❌SOLD❌ Tim Reede Custom OM Palo Escrito Steel String Guitar, 2016

Tim Reede builds guitars in Minneapolis, Minnesota and has been involved in professional woodworking since 1997. Since 2015, he’s been teaching a guitar construction course at Southwest Technical College in Minneapolis.

Tim Reede’s instruments are demonstrations of his skill and craftsmanship, and also of his understanding of what a guitar needs – an understanding comes from actually playing them. This model from the builder is US$5,000 – about $6,600 Canadian.

Here we have a Tim Reede Palo OM, built during 2016 at Reede’s shop in Minneapolis using bearclaw Sitka Spruce, for the top, Palo Escrito for the sides and back, and a 5-piece neck of mahogany, walnut and maple.
Reede’s tops are carefully selected for potential and tap tuned to deliver the best response.

The binding is Indian Rosewood, and the braces are hand-scalloped Adirondack Spruce. THe neck joint is a dovetail, using hide glue for tonal quality. Hide Glue is also preferable in these joints because it’s almost inevitable for steel string guitars to require a neck reset, usually after two or three decades, and that glue makes disassembly easier. The headstock is built with a scarf joint and volute, which dramatically improves strength and reduces the possibility of breakage.

The headplate, fingerboard and bridge are Indian Rosewood with bone for the nut and saddle. The top features a very blue Abalone rosette. Tuners are Gotoh 510 models, very smooth and accurate. THe bridge pins are Ebony with Abalone dots.

This lovely OM is in excellent condition. It shows off both Tim Reede’s understanding of and skill in guitar construction and woodworking, and also the capabilities of the OM body design. The full range of frequencies is well represented, from rich lows and warm midrange, to sparkling highs. The original hard shell case is included.

Palo Escrito is a true Rosewood, native to Mexico and used as the premiere material by luthiers in Paracho, known as the ‘Guitar Capital of Mexico’. It is now regulated strictly by the Mexican government, so its use may diminish.

As a Rosewood, Palo Escrito has a lighter colour, wider grain and increased figuring compared to other variants. It has the warm, full midranges that led to this species being a standard for acoustic guitars.