Yesterday, I took delivery of a much anticipated Tiger from our own Bob Fishman (Augustwest1). I've had one of his Wolf's for about a year and a half now. Tiger, however, has always been my favorite of all guitar designs (including Jerry's or anyone else's). I had a Tiger from Leo at Scarlet Fire that I sold several years ago and have been craving another ever since. I was beyond thrilled to find out that Bob was going to start building Tigers as well. Having seen evidence of his gifted skills as a luthier firsthand with my Wolf, I knew his Tiger would be unparalleled in every respect as well. Needless to say, I wasn't disappointed. Everything about it is sheer perfection. In the Wolf thread, I mentioned that I have several custom Alembic guitars and use the craftsmanship of those instruments as the yardstick against which I measure the skill of others building in the "hippie-sandwich" style...with ornate inlay work, body carvings and other exquisite details. Bob's talent rivals the best I have ever seen. He is a truly gifted builder.
One thing I love about this guitar compared to others that I've seen, is Bob's choice of top wood. The more subdued figuring and grain pattern is the perfect match for this guitar. Many Tigers out there sport extremely ornate cocobolo tops with wild figuring. While they are beautiful in their own right, IMHO they detract from the wonderful body carving, contours and other details inherent to Tiger. Plus, given the rather unique body shape of this guitar, I feel that such woods have the tendency to make the entire instrument appear quite over-the-top (no pun intended).
I will post more detailed photos once my family is back from vacation and I have access to a decent camera. For now, I'll simply whet everyone's appetite with two pics Bob sent me as well as one I took yesterday with Tiger alongside its new roommate.