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Otherwise titled "Mr. bass has a bad day"

This would have been relatively impossible to do without the black pearl grav-lam - used for the longest upper feathers. Chuck Erickson was made so inlay could advance in the world!

This is for the Chesapeake Bay project, there are still three more left...
A small killifish and a friend hide in the grass as the action is about to ensue.


As always thanks for your constant support and friendships.
This will most likely be going to Miami, so you may be able to see it in person.
The luthier likes to drill out the tuners himself since the waverly tuners are pressure mounted.
Sorry the photos stink. I need better lighting. The pieces of the talons are actually all turned "on" for the front talon, and all "off" for the rear talon. In reality it seems like two separate sets of talon.
Thanks!!
Craig Lavin
http://www.handcraftinlay.com

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www.handcraftinlay.com

Craig, very nice. I like how you give the piece a sense of motion with the osprey swooping in for the kill.

How large does Gravlam come if I may ask? Is it a standard size or varies as to whether it is white, gold or in this instance black mop?

Don't know what happened there (the above post was mine).

I think it depends on what shell they have available, but it can be gotten in brown lip, black, gold and white at around a good 3" or more. Awabi shell and a few others too I believe. It has to be inlaid flush though and not on a radius. There is only .02 of solid shell on top, then you hit abalam. The only safe place for it is a headstock or other flat area, unless it's a really small piece. but then one would use regular pearl for that right?

I am glad you saw the movement in this. That's the idea. I wasn't sure if the parts entering the scene were enough, and honestly if you look at a real osprey diving the wings are really far swept back, but I made the wing in this perspective to make it seem more artistic, and full. If this was done off of a real photo you would only see the head and talons.

More soon. Hows that little girl doing??


Craig

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www.handcraftinlay.com

Dude!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

you gotta be kidding me!!!! Thats one of the most amazing inlays I have ever seen....

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Peter M.
Cornerstone Guitars
http://www.cornerstoneukes.com

I have to tell you the guitar in your avatar qualifies as most amazing top I have ever seen.
Wow




It makes me want to own it...

Craig

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www.handcraftinlay.com

Makes me wonder what goes on in the bass's little tiny mind as he is hoisted out of his fluid environment and into the air. It's gotta be similar to an alien abduction.

Craig, you sure do some gorgeous work!

Dennis

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Dennis Leahy
Duluth, MN, USA
7th Sense Multimedia

...it would look better with that inlay on it!

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Peter M.
Cornerstone Guitars
http://www.cornerstoneukes.com

Holy cow, Craig...you never cease to amaze!
Very creative my friend.

Steve

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From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

I appreciate the thoughts!!

There's another one of these CBF themes almost done- a heron blacked out in a red and yellow sunset with cat tails and such all down the neck, at the bottom is another heron.
It should be done soon then I'll post pics.
Being full time I can really crank out some of these things!
I have a newfoundland dog headstock coming up, a vine and dragonfly thing of sorts, Tabatha's (the red head mermaid) blond twin sister Samantha, a Christian themed truss cover, but very detailed, a special seahorse...
All sorts of stuff upcoming.

How fun can it really get??

Craig

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www.handcraftinlay.com

Excellent Craig, Your inlays are always a joy to look at and I'll look forward to seeing the upcoming inlays you've described. All very cool! Please post some photos of this one finished.

Cheers
Danny

Very Nicely Done Craig!!!
It doesn't get any better than that!
Peter

Craig, great job. That is amazing and beautiful. Prost.

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Mike

"The Dude abides. I don't know about you but I take comfort in that. It's good knowin' he's out there. The Dude. Takin' 'er easy for all us sinners. Shoosh." The Stranger

Craig, it would be really cool if you could show us the original photo you worked from side by side with the inlay. I am liking this piece more and more each time I see it.

I second that, I would like to see what you worked from. Do you mock it up full size, with printouts, or in a graphics program? I've been using Illustrator for mockups, I still haven't quite gotten the hang of it.

Also, how is your client planning on protecting the shell when he drills the tuner holes? Seems risky on that beautiful wing!

Hi Guys.
I went to the gardens to photograph raptors to get images of the wings and feather patterns.
here are a few of some personal photos.





If you want to see more I can upload some more.

The scene itself was inspired by traveling to the Chesapeake Bay, sitting on a kayak and watching two bald eagles fishing. The bald eagle has been inlayed to death, so the osprey (being Florida as well) was a good alternative. All of these six inlays were inspired by the Bay and the time spent up there on the water and at the Chesapeake Bay Foundation building.
A lot of time was spent drawing the wing, changing the angle, going back again. seeing what didn't look right, etc.. At one point I tried to use a picture of a statue of an osprey at the CBF building but it didn't work out. This one just took hours to mock up.
There was no model for this full scene. I have some ID books and stuff that were used for the fishes.
This is one of those scenes where unless you see the entire thing in front of you you don't get the full effect of what's going on.

Craig

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www.handcraftinlay.com

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

Craig, that is just flat out amazing!
Excellent work !

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Lance@LuthiersForum.com

WOW is right - beautiful Craig!!!

You are all coming to Miami so we can all meet right??


Then we can all get lunch!!


Then we all run around and look at everyones guitars!



Then after that for three days,

These new emoticons are really cool..

CL

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www.handcraftinlay.com

Saw this yesterday and got interrupted before I could reply Sooooooooooooooo Coooooooooool

Stripped bass by the way right? looks like a whaleye down at the bottom

Hi Michael.
The bass are striped. The little guys are killifish. The local name is mummichog, and if you imagine a two foot bird and a one to one and a half foot bass or less that would make this guy relatively 4-5 inches, which is large but not unheard of for these guys.
Walleye are big, longer "trout-ish" looking things. All brown and spotty. These guys (killifish) are used for bait a lot up north when fishing for flounder and other bottom fishes. In this scene it actually gets to stay alive..

More stripers are coming up in two inlays, by the way. You'll all see the Maryland tie in then, plus some. The theme is hopefully really cool, but top secret until it's finshed...


Craig

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www.handcraftinlay.com

Now we have "Stealth" inlay. Do you work for the "Govment".

What I see looks really great.. Can't wait to see the whole tie-in.

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

Great work Craig. Very Grit like to use the fingerboard and the headstock as a window on a part of the wider world beyond.
I have some pics from Tony you would be interested in.

John

Were all waiting!

CL

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www.handcraftinlay.com