MOJO

thanks for compliment... the f hole is solid as a rock not fragile at all. i just measured the the inside/side thickness of all the routes..its a full 1/4 inch from the face of the top wood to the back of the top wood( inside the body) and the reason i chose that design was because it's actually 6 seperate routes spaced out for strenght instead of just one single route all the way around where some of the pointer part could be more easily damaged

i agree to an extent, but you have to remember it's totally up to the buyer what he wants when dealing with a boutique builder, your really in control.. You can get a totally tricked out guitar with all the fancy smancy woods and inlays and all or something simple and straigh ahead but you have to let the builder know exactly what you want from the beggining Some one mentioned Thorn earlier, he's a good example ( I have 2 ) #21 while although a little fancy with a slightly nicer top ( i wanted a Fire type effect ) then usual and the free paua binding and inlay, i could have just as easily gotten a regular top with no binding and plain dots..if i had chosen #48...guilty as charged there... i have always dreamt of a shark themed guitar since i was wee little shredder... so i went a little more nuts but everything is kinda interlocked in the theme The top and color where picked to have a water effect with the shark F hole kinda "swimming around in it the birdeye neck kinda reminded me of sand or the beach, so that worked and kept to the theme with the shark inlays ( had tossed around the idea of staining the neck blue also but deciding i liked the contrast of the clear neck and stained body better sorry kinda rambling but for $2300 how could i not get every crazy feature i ever wanted in it if you look at Ron's galleries right along with his fancier ones are one that are less ornate and more straight ahead...it all how people spec'd them out http://www.thornguitargallery.com/ my point is a good Boutique builder will build you whatever you want , it really is the taste of the Purchaser that should ultimately determine how it turns out

go to the JET website and click on the dealers..Here what it says JET Guitars HOW DO I BUY A JET INSTRUMENT? Sales and dealer information is handled by our sales manager. This is the contact to use to find a dealer in your region, or if you want to order a custom instrument. JET Guitar Sales click on the link and you see that it's Ed's email address, basically meaning that ED is The sales manager (not just a dealer) for the entire Jet guitar Line, it's not out of the realm of possibilty that Ed has some money invested in JET guitar.he has done this with previous builders also

i know the 2 other dealers you speak about that sell JET but i can't help but have a nagging suspicion that Mr Roman is somehow associated with both these dealers also.. (even some of the guitars on thier websites are ones that ED had at one time.. ) 1) take alook what brands both places carry..the exact same boutique lines that Ed claimed to have "exclusive" dealership rights too.. Usually Ed starts bad mouthing a Builder the second they don't want to deal with only him...yet not a peep out of Ed over this one... 2) check their price list for these guitars there an exact duplicate copy of Ed's right down to the amount of discount given 3) not 100% sure if both but atleast 1 of them also happens to carry some of Ed's own personal line guitars.....why would Ed do that if he didn't have some kind of vested interest in the place ..let someone else steal money out of his pocket.. it thought ed was the Greatest Salesman in the world and moved Hundreds of guitars a week..so why would he let someone else make the profit on the sale of one of his guitars?? i would not be the least bit surprised if Ed was The "silent " owner of both these places

greg that came out awesome,really sweet conversion a friend who is huge Queen/May fan had a Thorn built kinda along the same lines http://www.thornguitargallery.com/twenty7.htm i'm really diggin your Koa topped one..i'm a sucker for anything Koa