2024 Iris OG Custom Torrefied Adirondack/Mahogany

Iris OG S/N 1039

The original inspiration for the Iris OG model came from a Hermann Hauser style classical guitar. Just prior to WWII, that body style was adopted for steel string guitars and became known as the LG style. They were smaller than a dreadnought size, though with enough body volume to evoke the full bodied tone of the larger instrument. The LG style remained popular for many years after, but largely fell out of favor by the 1970s, with few made until a renewed interest brought forth recent models like the Iris OG. 

This Iris OG has a Torrefied Adirondack spruce top and Mahogany back and sides. The body and neck are finished in a medium brown with ivoroid binding on the top and back, with three ply black-white-black purfling on the top, an ivoroid pickguard and a single ring black-white-black sound-hole rosette. The neck is mahogany with an Indian rosewood fingerboard and a solid headstock. The headstock has open back Gotoh SXB510 tuners with cream buttons and the full Iris logo decal. The scale length is 25,” the nut width is 1 ¾,” and the string spacing on the Indian rosewood bridge is 2 3/16.” The neck is joined to the body at the fourteenth fret; there are nineteen frets in total, with dot markers at the fifth, seventh, ninth, twelfth and fifteenth frets. 

The Torrefied Adirondack top adds a special character to the tone of this guitar. The torrefaction process heats the raw lumber blanks to a high temperature in a zero oxygen environment. The result is a stiffer, lighter top. Many players say that the sound of a new guitar opens up more quickly if the top has been torrified. 

In this case, the guitar shows signs of extensive play and it has a very dynamic voice, it has already opened up nicely. There is playwear, the matte finish on the top, back and sides has been worn in a few places to a glossy sheen. There are strum wear marks around the soundhole, some through the finish into the bare wood below and extending to the bass side waist. The back of the neck is also glossy, a result of many hours of play. A pickup was once installed and has now been removed, leaving an endpin hole that’s ready for a new jack and pickup if so desired.