Since venturing into building guitars, I’ve been looking at everything in my neighborhood (well the wood, anyways) with possibility: that could be a guitar body. The other night, I successfully pulled a piece of mahogany that had once been a fireplace mantle out from a bin a few streets over while I was out walking my dogs. Inevitably, a neighbor is renovating, tearing out the old, sometimes right down to the bricks and foundation.
I’ve got one guitar behind me so far. It was a few weekends of cutting, drilling, sanding, dying, and polishing. I created extra work through my mistakes, and I know where they all live in my guitar, though they are only cosmetic. The guitar sings.
I spent an hour this evening turning the mahogany fireplace mantle into a guitar body. The drone from my tools cut off my Spotify playlist intermittently. “American pills will wreck ‘n kill … automatic weapon … twitching … 50-foot wall of addiction, man do you, do you …” I work in my basement between our laundry machines and the door to the long and narrow strip of backyard. A layer of red sawdust built up over the white tiles and my feet in my Birkenstocks as I routed the cavities and removed layers of wood.
I coughed for nearly ten minutes when I finished, red dust and phlegm. A hot shower got the last specks out of my beard and a cold beer helped my dry throat along. Now I can hardly see the line where the two piece of wood are joined in the middle.
Benjamin Doxtdator, Brussels, Belgium
Benjamin's Slice of Life 
This piece put me there with you as you were shaping that mantle. Great work on the piece and the guitar.
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Welcome to slicing! What a cool way to look at all the wood that is around you – with the possibility of it being a guitar! It’s much like writing – everything you see or hear is possibility for a piece of writing! Thanks so much for sharing! The guitar is cool!
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I really love the way your captured the moment. These lines especially sing for me: “I created extra work through my mistakes, and I know where they all live in my guitar, though they are only cosmetic. The guitar sings.”
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Fascinating – can’t wait to hear how this unfolds.. Thank you!
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Hey Benjamin! So glad you are participating in SOL this year! This is a very cool post, and love the work you’ve accomplished. Look forward to reading more from you this month; I always enjoy your posts!
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Beautiful. I can’t wait to see the finished product. I saw a video on how Martin Guitar company makes their guitars. A great deal of time and love goes into making an instrument. I am a string bass player in a former life. I am always amazed at the bends and curves of the wood.
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