff the body to a shine. The neck is getting the same treatment and is still a few days behind the body. If all goes to plan, I'll be gluing the neck to the body next week... I'm excited!

The pictures below show the body sanded to 600 grit.

And these pictures show the body sanded to 1500 grit.

I could easily buy a guitar neck online, but there's something special about carving a neck from a block of wood. And besides, can you really call it a custom guitar if it has a manufactured neck? Hmmmm...

​Check out the beginning stages of the process in the video below.