Moon Ebony Semi Hollow Body 'ES-Cargot'

[Planta Fantasma]

Another one from the archives.

It took me a decade to collect the Moon Ebony for this semi hollow body I named 'ES-Cargot'.
The neck, fretboard, back, sides, head veneers & pickup rings are all made from Moon Ebony. The top is carved from Alaskan Yellow Cedar. The internal body core is Honduran Mahogany.

The set of Moon ebony used for the back came from the crotch cut of a tree where it branched into a Y. The wood is beautiful, but no consistent grain.
I wanted to bend this back into a dome shape & not use any traditional bracing. This would require some extra strength. So I sanded the back down to .100" & laminated it to a piece of aerospace grade carbon fiber in a 15' radial hollow form. So the back is now lighter & stronger & has the radius of a 15 foot sphere. Both the weight reduction & parabolic shape of the back aide in it's ability to project sound regardless of having a soundhole.

I was originally going to put in a soundhole, but this instrument resonated when you handled it in the best way. It was very much alive. Cutting an unnecessary hole would have been a detriment to it. You could always add a soundhole, but you can never take a soundhole away........

This instrument is incredibly rigid. The sustain seemed endless. Very loud when played acoustically.
Bridge pickup is directly coupled to the body for a fat & tight attack. The neck pickup mounts on a pickup ring & essentially floats over the chamber for a rich open semi hollow body tone. Very tonally diverse when plugged in. Metal to Jazz, Hard Rock to Blues.

I gathered all of the finest components I could find. Mechanical & electronic. The sum of all parts is definitely noticeable at every level.
I wish you folks reading this could have played & heard this one. She's got the 'ol magic!

Carbon fiber reinforced Moon Ebony neck w/ dual acting truss rod & Graphtech nut
Carbon fiber laminated Moon Ebony back
Carbon fiber laminated Moon Ebony headplate
(NOS) German Tone Pro locking Nashville bridge w/ KTS Ti saddles
Waverly Black Pearl tuning keys
Jescar EVO gold frets
Optima 24K Gold plated strings
Custom Jeff Callahan '57 humbuckers
Bourns premium sealed pots & VH Audio 'V-cap' tone capacitor
VH Audio solid silver hookup wire
Oyaide high fidelity audio grade solder
Shielded w/ CuProCote suspended copper shielding paint
Gold plated Pure Tone jack & Gold plated Switchcraft switch
Rock hard, water clear UV cured finish

Keep on Rockin'!
Cheers!

 

[State of Epicicity]

Another one from the archives.

It took me a decade to collect the Moon Ebony for this semi hollow body I named 'ES-Cargot'.
The neck, fretboard, back, sides, head veneers & pickup rings are all made from Moon Ebony. The top is carved from Alaskan Yellow Cedar. The internal body core is Honduran Mahogany.

The set of Moon ebony used for the back came from the crotch cut of a tree where it branched into a Y. The wood is beautiful, but no consistent grain.
I wanted to bend this back into a dome shape & not use any traditional bracing. This would require some extra strength. So I sanded the back down to .100" & laminated it to a piece of aerospace grade carbon fiber in a 15' radial hollow form. So the back is now lighter & stronger & has the radius of a 15 foot sphere. Both the weight reduction & parabolic shape of the back aide in it's ability to project sound regardless of having a soundhole.

I was originally going to put in a soundhole, but this instrument resonated when you handled it in the best way. It was very much alive. Cutting an unnecessary hole would have been a detriment to it. You could always add a soundhole, but you can never take a soundhole away........

This instrument is incredibly rigid. The sustain seemed endless. Very loud when played acoustically.
Bridge pickup is directly coupled to the body for a fat & tight attack. The neck pickup mounts on a pickup ring & essentially floats over the chamber for a rich open semi hollow body tone. Very tonally diverse when plugged in. Metal to Jazz, Hard Rock to Blues.

I gathered all of the finest components I could find. Mechanical & electronic. The sum of all parts is definitely noticeable at every level.
I wish you folks reading this could have played & heard this one. She's got the 'ol magic!

Carbon fiber reinforced Moon Ebony neck w/ dual acting truss rod & Graphtech nut
Carbon fiber laminated Moon Ebony back
Carbon fiber laminated Moon Ebony headplate
(NOS) German Tone Pro locking Nashville bridge w/ KTS Ti saddles
Waverly Black Pearl tuning keys
Jescar EVO gold frets
Optima 24K Gold plated strings
Custom Jeff Callahan '57 humbuckers
Bourns premium sealed pots & VH Audio 'V-cap' tone capacitor
VH Audio solid silver hookup wire
Oyaide high fidelity audio grade solder
Shielded w/ CuProCote suspended copper shielding paint
Gold plated Pure Tone jack & Gold plated Switchcraft switch
Rock hard, water clear UV cured finish

Keep on Rockin'!
Cheers!

Another work of art. The front is refined and elegant, but the back is utterly stunning.

And this component list...talk about sparing no expense! I've heard such violent debates about cap tone, it makes me want to wire that V-Cap to a switch with the cheapest cap I can find to A/B. Parts of this list just make me think of something you'd find in a royal palace, not a guitar; this is what I imagine if a client said: "use the very best of everything."

The construction here is awe inspiring. Having that kind of resonance sounds dreamy. Kudos to the chef.

 

[Dave Merrill]

Another one from the archives.

It took me a decade to collect the Moon Ebony for this semi hollow body I named 'ES-Cargot'.
The neck, fretboard, back, sides, head veneers & pickup rings are all made from Moon Ebony. The top is carved from Alaskan Yellow Cedar. The internal body core is Honduran Mahogany.

The set of Moon ebony used for the back came from the crotch cut of a tree where it branched into a Y. The wood is beautiful, but no consistent grain.
I wanted to bend this back into a dome shape & not use any traditional bracing. This would require some extra strength. So I sanded the back down to .100" & laminated it to a piece of aerospace grade carbon fiber in a 15' radial hollow form. So the back is now lighter & stronger & has the radius of a 15 foot sphere. Both the weight reduction & parabolic shape of the back aide in it's ability to project sound regardless of having a soundhole.

I was originally going to put in a soundhole, but this instrument resonated when you handled it in the best way. It was very much alive. Cutting an unnecessary hole would have been a detriment to it. You could always add a soundhole, but you can never take a soundhole away........

This instrument is incredibly rigid. The sustain seemed endless. Very loud when played acoustically.
Bridge pickup is directly coupled to the body for a fat & tight attack. The neck pickup mounts on a pickup ring & essentially floats over the chamber for a rich open semi hollow body tone. Very tonally diverse when plugged in. Metal to Jazz, Hard Rock to Blues.

I gathered all of the finest components I could find. Mechanical & electronic. The sum of all parts is definitely noticeable at every level.
I wish you folks reading this could have played & heard this one. She's got the 'ol magic!

Carbon fiber reinforced Moon Ebony neck w/ dual acting truss rod & Graphtech nut
Carbon fiber laminated Moon Ebony back
Carbon fiber laminated Moon Ebony headplate
(NOS) German Tone Pro locking Nashville bridge w/ KTS Ti saddles
Waverly Black Pearl tuning keys
Jescar EVO gold frets
Optima 24K Gold plated strings
Custom Jeff Callahan '57 humbuckers
Bourns premium sealed pots & VH Audio 'V-cap' tone capacitor
VH Audio solid silver hookup wire
Oyaide high fidelity audio grade solder
Shielded w/ CuProCote suspended copper shielding paint
Gold plated Pure Tone jack & Gold plated Switchcraft switch
Rock hard, water clear UV cured finish

Keep on Rockin'!
Cheers!

Damn dude.
Amazing.

How long ago did you build that?
If you don't mind, can you give us a rough idea of what it cost the buyer?

 

[Planta Fantasma]

Hello Dave, thanks for the compliments. Much appreciated.
Well believe it or not, I used this guitar to pay a debt. I built if for myself & had every intention of keeping it. There's a catch........

My friend John has been doing my yard service for over ten years. He told me that he didn't want money for his time but instead wanted me to make him a guitar whenever he felt the time had come. So after 10+ years of him keeping a tally, he finally approached me & asked if I could make him his guitar.
Right about that time I had finished building the Moon Ebony guitar. So without hesitation I asked John if he wanted it. His eyes lit up like a kid in a candy store & we settled that deal right then & there.

From what I can remember his bill to me was around $6,300. I had figured the guitar was worth right about $6,500 low estimate - $8,000 high.
I never really sat down to determine a profit margin. I was just happy to pay my debt. This would have been about 7 years ago.

I shake my head every time I look on Reverb.com & see these ridiculous prices of $20,000 - $60,000 for some EuroGuitar made of wood collected near a volcano & some horseshit like that. I have recently noticed that those expensive prices have been slashed in half. Now only $30,000 for the guitar made out of wood collected near a volcano...... lol

If you have any specific ideas about a build send me a message & we can always juggle some options.

Cheers!
Gabe

 

[Planta Fantasma]

Another work of art. The front is refined and elegant, but the back is utterly stunning.

And this component list...talk about sparing no expense! I've heard such violent debates about cap tone, it makes me want to wire that V-Cap to a switch with the cheapest cap I can find to A/B. Parts of this list just make me think of something you'd find in a royal palace, not a guitar; this is what I imagine if a client said: "use the very best of everything."

The construction here is awe inspiring. Having that kind of resonance sounds dreamy. Kudos to the chef.

Thanks again for the awesome compliments. They put a smile on my face.

I know very well of the cap debate. People will forever debate religion, politics & capacitors.

This is my logic. Enzo Ferrari didn't get to the top of his game using Volkswagen parts.

To the best of my knowledge I've never sold a guitar to anyone who was so passionate about the capacitor.
I've yet to have someone ask me to downgrade their components.

Cheers man!
Gabe

 

[State of Epicicity]

People will forever debate religion, politics & capacitors.

This is a quote for the ages!

Completely awesome to learn the story behind this one.

 

[GitGuy513]

Beautiful…as cool as the back is that top and body (design wise) knocks it out of the park.

 

[Dave Merrill]

Hello Dave, thanks for the compliments. Much appreciated.
Well believe it or not, I used this guitar to pay a debt. I built if for myself & had every intention of keeping it. There's a catch........

My friend John has been doing my yard service for over ten years. He told me that he didn't want money for his time but instead wanted me to make him a guitar whenever he felt the time had come. So after 10+ years of him keeping a tally, he finally approached me & asked if I could make him his guitar.
Right about that time I had finished building the Moon Ebony guitar. So without hesitation I asked John if he wanted it. His eyes lit up like a kid in a candy store & we settled that deal right then & there.

From what I can remember his bill to me was around $6,300. I had figured the guitar was worth right about $6,500 low estimate - $8,000 high.
I never really sat down to determine a profit margin. I was just happy to pay my debt. This would have been about 7 years ago.

I shake my head every time I look on Reverb.com & see these ridiculous prices of $20,000 - $60,000 for some EuroGuitar made of wood collected near a volcano & some horseshit like that. I have recently noticed that those expensive prices have been slashed in half. Now only $30,000 for the guitar made out of wood collected near a volcano...... lol

If you have any specific ideas about a build send me a message & we can always juggle some options.

Cheers!
Gabe

Great story, good on you both.
Guess I better start doing yard work
And don't tempt me!

 

[Planta Fantasma]

Beautiful…as cool as the back is that top and body (design wise) knocks it out of the park.

Thank you! It's a lot harder than I ever thought it would be to come up w/ an original guitar design.
I made this one pictured as a solid body alternative to the original guitar posted.

 

[State of Epicicity]

Thank you! It's a lot harder than I ever thought it would be to come up w/ an original guitar design.
I made this one pictured as a solid body alternative to the original guitar posted.

Holy crap, the back of the guitar is so well matched at first it looks like the body and neck are one continuous piece! I love this design.