I was travelling through London with my sister in December of 2007 when we decided to take a quick train ride out of the city and say hi to luthier extraordinaire Michael Gee and pick out the Brazilian rosewood for Trilogy's next instrument.

Our next guitar will be one of four special editions Michael is building for his 30th Anniversary as a guitar builder!

We got to know each other sipping some tea in his kitchen (well, quite a bit of tea as Michael is a huge fan!), discussing the recording of guitars, and comparing notes on our favorite wines types (mine: Petite Sirah; Michael: Rioja) before we set to task. We went out through the front of the house to his unassuming workshop and stole some looks at other guitars in the queue at various stages of completion. Michael had set aside a stack of Brazilian back and sides candidates for me to rummage through and mull over.

I have been cultivating my wood selecting process for the past 5 years while working at Trilogy. I gained the basic skills (holding the wood at an angle, keeping a stern but searching look) and catch phrases ("beautiful grain", "wow, look at that figuring", "nice spider webbing" etc.) pretty quickly, but it took awhile for me to feel confident backing up my once empty observations and make a good selection. When I found my favorite and gave it the nod, Michael informed me that he had his own favorite in the group, which he felt was a true standout and that he'd hoped that I would pick it but that he did not wanted to influence the process. I suddenly became very nervous and my practiced "stern, searching" look dropped as I waited for him to tell me which set I should've chosen. He pointed to the set in my hands and confirmed my choice as the best of the bunch. I lifted the Brazilian up, held it at a slight angle, donned a smiling yet searching face, and commented on the beautiful grain and spider webbing.

Trilogy Future: Michael Gee 30th Anniversary Model due summer 2009!