Check out Fender Master Builder Ron Thorn’s new Acoustasonic called The Trees
A special offset acoustic made using very special woods - even by Custom Shop standards
Ron Thorn Master Built Offset Acoustasonic - The Trees · Source: Instagram/Thorn Guitars
Fender’s Master Builder Ron Thorn has been working on a special, one-off version of the recent Acoustasonic Jazzmaster guitar. He used three pieces of timber from his personal collection to create The Trees, an ornate design that takes this model to another level.
The Trees
I think Ron Thorn is one of my favourite modern day luthiers/guitar builders. From when he was Thorn Guitars, all the way through to his work as a Master Builder at Fender, he has always been such an amiable guy who has offered a lot of good advice via places like The Gear Page forum. His reputation as a ‘stand up guy’ precedes him. Here’s what he had to say about The Trees:
Like all Master Builders, we’ve all come across a special piece of wood or two to stash it away in our work areas, waiting for the right opportunity to turn it into a unique guitar. In this case, it was three special pieces of wood. As soon as I heard we were about to launch a new model of the Acoustasonic, the Offset shape, I immediately coupled together these pieces of wood in my mind, and felt that the end result would be an instrument worthy of such amazing timbers. – Ron Thorn
The Trees features three pieces of ‘mythical’ wood in its construction
Three Woods
Ron’s Thorn Guitars Instagram page has just revealed his latest masterpiece, The Trees. It uses some special pieces of wood he had stashed for a rainy day. The body is made using Stradivarius spruce, which originates from the ‘Musical Woods’ up in the Italian Alps. This is where Antonio Stradivari went looking for wood to build his famous violins; not your standard wood, then!
Next up is a highly figured bookmatched mahogany top, also taken from a mythical “Tree” cut down in 1965. Finally, this model has a neck made from sinker mahogany from a piece of wood that remained waterlogged for 75 years.
The guitar also features an ebony bridge, along with a 12″ ebony fretboard and an intricate leaf-inspired inlay design along the length of the fretboard, which uses various wood species. Ron also opted for a spruce Fender logo embossed on the headstock.
Ron describes the guitar as a “once in a lifetime opportunity” to build something of this calibre, using these three very special woods. If you’re into guitar building and the craft of the luthier, the video is worth a look accompanied by a cup of your favourite hot beverage.
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- The Trees features three pieces of 'mythical' wood in its construction: YouTube/Fender
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2 responses to “Check out Fender Master Builder Ron Thorn’s new Acoustasonic called The Trees”
Imagine the scene at a party:
Ron: “Hi! My name’s Ron. I’ve got a personal collection of timber.”
Person at bar: “Er, okaaaay….” (slowly backs away)
Nah, Ron is into classic muscle cars and so I reckon he’d be talking about those instead!