Yenson Guitars: parlor guitar

Old-growth redwood / Honduras rosewood / koa binding

This is a shape I’ve been dreaming about for years. Inspired by Ervin Somogyi’s excellent The Responsive Guitar & Making the Responsive Guitar, I tried out some different design philosophies on this and the nylon-string parlor I built simultaneously. I would recommend these books to anyone who’s interested in lutherie; they’ve changed the way I think about the guitar and the overall world of woodworking.

I love the combination of the warm midrange of redwood with the crisp treble & resonant bass of Honduras rosewood on this instrument. It pumps some serious volume! The peghead inlay turned out well — can you see the world’s smallest hummingbird & snake?

Features a 24-3/4” scale and a nut width of 1-3/4”.

Material

• Top: Old-growth coastal redwood (Mendocino County, California)

• Sides and back: Honduras rosewood

• Neck: Honduras mahogany

• Fingerboard & peghead over/underlay: Indian ebony

• Binding & end graft: Koa with western maple pinstripes

• Heelcap: Curly koa with western maple & Honduras rosewood pinstripes

• Soundhole inlay: Old-growth Honduras mahogany, two types of koa, and English sycamore

• Peghead inlay: abalone

• Fingerboard inlay: Copper rings

• Tuners: Gotoh 510

• Shellac finish

• Bone nut & saddle

• FlexStrong Dual Action truss rod