https://reverb.com/item/65450758-alembic-hawaiian-darling-flamed-koa-full-front-2-color-leds


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That is gorgeous! Two too many strings, but what a beauty!

Oops.

Hibiscus inlay is stunning. How do they do that?!

I found these in process pics you might enjoy
First is the group of petals cut out
Second a closeup of one petal
Third one is the dry fit of the basic flower before sinking in the peghead
Fourth is in spray, prepped and waiting for the next coat of finish
Number 5 has most of the finish applied - this is when we added the gold dots
Sixth one is a freshly rubbed out peghead
The last one is all done and ready to ship

Beautiful work Mica!

Those details are stunning.

Wow, that's crazy how 3D it looks.  It looks like the pistil is really out in front of the back petals.  That is amazing work.

Out of curiousity, what is the thickness of these inlays, they look so delicate.

Thanks for the pictures of the work while in progress. It's really inspiring to see what is possible. Makes my imagination work harder. 

I'm a big fan of Koa. My first Spoiler was solid koa, the wide 6 has a flame koa top, the 10 string has a koa top and my new Series 2 build has one as well.

Quote from: jazzyvee on February 03, 2023, 01:26:49 AM
Out of curiousity, what is the thickness of these inlays, they look so delicate.

Inlays are typically .05-.06" thick.

Quote from: flavofive on February 02, 2023, 08:46:41 PM
Wow, that's crazy how 3D it looks.  It looks like the pistil is really out in front of the back petals.  That is amazing work.

Couple of things contribute to this. First is the selection of shell. There is some natural shading and we use that to the artwork's advantage. It's not the highest yield for material on each project, but we save all the scraps and they eventually find their way into other projects. The second is the order of assembly. The petals were all inlaid first, then we started building up finish. In 2 steps the gold pistil and anthers are inlaid. So in essence they are layered and enhance the 3D effect.

There's a third kind of magic, which comes from experience in the artwork itself. Knowing how to create the art so that it works in the medium of inlay just takes time and trial and error. There's a delicate detail that goes almost unnoticed, but the veins in the leaves are actually silver wire. It adds to the aesthetics, without being overly busy. 

Mica and others, do you think this is a "big" darling and not a "little darling"?

I think it's regular-sized Darling. Proportionally, just a smidge bigger than my Little Aglaope. Somewhere on this forum is a picture of both, side-by-side to demonstrate the size difference.

*gimme a minute...

Okay, I'm back... here-

http://www3.alembicguitars.net/img/DET_J_JL_compare.jpg

**y'know, looking at it again, I changed my mind... I believe it's a Little Darling. 

This is a Darling. The shapes are actually quite a bit different beyond the scaling. I think the easiest curve to distinguish is the approach to the Omega.

This is SUCH a pretty guitar.