When Astrophysics Meets Lutherie - Marc Dickinson's "Cosmic" Guitar is Coming Soon to GSI!

Luthier Marc Dickinson is currently building another "Cosmic" guitar for GSI. Marc has been building guitars, mainly part-time, for nearly 20 years. It's important to know that, in addition to being a luthier, Marc holds multiple advanced degrees in science, including a PhD in physics. His current primary interest lies in astrophysics, and he draws significant inspiration from astrophotography. In fact, the rosette design of this guitar is inspired by his photograph of the Messier 13 great globular cluster. Additionally, he has developed purflings for the top, tie-block, head veneer, and rosette using diminishing pointed purflings that run counter to each other. Marc refers to these as "diffraction lines," akin to the starburst lines seen in many images from the James Webb Telescope. The blend of these "cosmic" elements is executed beautifully and tastefully, giving the guitar a unique and personalized appearance.

This is going to be our third instrument from him, and it will feature a cedar top with Indian rosewood back and sides. This guitar will also have a new "cosmic" back-strip and ebony bindings. Marc also normally does a small dot fret indicator (5,7,9) of brass, but this time he made the indicators a small brass ring filled with meteorite shavings/dust from the Brenham meteorite.  It’s only a tiny amount of non-Earth material, but it adds to the ‘Cosmic’ theme of the guitar.  

Check out some sneak peek photos below!