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Guitars
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C. F. Casey Guitars
Fred always says, 'I don't build guitars to sell . . . I sell guitars so I can build!'
Here are some of the instruments Fred has sold in the past . . . so that he can keep building more!!!
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Fred's Personal Guitar - the 'Anniversary' model
The calendar had just turned to the year 2000; Fred was about to start his 50th guitar - so he decided to make this one for himself! He chose curly maple back & sides, Sitka spruce soundboard, and Sloan tuners. The results - outstanding!
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'Anniversary' Model - back view
In this view of Fred's guitar, you can see the spectacular figure in both the curly maple back and sides, and the bird's-eye maple neck.
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'Anniversary' Model - Rosette detail view
The 'Interlocking Rings' rosette is Fred's design, and created from pieces of green abalone shell. It's not your 'usual' kind of classical guitar rosette, but then, Fred's not your 'usual' kind of luthier...
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'Anniversary' Guitar Purfling
A side view of the 'Anniversary' Classical. Fred used black/white/black purfling to set off the lighter colour of the maple. You can see the 'curl' on the sides in this view. This photo was taken shortly after the guitar was completed; you can see in the other photos how the colour of the maple has 'warmed' with time and exposure to light.
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'Anniversary' Classical Guitar - Headstock Detail
In this shot you can see the beautiful figure in the curly maple used on Fred's guitar.
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Archtop - front view
After taking an archtop-building master class from Tom Ribbekke, Fred built this archtop with a 15-inch body, Engelman spruce soundboard, very unusual maple back and sides, ebony fingerboard and tailpiece, thuya burl headplate and tailpiece overlay.
Owner: Bruce Gorchitza
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Archtop - back view
Fred got this curly maple wood for the back and sides from Tom Ribbekke after taking his master class. Fred says, 'Even though there were a couple of small voids that would have to be filled near the cutaway, the figure in this back was just so unusual I HAD to build with it!'
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Casey Travel Guitars
When Fred was asked to be a guest at a conference held by the “Movimiento del Tiple Puertorriqueño” (the Puerto Rican Tiple Movement) in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico in February 2006 and speak about the building of the small North American Guitar, he built two travel guitars to take with him as examples: a classical (left) and an acoustic (right). Here they are beside the 'Anniversary' model, to show you the difference in scale.
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Casey Classical Travel Guitar
Here is the classical travel guitar Fred took to Puerto Rico. The back and sides are Bubinga, and the top is cedar - that used to be a piece of siding on our house!
*Available for purchase!!!
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Casey Classical Travel Guitar - Back View
Here's a close-up of the exceptional figure in the Bubinga. It really was beautiful.
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Casey Classical Travel Guitar - Headstock Detail
Since Fred was the special guest speaker from Canada, he thought there should be a bit of Canadian 'flavour' to the guitars - so he used a Maple Leaf inlay on the headstock. This inlay is of Myrtle on Bubinga.
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Casey Acoustic Travel Guitar
Here's the second travel guitar Fred took with him to Puerto Rico. It's a steel-string, but is almost a 'negative' image of the classical. The classical was Bubinga body with Myrtle binding. This one was Myrtle body with Bubinga binding. The soundboard is Sitka Spruce. This one was chosen to stay in the permanent collection of the Puerto Rican Tiple Movement.
Owner: “Movimiento del Tiple Puertorriqueño”
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Casey Acoustic Travel Guitar - Back View
This shows the grain in the Myrtle wood used for this Casey Travel Guitar.
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Casey Acoustic Travel Guitar - Headstock Detail
Once again, Fred used a Maple Leaf - this time in Bubinga on Myrtle - as the headstock inlay. It's nice to think a bit of Canada stayed in Puerto Rico!
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'Dream Big' Koa Travel Guitar
Fred's wife, Kate Ferris, asked him to build her a travel guitar completely of Koa, with an Orca whale inlay. The idea of a whale on a little guitar inspired the name, 'Dream Big'.
Owner: Kate Ferris
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'Dream Big' Koa Travel Guitar - Back View
The Koa wood on this little guitar was really outstanding. Fred always says, 'Why make a travel guitar that sounds like a toy? A travel guitar should sound as good as a full-sized guitar.' And they do!
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'Dream Big' Koa Travel Guitar - Headstock Detail
Here's the Orca inlay that Kate requested for the headstock. The black is Ebony, the white is Bone, and the wave is Abilone.
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'Dream Big' Koa Travel Guitar - Rosette Detail
Fred used a simple Abalone shell ring to set off the Koa wood. But you'll notice that there's one more Orca. He's just a bit shy!
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