Guitar Gallery

Company: Sparks
Model#: Eagle Custom 8-String Tenor style
Year: 1980
Description: I designed and built this instrument myself. It is the second insturment I ever built.  It is a one-off experimental piece, highly inlaid with mother-of-pearl, abalone, and ivory, and various wood veneers.  The inlayed doves adorning the fingerboard and head are made of ivory culled from the tops of old piano keys from a piano that no longer needed them. The Eagle on the pickguard, which was added later to cover top scratches, is made up of mother-of-pearl (the head and tail), abalone (neck and upper tail feathers), and a mid section and wings of mahogany veneer. He is about to land on a branch made of walnut. The entire scene is inlayed into African ebony.  The ebony bridge is framed in binding and topped with a bone nut cut for correct intonation. The tailpiece is also made of ebony with binding to match the bridge.  The tuning keys are from the Saga company and are styled after my favorite Klusons. It has four double-courses of strings (tuned D,G,B,E) each pair tuned in unison.  The fingerboard is a standard Martin scale, as it was ordered directly from the Martin Company.  The instrument remains in excellent condition.   

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