DESMOND GUITARS          NEW SITE !

Friend and client Jim Truby asked me if I would build him a fine classical guitar from his abandoned 1910 Steinway soundboard.  His Steinway piano Model "O" had it's original soundboard cave in after decades of use.  So around 1994 (I believe that's what he told me) he had his 1910 original soundboard removed from his Model "O" and a new Steinway soundboard was made and installed.  The abandoned 1910 soundboard was given to him and has been sitting is his outdoor shed for 20 years.  That's the history of this discarded 1910 Steinway soundboard.  So, my job is to make a guitar for Jim and use his abandoned 1910 soundboard for the top of his new Desmond classical guitar.  I decided to retain the original Steinway "decal" as in the mock photo above.  This will NOT be a usual Desmond guitar build.  Certain things I will not be able to do without ruining the original finish on the Steinway soundboard.  So, I will not be able to have top bindings on this guitar and I might not even install a custom Desmond rosette.  If I were to scrape or sand this already finished soundboard, there is a good possibility that I would remove some of it's original finish and color in the process.  Therefore, this guitar will be more about it's history than about fancy adornments.  I hope to have this guitar completed by early 2016.  The 1910 Steinway soundboard is made from thin planks (3"-4" wide) of Sitka Spruce, edge glued together to make up the width of a Model "O" Steinway soundboard.  The "quality" of this Sitka Spruce is so so, I would say average to good at best.  The thickness of this soundboard is about 1/4" +-.  So, it will be up to me to thin the soundboard here and there for it's best acoustic possibilities.  When I am done thicknessing this soundboard for a guitar, the thickness will only be about 2.3mm's thick +-.  I will make all of the internal soundboard bracing from the same Steinway soundboard.  I am looking forward to getting this guitar under construction.  Bob Desmond August 25, 2015