Emily - The Yellow Rose of Texas

---

Emily was built for the Local Wood Challenge at the Holy Grail Exhibition in Berlin Germany. Guitar builders from all over the world come together and present guitars made from woods all native to their homeland. 

Emily Morgan was a spy for Sam Houston who "occupied" Santa Anna  as the Texans prepared their attack at the Battle of San Jacinto, where Texas won independence from Mexico. She is the famous Yellow Rose of Texas.

All of the guitars inlays and sound holes are very symbolic. The blue and the red of the 100 piece front inlay represent the courage and the blood shed by the valiant defenders of the Alamo, and the 400 Texan freedom fighters Santa Ana executed on palm Sunday 1836. The teardrop shaped sound holes are symbolic also.

The Texas history theme continues to the sides and back where the red streaked box elder resembles blood stains. At San Jacinto the Texans rose like the Phoenix inlaid on the back of this guitar form the ashes of their early defeats to win their independence.

Typical of all Saddle Pals, Emily has a full, balanced sound that defies her size. Click the blue button below to hear what she sounds like.

back and sides - box elder; top - Engelmann spruce; fingerboard, binding, access panel cover - Texas ebony; neck -Canadian maple; bridge honey mesquite 

This Saddle Pal is truly a beautiful, one of a kind musical tool.  It's uniqueness begins with a three dimensional rosette and 14 sound holes.

The select Engelmann spruce top supplies a a huge voice with complete string to string balance, super intonation, and deep bass notes uncharacteristic of small guitars.

Wood lovers will find a lot to like on this guitar. Rarely does one find Madagascar rosewood of this quality anymore.

Like all Lame Horse Guitars, this guitar is built to last. It is equipped with a rear access panel to allow easy visualization and access to the interior of the guitar. Changing or adding electronics is a breeze. Inspecting and repairing damage, should it occur, can easily and accurately be accomplished.

All Lame Horse guitars feature playing action easily adjustable under full string tension. A few turns of the Allen wrench, and one always maintains perfect playing action regardless of weather conditions or the instruments age.

Lame Horse Guitars come with custom fitted Calton Travel Cases, the worlds best guitar case. Made in Austin, TX, USA. Robin's case has a blue exterior with a gold interior.

Grace is a sister to Belagana, as they share the Dome style 3 dimensional rosette, although the rosettes are made of very different materials, and Grace sports a black top.

Very highly figured sapele back and sides are paired with Macassar ebony bindings on the body, for a tasteful rich appearance. 

We knew it would take a very special look to do justice to the look, if we were going to continue the series of DOME rosette Elko guitars. Belagana was such a striking instrument. However, we think Grace measures up. She is all Grace with her flat awabi abalone rosette overlaid with the DOME containing red jasper nuggets with veins of real gold running through the jasper. The top of the guitar is purfled with the same jasper and gold stone. The contrast with the black top makes it all even more beautiful.

Like all Lame Horse Guitars, this guitar is built to last. It is equipped with a rear access panel to allow easy visualization and access to the interior of the guitar. Changing or adding electronics is a breeze. Inspecting and repairing damage, should it occur, can easily and accurately be accomplished.

All Lame Horse guitars feature playing action easily adjustable under full string tension. A few turns of the Allen wrench, and one always maintains perfect playing action regardless of weather conditions or the instruments age.

Lame Horse Guitars come with custom fitted Calton Travel Cases, the worlds best guitar case. Made in Austin, TX, USA. Grace's case has a blue exterior with a gold interior.

This guitar was dubbed "Sweet Marie" because, as the sinker mahogany, scientific name, Swietenia macrophyll,  back and sides were being worked, Bob Dylan began to sing "Where are you tonight sweet Marie?" over the speakers in my shop. The genus name and the song just seemed to fit. We fitted Marie with a 60's vintage vibe paisley rosette.  It was meant to be.

Sweet Marie is made from highly figured Honduran mahogany (sinker mahogany) which was recovered from the rivers of Belize after being under water over 100 years. The wood doesn't rot under water, but the bacteria remove all the sap from the wood, leaving it lighter and more resonant than regular Honduran mahogany.

Like all Lame Horse guitars, Marie is well finished inside and out. Her sides are laminated for strength and stability with curly maple, and reinforced with one of a kind sinker mahogany side braces. All interior surfaces are finished as well.

All Lame Horse guitars are fitted with a rear access panel which gives easy access to the inside of the guitar. It makes it very simple to examine the interior of the instrument for damage, and to place or replace electronics inside the guitar.

Marie's neck is made of 11 separate pieces of mahogany and curly maple. The multiple laminations of contrasting color woods, topped with an ebony fingerboard, make this neck very stable as well as beautiful. The maple in the neck is a nice color match to the creamy white American holly bindings on the guitar.

Marie has been a demo instrument for us for the past year. However, we have spent the last month going over her with a fine tooth comb and bringing her up to like new condition with new B Band electronics, the latest neck adjustment system, and a fret dress.