Beautiful! That's very classy, Les. Is it a Violin Amber Burst? It looks like a match to my 513, but with the extra classy gold hardware.
It's Black Gold, same family as VAB, which is one of my favorite colors, too; but a little darker and no burst..
Love the Birds!
Braz fret board? So nice and dark, really makes the birds POP!
Nope, all Artist Vs have ebony boards and gold hardware. There's also some kind of shell purfling on the board and headstock, though I can't remember what it is.
They're essentially CU22s with Artist V pickups (whatever those are, they sound kind of between 57/08s and 59/09s on my guitar), ebony boards, and some Artist type trim. The backs are lightweight ribbon mahogany, and the necks are Peruvian mahogany. They were all Pattern Regular necks. I usually play W/F or Pattern, but this neck feels great in the hand as well. I'm pretty flexible on neck widths anyway.
The whole thing is lively, and when you play a note or strum a chord the neck just vibrates like crazy. The guitar is very, very responsive. It's light and comfortable as all get out to play in every way.
I will play this guitar until the time comes when I can no longer hold it or move my fingers.
When my wife comes to the nursing home to ask the staff if they've changed my diaper and fed me, I will point a trembling finger at a picture of the guitar on the wall of my room, and make a face like, "is the guitar still ok?"
I just hope that day is a while off...
