Hello again and welcome to another installment of Luthier's Corner. This month is very special to me, because it marks the 25th Anniversary of D Guitars Miami. I built my first electric guitar in May of 1988, and so this month, I want to showcase a very special guitar that I built, which has a very interesting history. I am including a few pictures from the original 1996 build project, as well as how she looked when I first got her back in 2010, and a few from the recent restoration.

OK so back in 1996, I started coming up with numerous ideas for prototypes, and this one is very special because it was the very first such prototype idea. I sold her in 1998 or 99 to a kid in Orlando, on ebay. He modded her however he did. After him, I don't know what happened until I got a call, in 2010, from the last owner that said he bought her in a pawn shop in Arizona. He said that a friend of his "borrowed" it for a few months while on tour, and set out to basically DESTROY her!! He scalloped the fretboard HORRIBLY, drilled the pickups through the back, as well as drilling another big hole through the back, for whatever idiotic reason. At some point in the years that I no longer owned her, the threaded section of the truss rod was broken off, and so the rod could not be adjusted. Anyway, the guy said that he wanted to just send it back to me, knowing that I could probably restore her. Well, she sat in the corner of my guitar room for over 2.5 years until about a month or so ago, when I decided to restore her.

I built her using oak and poplar for the body, body is 1 1/2" thick. The neck WAS maple with a maple/oak fretboard, 24 3/4" scale, 1 5/8" nut width, 12 inch radius, 24 frets, home made single action truss rod. NOW the neck is still mostly maple with teak and oak, fretboard is granadillo, 25.5" scale length, 12 inch radius, 1 3/4" nut width, 24 tall/skinny frets and a zero fret and Tusq guide nut, neck thickness is 22.5" from nut to 16th fret, full "C" shape carve, new dual action truss rod, Red Special style inlay pattern using ovals and dots, pickups are mini-tron style mini humbuckers in gold, bridge is a gold Washburn Wonderbar, instead of the original gold tuneomatic, both pots are push/pull 500K for series parallel of each pickup. The tuners are black thumb locking. Finish is a green to brown burst, with some relicing to celebrate her age, and high gloss clear poly acrylic. Knobs are repro antique radio style brown knobs.

Golden Lion Guitar She had been horribly abused over the years by some rather questionable people. This restoration was perhaps the biggest challenge in all my 25 years as a luthier, especially compared to various other guitars I've restored, that were technically in worse shape than this one. The reason is that I honestly thought the neck was not salvageable here. That's why it took me over 2 years to even consider the challenge. I'm glad I finally did. With all humility, I must say that she really is the finest playing guitar I've ever laid my hands on. The neck is such a joy to play. The action is super low, with no buzz. She plays fast, and fits my hand like a glove. She weighs about a pound more than she originally did, thanks to the Wonderbar bridge at 7.5 pounds, compared to her original 6.5 pounds. And of course, the unique body shape, and extreme carves, make her incredibly comfortable to hold, whether sitting or standing. I absolutely love this guitar. So here she is, the newest prototype for the market, which was the first prototype for the market. I originally called her my Lion Guitar. She is now my Golden Lion Guitar. And you too can have one just like her. Just inquire with me to have me build one just like her for you. Please contact us for more info about Luthier services available at: D Guitars Miami LLC, please call: 305-896-1811.

See some pictures from this build by clicking below:

I know there are a lot of pictures, but they are broken up into 3 groups, the first being from the original build in 1996, Lion 2, IMG-0069, 0075, 0092, 0107and 0099. Then how it looked when I got it back in 2010, (Picture A, Picture B, Picture C). SDC10667 is how it last looked when owned by the last owner, before he removed the hardware and sent it back to me. And lastly these pictures are from the recent restoration (7107, 7108, 7109, 7110, 7113, 7116, 7125, 7135, 7323).

To really drive the point home more, please watch the video at this link, to really get a better idea of what this guitar really is:

Check out this video link: http://youtu.be/D2PAc2yQK8s  

Thanks for watching. Enjoy. Oh, and please do watch to the end where I show a still shot presentation of how she originally looked after I built her in 1996, how she looked when I got her back in 2010, and what it took to get her to look as she does now. Thank you

Well, I hope you found this month’s article informative and enlightening. Once again, thanks for reading my column and remember no task worth accomplishing is ever achieved if not pursued with fierce dedication. Believe in yourself, and make happen that glorious noise called music! Until next time, remember, there is nothing you can't do if you set your mind to it! Cheers!!