Jersey Girl homemade guitars Tapa O’Tento
The latest build from Kaz, Akiko and Eiko.
Here's a story...
O'Tento (otento-san) means "the Sun" in Japanese. "Taiyou" is official Japanese but we usually use "Otento-san(or sama)" in daily conversation, which is more friendly and includes respectations to nature.
This beautiful one piece mahogany body was provided by Mr. Watanabe, our mentor and friend, 30 years ago. He runs a small guitar shop and supports us a lot from the first time. He gave us many repair works and some. It has been very helpful for us. And also he teaches us a lot of ways to enjoy life.
He took us to the beach every summer and enjoyed fishing and swimming together. So we keep this body material for a long time to build it to the nicest one we can build. We always feel "summer sun" when we talk about him. That's why the name of this composition is "O'Tento". We built in our respectations to him and nature.
All the inlay work by Akiko. It represents our feelings for Mr. Watanabe very much. Eiko's embloidery on the strap, too.
I made a special brass tailpiece, inspired by Akiko's inlay and an ancient South American design which I love.
The mahogany body is light and has a sweet tone. I matched a similar mahogany for the neck and selected cocobolo for the fingerboard. I love the fast response of this selection. I set it up with clear single coils and simple 3 way switching. I'm satisfied with the result. Bright and clear. It also represents his personality well, I think.
SOLD - $8,700
