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Caston Guitars

Caston Guitar #1The first guitar that I built was an OM Model. I was inspired to build this guitar by my wife. I have worked with wood for over 30 years, building picture frames and doing fine detail work. Because of my background and love for woodworking, Marie convinced me I could build a guitar. Although I was apprehensive, I found out that I really could do it. The #1 Guitar was built out of beeswing mahogany, which has a reddish color with brown tones. The top was AAA Sitka spruce, and the neck was mahogany. The sides were bent by hand, and the neck was carved by hand. I did all of the inlay work for the head stock and around the body, using real abalone shell. The sound hole had a koa rosette and with an abalone trim on the outside of the koa. All of the bracing was handed carved to create maximum tone. The finish was water base lacquer, hand polished to a high gloss. This guitar turned out to have a great tone, which inspired me to build others.  To view additional images of this guitar, click here...


Caston Guitar #2The second guitar was also an OM model. It was made of Indian rosewood on the back and sides. The hand carved neck was made of mahogany with an ebony fret board. The top was made of 50-year old Sitka spruce wood, given to me by a friend and former guitar builder located in the North Carolina mountains. All braces were hand carved, using the x-bracing method. I used sycamore binding, with a herringbone purfling around the top edge of the Guitar. The sound hole had a maple burl wood rosette. The head plate was ebony and the name “Caston” was inlaid with abalone shell. The neck was hand rubbed with Tung oil and Varathane to a satin finish. The body was sprayed with lacquer and polished to a high gloss.  To view additional images of this guitar, click here...

Caston Guitar #3The third guitar is a Dreadnought model. The back and sides are Australian Blackwood (black acacia). This wood is a member of the koa family. The top is AAA Sitka spruce and the neck is mahogany. The bindings were made of ebony, with abalone trim. The sound hole has burl and abalone shell around it as well. All braces were hand carved. The neck was also hand carved and hand finished with Tung oil and Varathane. The body was finished with lacquer and hand polished to a high gloss.  To view additional images of this guitar, click here...

 

 

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