A Special Guitar

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A Special Guitar

Those of you who have read my past blog entries know that my family heritage and the tradition of woodworking passed down to me by my ancestors are very important to me. Some of my relatives came from the great tool making city of Sheffield, England, and many of those who found their way to America worked as carpenters, operated sawmills, or were fine craftsmen. My father, Seth Milton Summerfield, Jr., was not only the most recent of this line of woodworkers, but he was also the finest craftsman I’ve ever known. His passion in life was making fine acoustic stringed musical instruments. This blog entry is a tribute to him by featuring one of the many instruments he made – the one that in my opinion was the most beautiful of all. You can read more about Dad and his instruments on this web page that preserves his accomplishments for the world to see and enjoy for years to come.

So what is this instrument that I chose to feature in this blog entry, and why did I choose this time to pay tribute to my Dad? The instrument is a 12-string guitar that he made for his wife of 64 years, my Mom. And today is Dad’s birthday; if he were still alive he would be 103 years old today. Happy Birthday Dad!

Photo: Dad with some of his instruments.

Dad loved music from his earliest years, and our home was always filled with musical instruments. Dad played a variety of instruments, none of them well, and Mom accompanied him on the guitar. Most of their six children learned to play at least one instrument too. Being of Appalachian roots, though, the music we played was not the fancy classical or pop music you might think. It was old time mountain music, the kind that over time evolved into what we know today as Bluegrass. As a child I traveled around with Dad to all the Bluegrass festivals of the 1960′s, and I was privileged to see and hear most of the nationally known Bluegrass artists of the day. Dad’s shop was frequently filled with Bluegrass musicians having jam sessions or hoedowns. Dad, and sometimes Mom, would join in.

Photo: Dad and Mom playing music in his shop.

So now let’s get on with the guitar that I’d like to feature in this article. It’s a 12-string guitar with figured Koa back and sides. I cannot tell for sure in this photo, but I think the neck is mahogany. The heel is ebony. Dad didn’t make many guitars out of Koa, and I’m sure he chose this wood especially for Mom because of its beauty.

The top is spruce, probably Sitka. I live in the Rocky Mountains, and for many years I cut Englemann spruce and sent it to Dad to use in his instruments. I own a few of the instruments he built that incorporate spruce that I cut myself.

The mother of pearl and silver vine inlay in the ebony fingerboard of Mom’s guitar is especially beautiful. The vine inlay continues onto the peghead. The “S” at the top of the peghead was Dad’s trademark symbol. This peghead is overlain in ebony. The rosette around the sound hole is mother of pearl.

This is a picture of Mom holding her guitar.

And here is the guitar (left) alongside some of Dad’s other instruments. Mom’s guitar is now owned by one of my nephews who lives in Virginia, not far from where Mom and Dad lived.

Some of the pictures above aren’t the greatest because they are old and we didn’t have the best camera in those days. Still, I hope they give you a flavor of the quality of craftsman Dad was. In addition to 6- and 12-string steel string guitars, he built classical guitars, dobros, mandolins, banjos, and violins – a few hundred in all. I encourage you to visit his web page to read his biography and see more of the instruments he built. Dad has been gone nearly 18 years now, but he lives on in his instruments and the joy they bring to their owners.

Seth Milton Summerfield, Jr. (1911 – 1996)

Source: LumberJocks.com

A Special Guitar