John Buckham 'European Spruce / Cuban Mahogany' OM ‘Natural’ Acoustic Guitar

The John Buckham European Spruce and Cuban Mahogany OM is a guitar of extraordinary material provenance and considered lutherie philosophy - an orchestra model built in Wauchope, New South Wales entirely without CNC machining, where every neck is carved by hand and eye using rasps, files, scrapers, and sandpaper, and where the choice of tonewoods reflects a decades-long relationship with rare and historically significant timbers. The Cuban mahogany back and sides represent perhaps the most remarkable provenance story of any tonewood in this instrument - sourced from the top of an English-made mahogany breakfast table, circa 1880, the timber is old-growth Cuban mahogany of a quality and character that simply does not exist in new supply. Old Cuban mahogany requires no darkening by stain or toner - its natural colour is a beautiful, rich brown that speaks immediately to its age, density, and the conditions under which it grew over centuries before being felled. It is tonewood as living history.

European spruce top over Cuban mahogany back and sides produces an acoustic voice of exceptional warmth, clarity, and harmonic richness - the stiffness and natural resonance of European spruce complementing the density, warmth, and tonal complexity of old-growth Cuban mahogany in a combination that is as tonally distinguished as it is materially irreplaceable. The old-growth Brazilian mahogany neck adds further depth of material character, while the highly figured Comboyne Plateau Blackwood - personally harvested from the same plateau that supplied the Blackwood for previous Buckham instruments - appears throughout in signature Buckham style: rosette background, binding, and bridge, the latter weighing in at 20-22 grams. Low-mass bridges are a fundamental element of Buckham’s lutherie philosophy, allowing the soundboard to vibrate with maximum freedom and contributing directly to the richly resonant, open acoustic character that distinguishes his instruments. The Indian rosewood fingerboard and headplate, falcate bracing with carbon fibre-laminated curved spruce braces, and carbon fibre neck reinforcement complete an instrument that represents the full expression of one luthier’s considered and deeply personal approach to building acoustic guitars.

Features

• European spruce top over Cuban mahogany back and sides - sourced from the top of an English-made breakfast table circa 1880 - delivers an acoustic voice of exceptional warmth, clarity, and harmonic richness from tonewoods of irreplaceable historical character and quality.
• Old-growth Cuban mahogany is a tonewood of genuine rarity - its natural rich brown colour requires no staining or toning, reflecting the density and cellular maturity of timber grown over centuries under conditions that modern plantation mahogany cannot replicate.
• Highly figured Comboyne Plateau Blackwood binding, rosette background, and low-mass bridge (20-22 grams) reflect Buckham’s signature construction philosophy - low bridge mass allowing the soundboard to vibrate with maximum freedom for richly resonant, open acoustic character.
• Falcate bracing with carbon fibre-laminated curved spruce braces allows tops of considerably less mass than conventional X-bracing - producing more sound for the same string energy and contributing to the instrument’s characteristic sensitivity and tonal richness.
• Old-growth Brazilian mahogany neck with carbon fibre reinforcement, Indian rosewood fingerboard and headplate, and entirely handmade construction without CNC machining of any kind reflect the fully individual and irreproducible character of a John Buckham instrument.

• Builder: John Buckham, Wauchope NSW
• Body: Orchestra Model (OM)
• Top: European spruce
• Back & sides: Cuban mahogany (sourced from English mahogany breakfast table, circa 1880)
• Bracing: Falcate bracing (Trevor Gore design) with carbon fibre-laminated curved spruce braces
• Neck: Old-growth Brazilian mahogany
• Neck reinforcement: Carbon fibre
• Fingerboard: Indian rosewood
• Headplate: Indian rosewood
• Bridge: Highly figured Comboyne Plateau Blackwood, low-mass (20-22 grams)
• Binding: Highly figured Comboyne Plateau Blackwood
• Rosette: Highly figured Comboyne Plateau Blackwood background, signature Buckham style
• Nut width: 44mm
• Scale length: 25.4"
• Tuners: Gotoh 510
• Finish: Natural
• Electronics: None
• Made in: Australia (Wauchope, NSW)