Thanks to a generous donor, SIMSCal members who attended the 2026 annual meeting (and elections) were given the opportunity to blind draw from a couple of boxes of well wrapped guitar sets. I lucked into a gorgeous Cocobolo and German Spruce classical guitar set that is slated to become a modern interpretation of a 30’s Gibson L-00. A small body guitar will also let me take advantage of some of the 125 year old spruce brace material that I salvaged from my father in laws piano. This aged spruce tinkles like ebony when dropped. Thinking that a flame maple binding all around , a similarly bound ebony fingerboard, and a pyramid bridge to complement the 30’s vibe would contrast nicely with the Cocobolo. Vintage amber french polish and some simple pearl position markers. Struggling deciding between 12 or 14 fret necks. I have a nice set of Waverly Slot Head tuning machines the have been sitting for a couple of years waiting on a home, but I do like to play in that octave position and stringing slotted head tuners is more painful than it should be. Decisions, decisions. For now , I guess I should just to don my hazmat gear and get to planing, scraping and sanding,