Hello from the States (WV). First time build. RCM 12 String
Greetings and my pleasantries to the community. My name is Ben, I'm 42 years old and this is my first ever build (unless you count the rubber bands over a shoebox that I was always making as a child hahaha). I cannot accurately or emphatically enough express what this build means to me. I am two years out of a divorce from a 15 year marriage where I greatly suppressed my nature, fruitlessly attempting to keep my family together. I all but buried the artist and musician in me because it was not conducive to the family life my wife wanted. So in all that time I barely expressed who I was inside, though I yearned for it every day. In that 15 years if I learned any one thing, it is that you reap what you sow. The love you give is equal to the love you get. This guitar is a revival of who I am. It's a long overdue awakening. I am a Phoenix rising. The last decent guitar I had before getting married was a Yamaha 12 string acoustic that got trampled on at a bonfire one night before meeting my ex wife. I was looking to replace it when I met her, but got sidetracked with the relationship so it never really got replaced. I did eventually get a beater, a cheap, little ol' off brand 6 string with poor action that tore my fingers to bits (my daughter is thrilled she will be getting it, so if this build turns out well then my next one will be for her). It collected more dust than cheer. But now the time has come to shake off that dust, to come to terms with who I am and what I've learned. If I can't be me then I simply cannot be. It is MY hand that makes order out of the chaos this world thrusts upon me, it is MY task to make joyful melodies of this life rather than relying on luck in finding them. I now know how much stronger of a bond one has with something they have nurtured themselves. Simply going out and buying a guitar was not an option for me.
I am greatly intimidated by the prospect of the build, especially the neck bc I get one shot and one shot only at it. I am being slow and methodical because you just can't rush perfection. I have a handful of questions if anyone would be so kind enough to aid a brother. One of the biggest things on my mind is the finish. My plans were originally to have a friend who does amazing artwork and who specializes in wood burning (she makes a piece of wood look like a photograph) to do a Tree of Life filling the whole face of the body. I realize now that it may not be the design I should go with bc the scratch-plate/pick-guard takes up too much room. I do still want her to do a woodburning on it though. She says (and I'm trusting her expertise on this) that using a stain will ruin the artwork, it blends the the different shades of burned wood. That makes sense to me, so it looks like it'll be a natural wood grain guitar, not my ideal design but fair enough, we all have to make concessions somewhere along the lines. But what she couldn't tell me is what effect the burned wood would have on the guitar's sound. I can't imagine it will make much of a difference in sound, if at all, but do any of you have experience with wood burned artwork on a guitar? Can anybody here speak about that aspect, the burns,sound, stain etc? I have more questions and I'm sure more will arise as I slowly move along on this build, but just for now I want to see where I'm going before I make my first step.
