Pearl inlays

    The neck is on the guitar and the fret board is finished.  I spent several days cutting the inlays and then routing out the cavities and gluing the tiny pieces in.  The headstock has the Hopi sign of the open hand, which Chris didn't request, but I love the symbol.  As Bruce Cockburn says, "Everything is bullshit, but the open hand."  The fretboard has the sun symbol on the 5th fret and the clouds and rain, and water symbol higher up.  Now I am working on the neck extension, which will take me a day, or so, and then I'll put the fretboard on the neck.

      I came across this quote last month and have been thinking a lot about it.  It is by Saint Augustine.  "Why are we not happy?  Because we are much more concerned over things which are more powerful to make us unhappy than truth is to make us happy, in that we remember truth so slightly."  The beauty of truth is that it doesn't change.  The Buddha said, "Hatred is not overcome by hatred.  It is overcome by love.  This is a universal truth."  I spend too much of my life thinking about the things that seem so expedient.  Like, will I have enough work tomorrow to pay my bills, or will I be able to get the neck joint right on the guitar I'm building, or will I be up to the task of playing music with some local musicians, or even, will I find someone to help me further my pursuit of God.  But these things ultimately lead to unhappiness.  They may begin with happiness, but it is not sustainable.  Truth on the other hand may not bring happiness, but always brings joy.

 

New pictures

       Here are some pictures of the neck, the finished body with the binding on, the front and back of the headstock, and the finished end graft.  I finished the mortise and tenon on the 31st and glued the body to the neck.  We now have a guitar!  I'll post more pictures soon.