Gary Nava English Walnut 2-point

[Shelagh Moore]

For those who are interested, here are some pictures of the new walnut 2-point I recently received from English luthier Gary Nava:

http://www.navaguitars.co.uk/

Specifications:

Back/sides: Highly-figured English walnut, slight induced arch
Top: Black Sea spruce, slight induced arch
Binding: Ebony
Purfling: Black/white/red (front/back/soundhole/headstock)
Headstock veneer: Claro burr walnut
Headstock inlay and position markers: Abalone
Fingerboard: Ebony, gentle compound radius
Tuners: Grover 18:1
Bridge: Macassar ebony with replacable bone and ebony compensated saddles
Tailpiece: Brian Dean cast brass "Job's Tears" tailpiece

She plays absolutely beautifully with wonderful tone, sustain and intonation. I shall be using this 2-pointer primarily for "celtic" and classical. She's a great complement to my Sim Daley carved-top A standard which has a very different sound and which I use mainly for Old-Timey and Appalachian.

Photos of the construction phase are available on Gary's blog:

http://guitar-maker.blogspot.com/

I'll post up sound clips if anyone's interested.

[JEStanek]

Lovely. Congratulations to you and Gary.

Jamie

[JCLondonUK]

Nice! Gary Nava makes great instruments -- congratulations! Would love to hear a sound clip. :)

[Jim MacDaniel]

Very nice.

[Fliss]

Beautiful! I love Gary's aesthetic, and would love to sample one of his instruments one day.

Fliss

[swinginmandolins]

Congrats and Nice!!

[Rob Fowler]

Wow! That walnut back is mesmerizing! Congrats!

[Jill McAuley]

Absolutely gorgeous! Congratulations! I too would love to hear a sound clip of it - I'll bet it sounds the business with the walnut back and sides!

Cheers,
Jill

[B. T. Walker]

A really nice looking mandolin. The back is beautiful, the headstock is an eye-catcher. Congrats.

[billkilpatrick]

molto nice - i assume the pegboard inlay is a styilized "N" for nava. beautiful wood. i know it's exactly where it should be but to me, round sound holes always look as if they're too far forward - monster OM's in particular.

[Jake Wildwood]

Hot tamale! Understated excellence. I appreciate the purfling, too.

Bill: Round soundholes got pushed up further and further as the scale length got longer and the neck join got farther down. Old 9/10-fret neck joins with round soundholes have a much more elegant join in relation to the soundhole: ie, old bowlback style, older (1920s) flatbacks.

[GarY Nava]

Hi Guys,
Many, many thanks to Richard for starting this thread and to the rest of you for your positive comments.
It’s always good to know that your efforts are appreciated.
Cheers Gary.
www.navaguitars.co.uk