European Spruce/Afrormosia & African Blackwood
I was in possession of a beautiful African blackwood back that did not have a set of sides paired with it. We luthiers call that an “orphan” back. I decided to pair it with a favorite wood of mine that I discovered while still making furniture. I love this stash of Afrormosia from the Ivory Coast of Africa for it’s beautiful rich butterscotch color as well as an amazing tap tone. It took some design gymnastics to figure out how to integrate what I had of the limited African blackwood with the Afrormosia to make it feel as if the back and sides were connected even though they were drastically different visually. In the end, I made a center back panel of the Afromosia to visually connect to the sides while creating an African blackwood end graft to relate the outer panels of the back. This not only made a visually stunning guitar but also one that is tonally strong and rich from the bass through the treble registers.
