A few days later I was talking to David about a custom. His most popular body style is somewhere between a mid-size and a jumbo. It's a hard thing to pin down, because while the lower bout on his J6 is basically jumbo in size, the upper bout is smaller than you'd find on most bigger guitars. It makes the J6 curvy. Me liked. (I should note that David just came out with what he's calling an "F-body," which is slightly smaller all around and is a great and versatile fingerstyle guitar. David had one in spruce and sycamore at the Newport Guitar Festival and it was very nice.)

What I wanted was essentially a larger-bodied guitar than what I had been playing in my Taylor x12s. I love the Grand Concert size and sound, but I was getting to the point where I was easily overdriving the smaller guitars. I wanted an instrument that would stand up to the more percussive playing I'd been starting to explore. I was after a darker, bigger sound - definitely more Espresso Roast than Breakfast Blend. I wanted a guitar with a decent amount of headroom so I could push my dynamic range. But I also wanted a guitar that would be responsive to a lighter touch - a guitar capable of sounding sweet. I also wanted a guitar which would handle the lower tunings I typically play in (D and C tunings). We decided on a slightly longer scale at 25.7".

There were also some aesthetic qualities I was after. I had a couple of fancier-looking guitars. I didn't really want another. I decided against inlay and elaborate finish. What I wanted was simple, elegant, and decidedly workmanlike. Wood and steel. That would do. I considered not doing a cutaway to leave things as simple as possible, but on pondering the design and pros and cons, I proposed something to David that he graciously considered. While I was studying with my good friend Al Petteway, Al incredibly kindly loaned me his custom Larry Sifel small-body cutaway (the "Petteway Cutaway," actually). I loved the guitar and was sorry to give it back. I was particularly fond of the cutaway that Larry had done on that guitar, and gingerly asked David if he wouldn't be too insulted if I asked him to recreate it. He had no problem with it (other than making a new mold...). David talked to Larry (who confessed that he had no mold for the guitar, that he had just "bent it and it came out how it came out") and got permission. He then called Al and Al faxed a tracing of the cutaway to David's shop. I paid David a visit a few weeks later and he drew up the design - slightly freehand when it was all said and done - right before my eyes. How cool is all of that? From Larry to Al to me to David and back again!

Finally, there were also important matters of ergonomics. While I wanted a larger body on the guitar, I'm not a big guy. I needed something I could get my arms around. David offers a "bi-directional body taper," which was first done as a design element by Linda Manzer for Pat Metheny's Pikasso guitar (she calls it, simply, a wedge). What the design does is essentially take some width off the top of the guitar on the bass side, and add it back on the trebles (see the photos to come if this doesn't make sense). Without the taper I probably couldn't play the guitar comfortably. With it, it's perfect. A dream.

If you've hung out here in the past you've probably noticed that I have a thing for blue guitars. While I'd have taken another, I had decided to go with a combination of Western Red Cedar top and Mahogany back and sides for the guitar David would build. Neither wood would take a blue stain. I did, however, decide to carry on in the blue tradition where I could. The photo above is the custom Calton case made specially for the guitar - the interior is cut in the shape of a wedge to fit The Bumby perfectly. And the case is very, very blue.

I put an order in with David in Spring of 2003. He ordered the materials and we talked over various details. I visited his shop here and there over the course of several months. He had a number of guitars on his build list before mine and needed to get ready for Healdsburg 2003. Most unfortunately he came down with a severe case of pneumonia that lingered for four months over the Winter into Spring 2004. I spoke with him briefly here and there, and we traded emails. I didn't much care about the guitar (okay, I did, but you gotta have heart, folks) - I was just hoping David's health turned around as soon as possible. He finally got back on his feet in late Spring and finished my guitar days before the 2004 Newport Guitar Festival, where I picked it up.