In July 2026, I commissioned a pair of small-bodied, cedar-topped guitars from my friends at Avalon Guitars in Northern Ireland: an S15C featuring mahogany back and sides and an S35C featuring rosewood back and sides.
Spoiler Alert: I was so excited about these two builds that I quickly decided to add a third Avalon guitar: an S25C with a cedar top and walnut back and sides.
Back in the early 2000s, I used an Avalon A101 guitar to record my
Celtic Guitar and
Solo Guitar albums, which led to a partnership as an Avalon artist. So when I recently decided to return to focusing on acoustic fingerstyle guitar, I knew Avalon would be able to build the perfect guitars for my playing style.
This page will be where I share updates with photos and details during the build process, so be sure to check back often!
The Avalon builds have begun! I received the first batch of pictures today, and I was surprised at quickly things are coming together.
This picture shows the abalone rosette being added to one of the cedar tops. After the channel for the rosette is routed, pre-radiused pieces of abalone are fitted into the U-shaped purfling material that adds the pinstriping that frames the rosette.
Here, the tops with the finished rosettes are shown alongside the pieces of mahogany and rosewood that will be used for the backs of the guitars:
I love this picture of the braces on the back of the rosewood guitar being shaved. The shape that the shaved wood forms is really cool:
The finishing touches are applied to the x-bracing pattern on one of the cedar tops:
The next two images show the mahogany sides clamped into the mold to retain their shape:
The rosewood sides receiving the same treatment:
These two pictures show the shaped sides next to each other. I love how the colors of the mahogany and the rosewood complement each other:
These next few pictures show the neck blocks and tail blocks being glued in place, as the rims of the guitars come together:
In the last few pictures in this update, the kerfing (which gives the tops and backs of the guitars more surface contact area when glued to the rims) has been added and is being clamped in place while the glue dries:
It's so exciting to see these guitars taking shape, knowing that they'll end up in my hands. Looking forward to the next update!
The tops and backs of both guitars have been glued to the rims, so now the soundboxes are nearly complete. The next step will be to add the bindings. Here's the back of the mahogany S15C:
Another angle of the mahogany back:
This shot of the tail of the S15C shows off the colors of the cedar top and the mahogany sides. Pretty cool to see the end grain of the cedar top—it's almost a shame it'll be hidden when the bindings are added.
The cedar top of the S15C with the gorgeous abalone rosette:
Here's the back of the rosewood S35C. Love all of the brown, purple, and gray hues of that beautiful rosewood!
The cedar top on the rosewood S35C:
The S35C and S15C soundboxes side by side. It's neat to see the ends of the braces notched into the sides like that... another detail of the construction that will be concealed by the binding.
The next step will be to add the maple bindings, which will provide a nice contrasting frame to show off the woods (even more) and add the finishing touches to the soundboxes.
Then it's on to the necks! These guitars will feature 5-piece laminated necks, because I've always loved that look and the added stability they provide—so I'm excited to see that part of the process.
| Update #3: August 13, 2026 |
I'm excited to announce that I've decided to add a
third Avalon guitar to the collection! This one will be cedar/walnut, and will give me one of each of the tonewoods Avalon offers for their Performer Series of guitars.
The first picture here shows the set of walnut that will be used for the back of the guitar. It's always interesting to see the wood at this stage, before it starts taking the shape of a guitar and before it's under any kind of finish to emphasize the colors. But I like the look, and of course it will just keep getting better as it's crafted into a guitar.
Here's the full set of woods that have been set aside for this guitar. The mold frames the walnut back nicely, showing what it'll look like with a guitar shape. The walnut sides and the cedar top can also been seen, along with the 5-piece neck that's mahogany with walnut and maple stripes.
| Update #4: August 17, 2026 |
Just a quick update today, with a couple of pictures now that the bindings have been added to the bodies of the first two guitars.
The mahogany S15C has a really unique-looking binding using a wood called wenge (WEN-gay):
The rosewood S35C, meanwhile, has maple binding:
| Update #5: August 21, 2026 |
The walnut S25C is well underway! Avalon send me a handful of update pics this morning, and I was pleasantly surprised at how much progress was made in the week since we selected the woods.
Here, the sides have been bent and placed in the mold so the heelblock and tailblock can be glued in place:
Clamping the heelblock and tailblock as the glue dries:
Back in the mold to prepare for adding the kerfing:
Kerfing for the top of the guitar being clamped in place:
Here, the kerfing for the back and and the braces for the sides have been added:
This shot shows the rim of the guitar almost ready to add the top and back to close the soundbox. The bracing patterns for the cedar top and the walnut back are also visible:
And in the last image we see the sides of the cedar top and walnut back that will be visible when glued to the rim :
Looking forward to the next update!
| Update #6: September 21, 2026 |
It's been a while since the last update, and the folks at Avalon have been busy! The first two guitars are actually completed, and we're just waiting for the cases to arrive so they can be shipped.
Here's the rosewood headstock veneer and the Avalon logo on the S35C:
The flamed maple binding against the rosewood of the S35C:
And a shot of the rosewood back being framed by the maple binding. The maple theme continues with the center strips along the multi-piece neck:
The front of the mahogany S15C:
The rosewood headstock veneer on the S15C:
This view of the S15C's cutaway shows the beautiful finish on the mahogany, framed by the wenge binding:
The back of the mahogany S15C, with the walnut center strip along the neck:
The walnut S25C is also coming along nicely. Here's a shot of the front with the soundbox assembled and the neck attached:
The S25C's cutaway with the walnut sides nicely framed by the leopardwood binding:
And finally, the walnut back on the S25C, with the walnut center strip along the center of the mahogany neck :
The next update on the S15C and S35C should be when they arrive... so exciting! The S25C shouldn't be too far behind, either.
