Mule

I think a special feature of these instruments is the patina. When I originally saw Kelly Joe Phelps play his National guitar, he made a joke about the chrome blinding the audience. I left wondering if I could build a steel body resonator that sounded more like a normal acoustic guitar and also looked like the natural material. Steel develops a beautiful patina over time through oxidation. The trick was putting on a patina that looked natural, multi-dimensional and intriguing. Quite a bit was involved in figuring that out. My brother Phil has been training with me for over year to build bodies and apply the patina. He's done a great job. Here is that process.