Had to take a break from building to focus on passing my Internal Medicine Boards last summer. Which meant I had to put off on completing two important builds. This build and the one for @karankatiyar.in . Also work had some unexpected staff changes during the busiest times in the holidays which made my schedule too tiring and mentally exhausting to do anything but sleep when I got home. Now that those boards are now behind me and my schedules much more balanced, thankfully I can get back to it with a renewed energy.
Body Wood
African Mahogany Single Piece Slab
Top Wood
Unicorn Grade Bookmatched Flamed Claro Walnut
Neck Woods
Flamed maple
Sapele Mahog
Wenge
Gaboon ebony fingerboard and headstock veneer
Asymmetrical modern D carve
Scale Length
24.8 inches
String Gauge
Stringjoy Orbiter (Coated) 10-48
Can also use thicker 11-50 gauge
Electronics
CTS Volume & Tone .47 cap
switchcraft switch and Jack
Pickups
McNelly Stagger Swagger V2 with 10% overwound bridge
Black Foil Cover
Nut Material
Graphtech TUSQ XL
Tuning
E Standard
Finish
Odies Oil, Butter and Waxes
Straplocks
Shaller
Lutherie... 
Forgive the 1st post blunder, but I just wanted to tell you how truly beautiful your guitars are. I have come across your guitars intermittently on the web and admired them each time. When I came across this one with the flamed Claro walnut I was amazed. The oil finish you use gives a true picture of the wood it seems without the need for the gloss. To be quick and honest, your guitars to me are truly inspiring . The single cut style and shape give me at least that I just have to play it every time I look at it vibe. The aesthetics, style and workmanship of your guitars is second to none. I will follow your work closely for inspiration. I have built component electrics for years and made some bodies from scratch . I am six months or so from retirement and your guitars are of a standard to strive for. I know there are a lot of talented builders in the world and you are with best. I hesitate to leave this comment at this risk of sound like a weirdo , but to put in street terms your guitars “ really got it going on “.
Sincerely
Greg Mason
Thank you so much for your kind words Greg! It makes me so happy to hear. if you’ve got any questions at all please feel free to message me or DM me on Instagram too @akm_guitarworks , I check there regularly and can reply the fastest! hope your building journey keeps going! its addicting!
– Alex
I
Really special woods here. Ive never used Wenge, does it require an abnormal amount of Odies to fill and polish vs Sapele?
Also is there anything in these builds that you still struggle with these days? Do you ever see yourself brancing out to more complex inlay work, or fun aesthitic things like opaque finishes?
Hey bud thanks for the comment!
Wenge technically doesn’t need a finish and the odies is just more for the look here, it darkens the wenge and it looks awesome. I usually don’t care for opaque finishes cause I’ve stockpiled a buncha nice woods I wanna use. Sometime I may have a buddy help finish one in a solid color or something, but for myself I’ve never had a personal want to do that. As for inlay work yea I do want to do more but usually when the inspiration strikes. All my stuff is driven by motivation and usually why I just build what I want. As for challenges , in this build it was mainly the mahogany which was particularly fuzzy. Had to really take my time sanding which sucks . For the build I’m currently working on my challenge is working with a Richlite fretboard which doesn’t behave like wood, I have to widen the slots, reduce the amount of glue in the slots and just pray everything works well
Oh excited to see the Richlite, I used to see your build timelines on SSO, its always fun to see the nuances in the build process. Congradulations on your passing your boards, and building guitars again.
Cheers!
Thanks man means a lot to hear that! If you’re on Instagram I can send you some of my progress pictures too. @Akm_guitarworks