Here are three photos of guitarist Jeff Cook with his new Russell Waimea slack key guitar.  These were taken when Jeff came over with his brother Jim to see his completed guitar and to play it for the first time.  There were lots of ooh’s and ahh’s that day!  James ordered heavier gauge strings that will work better for some of Jeff’s tunings, and the final setup tweaks have been made after putting on the new strings. Also, the label is in showing that Jeff has Waimea #001!  So, yes, it’s time for Jeff’s guitar to go home with him now.

The last of the guitar photos will be taken Wednesday morning, so more detailed shots of the guitar will be posted on the main Russell Guitars site very soon!

Jeff Cook with his Russell Waimea slack key guitar
Jeff Cook showing his Russell Waimea guitar
Jeff Cook showing the back of his Waimea guitar

Waimea Slack Key Guitar Gets Lacquer

The Waimea slack key guitar has been sprayed and is hanging in the shop to cure.  The Koa is starting to show off its depth and flame under the finish. It is just a taste of what it will look like after it is wet-sanded and buffed out.  In this photo you can see the hole for the jack which will be flush mounted. The K&K pickup system is already installed.

The Russell Deep Lake, our 16″ jumbo size guitar, is ready for its neck carve. In these photos you can see updates of the completed herringbone purfling, end graft, headstock, fitting the fretboard to the neck, and working on the fretboard end curve. The fretboard is made of figured Madagascar Rosewood. The first photo shows a mock-up of this Deep Lake before the neck carve and the fretboard end curve.

Russell Deep Lake Guitar in Progress
Fitting Neck and Fretboard
Marking the Fretboard End Curve
Russell Deep Lake Headstock
Deep Lake End Graft

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