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The Story
I follow a handful of other artists for inspiration, including some amazing tattoo artists, wood burners, painters, etc. One that made my jaw drop was Niko Rocha of @Regis_Carvings out of Oahu, HI. Niko specializes in chip carving, and I was pulled toward one of his designs in particular. After lots of planning and discussions about logistics, I shipped Niko an Esquire-style single-pickup body, he carved the top and shipped it back, and the result exceeded even my highest expectations. The details and intricacy in Niko's carvings are insane. While this body was intended to be a prototype to see if this type of arrangement/collaboration would be feasible, the result was too good to not complete into a final instrument.
The inspiration for the rest of the build was Niko's home of Hawaii. My goal was to not do anything to take away from Niko's carving - only complement it.
The origin of the guitar's name, Leo, is two-fold. Obviously a nod to Clarence Leonidas Fender, as well as the Hawaiian word for "voice", "leo". This guitar has its own voice, both artistically and musically, so the name seemed like a wonderful fit.
Overview
BODY
The body is basswood, which after some testing of other tonewoods Niko and I determined it was the best combination of wood that would sound good and wood that would carve well. Brown "java" stain was applied, and then Niko did the carvings into the wood.
NECK
The neck is vintage Hawaiian koa lumber, originally cut in 1986. The fingerboard is palm, with matching koa binding. There are no fret markers or logos on the front of the neck/headstock, as I wanted to keep the focus on the body. As a final nod to Hawaii, I inlayed a gold mother-of-pearl hibiscus flower on the back of the headstock.
HARDWARE
- Gotoh Stealth Tuners
- Schroeder TL Straight-Back Top Load bridge with Gotoh In-Tune Compensated Brass Saddles
- Schaller S-Locks Strap Locks
- Tusq XL Nut
- Roller String Trees
- Ebony/Figured Koa Volume Knob
ELECTRONICS
- Lollar Special T Bridge Pickup (~8KΩ)
- Single audio-taper volume potentiometer
CASE/STRAP (included)
MONO Vertigo Electric Guitar Case, Black ; Couch Guitar Strap - Black Triangle Pyramid Geometric 2" Vintage Fabric
Strings
9-46 Curt Mangan Nickel Wound Coated ($16003)