Artisan Master  # 033

"The Manta Ray"

Body: Korina
Top: 5A Quilt Maple
Neck & Fretboard: Birdseye Maple
Pickups: Birdseye bobbin WCR Fillmores w/ gold slugs and screws.
Birdseye Appointments: Tuner buttons, knobs, trem arm tip, 5-way tip, pickup rings, back plates.
Purfling: Paua
Firesuns: Chrysocolla stone w/ 14K Gold centers - The stone is a perfect color match with the top!
Side Dots and "T" logo: Chrysocolla
Truss Rod Cover: 14K Gold "Thorn" inlaid into birdseye maple
Fretwire: GOLD alloy...a Thorn first. That is super cool.
Strings: Maxima Gold courtesy of our own WayneM
Bridge: Thorn 1-pc. trem - Gold
Color: Caribbean Burst

Manta Ray back plate inlay using the single largest piece of black mother of pearl I've ever seen. Over 2-1/2" wide....big! I've held onto that piece of shell for 8 years waiting for a special purpose...I found it

Initial Tone Report:
Yep, Fillmores again. Likely my personal favorite humbucker. It something about a humbucker that can really push a Fender amp yet not sound muddy, it's the perfect single-coil lover's humbucker.
The 5-way is wired with the "Lotus-switching combo" that was recently used on SteveK's "The Rose". I gotta get me one of these.

Dane, I couldn't be happier to finally present this to you. Thank you for hanging in there for a couple years - I hope it was worth it.

Enjoy it my friend,
Ron