Let Ship Worms build your guitar!

MichaelHorowitz · October 2008

Il Teredo (Serial #S1416GP)

This
is without exception the most unique guitar Bob 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!!! Price: $52,500

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.

View the Specifications
of Il Teredo.

For information on how to purchase this guitar, click
here.