This is without exception the most unique guitar Bob [Benedetto] has ever created. The sound holes are naturally constructed by the Teredo mollusk, also known as the Ship Worm. Never one to shy away from a challenge, when Brent Cole, owner of Alaska Specialty Woods, handed Bob some of his finest Sitka spruce — including a bizarre example of the Teredo-eaten spruce — he couldn’t resist but to take it and turn it into a fine archtop. Carrying around the bookmatched top for years, only recently did Bob have the time to create a guitar around the top. The result is a spectacular 16” traditional archtop with a hand applied satin oil varnish. Had the Teredo not helped create the sound holes, this wood would have been cherished as master grade Sitka fitting of only the finest and most expensive guitars. Thanks to Bob’s sense of humor and ingenuity, the Teredo tone wood got a second lease on life and has become perhaps one of the most uniquely collectible archtops ever made. By the way, it sounds and plays like a Benedetto!!!
Sometime between 1955-1964, massive Sitka spruce logs were cut and lashed together to form log floats. 20 or so floats were in-turn lashed together on which a logger’s camp was built (literally a floating town that was towed and anchored from bay to bay…floating homes for Alaskan loggers and their families.) While submerged, the log floats were victimized by the Teredo.
The Teredo is a saltwater clam notorious for boring into wooden structures which are immersed in sea water, including piers, docks and wooden ships.
They have been the subject of much study to find methods to avoid their attacks. The use of cooper sheathing on wooden ships during the Age of Exploration was a method of preventing damage by the Teredo. Christopher Columbus’ ships were among the earliest known to employ this defense.
Price: $52,500.http://benedettoguitars.com/boutique/il-teredo/
Termite story:
http://www.tdpri.com/forum/bad-dog-cafe/233841-who-knows-50s-fender-guitar-termite-story.html
