On October 22, 1918, my grandfather was thrown from his horse and crushed by a runaway timber jinker and several tons of logs, at his sawmill at Stalker in Victoria’s Otway Ranges.
94 years and 1 day later, on October 23, 2012, I took delivery of a very special custom-made guitar featuring figured Australian Blackwood milled by my grandfather, made into a tray and passed down through the family over nearly a century.
The guitar was built by talented young Melbourne luthier Daniel Hoban, largely from Otway Ranges timber (Blackwood and Satinbox) from the same district as grandfather’s mill.
The theme of the “Otway Mill” is carried by all the decorative features, being made from grandfather’s Blackwood (rosette in the form of a circular saw, head-plate, heel-cap and tail-graft). The fretboard continues the theme, with Otway Mill inlaid in gold MOP.
Here are the specifications:
Daniel Hoban Steel string guitar K5 model
Otways Blackwood master grade back and sides
European Spruce soundboard
African Mahogany neck
Satinbox laminates, purflings, etc
Ebony fretboard best grade
Brazilian Rosewood bridge
Bindings Blackwood from B&S offcut
Gold MOP shell for inlays and side markers
Stainless steel truss rod
Adirondack Spruce bracing
Bone nut and saddle
Ebony bridge pins and endpin
Evo gold fretwire
Gold schaller M6 tuners with Ebony buttons
Durobond gloss nitro-cellulose lacquer finish
Photos
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
And here is a photo of the saw that cut up that Blackwood timber around 100 years ago – the sawbench at the Robins mill at Stalker.
Sound
The sound is everything I wanted in terms of piano-like clarity and richness. However, it has only been strung up for 3 days, so a sound clip will have to wait till I can find a better guitarist than me to record something worth listening to.
I have also written a song “The Otway Mill”, which tells the story of the mill and my grandfather’s fatal accident in 1918.
My thanks go to Daniel for interpreting my wishes and delivering such a beautifully crafted guitar.
I would welcome any feedback from ANZLFers! Hopefully this post shows the pictures OK – this post is a learning curve!
