#DEER MAN OF DARK WOODS DECK FULL#

Still, when he first tried a guitar made from The Tree, he was floored-the sound surpassed anything heвЂ™d heard before. Saul вЂњSlashвЂќ Hudson, best known as lead guitarist of Guns NвЂ™ Roses, owns more than 230 guitars, including priceless vintage models. Its sides and back are from The Tree, while the face is 3,000-year-old Sitka spruce.

вЂњOne look at that wood,вЂќ Smith told me, вЂњand just about every guitar builder wants it.вЂќ With the money he made from that sale, he bought three more sets and sold three more guitars. He bought one of the sets, built a guitar and sold it almost immediately. (A set is the back and sides of a guitar.) вЂњIt was amazing to look at,вЂќ he said. In 2019, while perusing an online catalog, he happened upon a photo of guitar вЂњsetsвЂќ made of wood from The Tree. In 2009, he bought a kit to build a Martin guitar, and then he taught himself to make guitars from scratch. Smith started woodworking when he was 15, lying about his age to score an apprenticeship, and returned to it after retiring from a corporate career. He and his wife, Nancy, live on ten wooded acres in Clinton, Maine, in a home they built by hand. вЂњItвЂ™s the rarest and most coveted wood in the world.вЂќД®ager to learn more, I made an appointment to visit Smith at his studio. вЂњWhat youвЂ™re staring at is The Tree,вЂќ Smith said, smiling.

#DEER MAN OF DARK WOODS DECK FULL#

But the most remarkable part was the look of the thing: Its back and sides rippled like a full moon reflecting off a dead calm sea. I cradled it under my elbow and plucked a few chords.

Noting my hungry stare, Smith gently lifted the instrument from its perch and urged me to give it a try. It hung half-hidden behind a display of cutting boards and wooden bowls in the booth of woodworker and luthier David Smith. Not long ago, while browsing a craft fair in Boothbay Harbor, Maine, I spotted a guitar like no other IвЂ™d ever seen.

Deer man of dark woods deck