Here is a nice guitar. People ask me all the time what woods I recommend and what sound do certain woods give and what the interaction of the woods are, etc. I say who cares. In fact I just looked at my private wood stash. Yes I have a "private stock" wood stash as well, just like Paul Reed Smith, except that the people I buy wood from know that I don't want perfect wood, in fact I ask that they put asside flawed and defective wood for me, as long as its weird I want it. The weirder the better for me. I don't even care what wood it is. If it looks strange and freaky, I make a guitar out of it. I really stay away from those grossly figured pieces that look like guts and internal organs. That makes me vomit.

Take this top for example. I bought this piece a few years ago. I don't even remember where and I have no idea what it is. It turns out that I have lots of wood that I have no idea what it is. All kinds of different wood. I even have some Urban Forest wood, which is from trees found on the streets of LA. If its weird I buy it. I forgot to mark all this stuff and some I have never even heard of anyway. Many times I don't even bother asking what it is, because it makes no difference to me. So there will be more guitars made from "Unknown" wood coming up.

So don't ask me any questions about wood and how it makes my guitars sound, etc. etc. I don't know and I don't dare. I leave that to the "real Luthiers" in the world.

I mentioned this to Eli and he is more articulate at explaining it then I.

hmmm, well it's actually a complex thing. The way you do things it has to be intuitive and creative and not all oriented around what exact wood is used. On the other hand the woods do effect the sound. That Korina wood is very light and soft and I think it really plays a part in the tone. As do the lower output pups. The Shadow does sound different than Korina. Combination of heavy hard/softer woods, higher output pups. Seth's guitar and Shadow ALSO sound quite different and the ONLY big difference is the body top wood and the type of saddles. So make of that what you will. But the bottom line is this: all the guitars are great. They do differ and there are many contributing factors but no matter what it will be a great sounding guitar. So he can relax. The one thing they all have in common is your design, dedication and integrity and if that's happening then it will sound great. Exactly what it sounds like will have to wait until the guitar is done.... gotta run

There is a long time follower of my website name Louis, who has bugged me ever since the first Z2 about moving the input jack to the side of the guitar. He said that any guitar with a jack on top reminds him of a really crappy guitar he used to have when he was younger. I kept saying NO and now for some strange reason I decided to try it and here it is a Z2 with the jack on the side. Knock yourself out Louis!

I like archtops so I decided to add the tone knob. Turn it down and get an archtop sound from this thing. I am also getting ready to make hollowbodies that will do it all.

Speaking of details, I decided to use Gibson knobs but the glossy knobs just did not look right on my guitars, so I took the gloss down by brushing the knobs. Now its a better match.

Make of this what you will. I find it a bit puzzling myself.
Let me know your thoughts.

Therefore this guitar is now available for sale.

May 15, 05
Alex, thought I'd check in regarding the guitar. The anticipation is growing, can't wait to strum the first chord on that baby. I'm especially excited about trying out the neck; ...I guess not everyone can have a Zachary. Hope to talk to you real soon. -Sanjit

Ma y 26, 05
Alex, Just got your e-mail last night. I saw pictures of the guitar on your website. To be quite honest, aesthetically the guitar is not exactly what I was looking for. It is an excellent guitar, but not quite the guitar for me. If you are at all interested as to why, let me know, and I'll tell you. Please go ahead and sell it to someone else. I'm sure there are many guitarists out there that would love to own it. Thanks for building the guitar, and for putting your passion into the instrument. I hope that you will continue to be able to build such fine instruments as long as you desire to do so. All the best, Sanjit

May 30, 05
Alex, There were a few reasons that I decided not to purchase your latest guitar. They may seem relatively minor (and probably are to most people), however I want the next guitar I buy to be the last. The first reason is the extra tone knob that you added to this particular guitar, and the side output-jack; I really like your standard set-up, where the output jack is on the front of the body, and there is no tone knob. To me, there is more of a unity of style with this design. The second reason is I'm honestly not a big fan of the top-wood. I don't need a perfectly grained wood, but I think maybe it's just the color. I like a really dark wood (like walnut, or mahogany stained in such a manner), or a much lighter wood like maple. I also liked the bodies you made that were one single type of wood, as opposed to the split top/bottom. That's about it. As I'm sure you realize, these are simply aesthetic issues. I think the best way I could sum it up is to say that I'd love to own a Zachary, just not the particular one that you built last. I appreciate your building it for me, though, and I'm sure an intelligent musician out there will put it to good use. Keep it going, man. Take care, Sanjit

Another killer guitar. The wood is very interesting as always. "Unknown", nice and mysterious. Very nice asymmetric flame and tigerstripes, really sweet. Ebony fingerboard without markers. I just love that. It makes for a completely serene and functional look. And I honestly believe it helps playing. Maybe I'm nuts, I don't know, but I get the impression that a board is easier to play without dots on the front. Hey, a separate tone control! You must be getting Gibsonitis! David

Oh, can't wait to see the upcoming "mystery wood" Zach.
Boutique guitar makers all over the world are freaking out. "Whaaat?? No Brazilian rainforest rosewood? No mirror perfect flamed Peruvian jackrabbit pattern extra rare...?"  -Eli

This is just incredible, outstanding work on the new guitar. Yet another Z2. Completely different from the rest of them, and yet somehow consistent in its' vibe and undoubtedly a spectacular player and fabulous sounding instrument.

I've been doing some recording with my Z2, and continue to be spellbound by the endless palette of clean, semi-clean and dirty tones available. All are useable and sound rich and full, I'm having a hard time picking which sounds to use on each song to get the best impact possible. I used a Marshall JCM-800 to record a few songs, and the tones are just thick as a milkshake. Crank the amp (50 Watter), use a Fender Tube Reverb head for a little extra "vibe," and blammo. It will be a while before this stuff gets mixed, but it could end up being good stuff to post to your site.

I think that one thing that needs to be said about the Zach Attack pickups is that in HB mode they straddle the fence between the warmth and definition of a P-90 with the obvious attendant noise reduction of a humbucker. Are the polepieces closer together than on a regular HB? I know they're in a P-90 size casing, but haven't measured them. They seem to get a crisper sampling of the string (i.e. better definition) than most humbuckers, which I find to be muddy (with the exception of the original Filtertrons, of course). Guess that's why until I got my Z I always played Jrs. and Specials.

Personally, I think whoever gets the new guitar really isn't going to think for more than a moment about what kind of wood you're using for the top, Eli once pointed out to me that your instruments are really about the synergies you achieve in construction as opposed to simply the type of fretboard wood etc. I'll bet there is a consistency of feel to all these guitars regardless of wood type, just that some may be brighter and some may be darker, and there it just gets down to personal preference. Personally, I like the jack on top and the one knob setup, but I can see how it might be nice to have a second Z with a tone control for variety's sake.

I'm betting that my next one will be a hollowbody, though. I just got a new job and am working like a dog, but somethings gotta pay for the wife, kiddies and music, Eh? All my best, Robert S. Frankel

I just realized that not only are the horns rounded on this new Z2 but the body as well. That is SLICK!! I think for my classical position the hard edges on shadow and Korina help keep the guitar in place but for most folks that rounded thing is great. The subtle innovation continues! -Eli

What's up Alex, It's Lou. How you doing buddy? Curious, Do you still have a stash of Korina? Have you ever thought about using Koa? Are you still open to the idea of putting the jack in a different area? > > > > Talk to you soon > > Lou

Hey Alex, how the hell are you? It's Lou in Va. Wow I can't believe my eyes. I love the location of the input jack! Is that a tone knob on there? Man, things sure are changing quickly with you now. So the base price on your axes is now 2 G's. So of all your guitars so far which one is your favorite? Hope all is well, Lou

Speaking of Awesome, I Really Dig the new Z2!!! I really liked the 2 in 1 volume/tone control that Ya put on the other Z2, but the separate controls look Killer too!!! OH, and the side plug looks like a Real Winner also!!! Were Ya gonna try those ideas on the 8-string too? I'm just curious, cause what ever You decide will be A-OK in my book!!! I bet redoing the control cavity in the back musta been a bit of a pain, but it looks Fantastic none the less!!! Anyway, Thx for everything, Bro, and I hope Yer doing Well!!! Say Hi to Susan and the Kids for me, and take care of Yerself!!! Yer the Bestest,Bro!!!  Love Ya, Bobby Simcox

This is the way the story goes.
The person for whom the guitar originally was made for did not want to take this guitar. His message and explanation, as strange as it may be, is posted above. Another person bought it a short time later. Despite my careful screening procedures this was not definitely not the right person to sell the guitar to. He was a Peace Of Shit named Carl Resnikoff who did not play it much but did vandalized the guitar by making two holes in the back of the top horn to relocate the strap button. This was totally mindless, absurd and an act of brutality. It sent shockwaves through the Zachary community. Carl after doing what he did, decided to sell the guitar. It was of no use to him after all. It is doubtful if the POS could even play at all.

James from Arizona quickly jumped on the situation and proceeded to do everything in his power to rescue the guitar. James paid more than POs Carl deserved for the molested guitar. Carl Resnikoff even ripped him of with the $100 shipping charge from CA to AZ. James just wanted to get the guitar away from the Asshole Carl.
The guitar was then sent to me for restoration. I restored the guitar by eliminating the wood damage and the nasty holes Carl made as well as his unskilled alteration of its action. I put the guitar back to spec. There was no way I would charge James for this work after all he had done to rescue the guitar.

James named this guitar Carl Sr. as reference to Carl Jr. the guitar molester.

Thanks to James, this guitar finally has a happy ending and a great home.

James writes after receiving the restored gutiar:

I knew you did a setup, but I had no idea that you were going to do a fret level and everything! This guitar might even surpass the G2 now. I have never seen a guitar with action this low and no sign of buzzing whatsoever. It looks like you adjusted the bridge pickup closer to the strings. The repair is almost unnoticeable, and it feels so much better without the strap button poking me in the chest. Try getting PRS to go out of his way for a customer like this. Hah! Not even for Santana I bet!   James (AZ)