My mom has agreed to make guitars for our showroom in woods that we don't have represented on the product pages. Joy!
 
We found this gem of Satinwood that was sitting lonely for at least 20 years here.
 

 
It's absolutely impossible to appreciate the depth of beauty of this wood in a still image. Mom was extra nice and made this one a bookmatch to center since the board was wide enough.  
 
Anyway, some day in the future, it will be hanging in the Showroom, I just couldn't wait until then to share.

In addition to the striking grain of the top, I love the detail of the heart omega!

A couple more pics can sort of show how the ribbon stripe figure is so dynamic.  

 

  This is a single sealer coat on this, and it's already just jumping. LOVE!

Beautiful !

OK, WHAT is Satinwood, and where does it come from?
 
J o e y

What's the centre neck laminate Mica? The brighter red certainly stands out from the purpleheart.
 
Graeme
 
(Message edited by jacko on April 25, 2012)

Wow!  The Darling body and that incredibly 3-D satinwood make for a beautiful pairing.

That is beautiful! I love satinwood.It has,and still is on my list of wishes.

Graeme; it looks like their standard Darling neck, so it's probably Vermilion.

Dave's right, the central laminate is Vermilion. It's flanked by Maple veneers and Purpleheart laminates in the primary Maple neck pair.  
 
Satinwood is also known as Ceylon Satinwood or East Indian Satinwood. It's very dense, has this lovely golden shimmery color, and we haven't used it but on a handful of instruments. I hope to see it more frequently since it's one of those sublime beauties.

Gorgeous! The close-up reminds me of butterscotch candy. Given the density of the wood, what do you expect its sonic characteristics to be like compared to the woods that have been used in the past for Darling bodies.

John Lodge of Moody Blues fame had a Series Satinwood bass.  It is on sale at Gruhn's for $20,000.  Mr. Lodge is a fine singer and songwriter (i am a fan of the group), but really!  Perhaps our love for it may be worth that much, but that amount of money can get you up to date electronics and workmanship form the Mothership.  Still, the wood itself is outstanding!!

What might the sonic nature of this dense Satinwood be ? Might it be like Maple ?

There is a series 1 #801575(I think) that has a satin top,AND an all maple neck(no ebony fretboard) somewhere in here....

I wonder what other Gems of wood the shop has