Simpson Guitar Progress Page

The Brazilian Project

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DUE TO THE MANY INQUIRIES concerning the status of the Pawless "Brazilian Project", below is a brief description of it's "story" as well as it's current status.

In the Summer of 2005, a special guitar was commissioned to be built in the Pawless Guitar shop, named "The Brazilian Project". This guitar is not only special in the manner of the materials and extensive labor that would be put into it, but because of it's future owner. The "owner" is a Purple Heart recipient that has done tours of duty in Afghanistan and Iraq, and is currently stationed in Italy.

This would be a guitar made of premium and vintage woods. The neck would be carved from one solid piece of sixty year old Honduras Mahogany. The sound board would be constructed of extremely rare master grade Adirondack Spruce (Red Spruce). Interior bracing of the guitar was also made of Red Spruce. The back and side woods constructed of "old growth" pre-ban vintage, highest grade Brazilian Rosewood. No shortcuts were taken to build this instrument. Even "non-visible" pieces located inside the guitar such as the bridge plate and side bracing were made of this extremely rare Rosewood. The sound hole inlays, as well as the body and head stock borders, contain over 400 individual pieces of abalone, each less than 1/4" in length. Compare this to normal inlays of other guitars being made from pre-manufactured longer strips that normally would take minutes to inlay, to this method that took days. The "bone" parts, i.e. the nut and saddle are made of fossilized Walrus tusk. Even the tuners are Waverly, the highest quality available.

Unfortunately the guitar arrived to the client damaged. After about a week or so and some confusion with the client trying to file an insurance claim with the United States Post Office, the guitar was returned to the Gainesville, Texas Post Office for the claim to be handled here. On July 2, 2007 an insurance claim was filed at the Gainesville Post Office, as well as the guitar being placed in their vault. Below is documentation on it's status since the claim has been filed.

July 2, 2007 Claim filed and guitar left with Gainesville Post Office for funds to repair the guitar.

July 24, 2007 (22 days from claim date) Claim center was called to inquire on status. USPS website states that inquiries concerning insurance claims can be made by calling the Claim Center number after 20 days from when claim was filed at the Claims Center. After calling, the claim center stated it takes at least 30 days for them to get that information. An email was sent to the Post Office notifying them of that, and what their website stated.

August 2, 2007 (31 days from claim date) Pawless Guitars received the original claim in the mail. This claim had the top half of the paper filled out originally by Pawless Guitars, and the bottom half was completed by an associate at the local Post Office in Gainesville. It had a stamped date on the bottom of "July 31, 2007" Along with that was a note from the PO associate informing me that the guitar would be kept in their Post Office until the claim was answered. This will move the whole process farther back since the claim was not sent to the Claims Center soon after the claim was submitted to the local Post Office.

August 13, 2007 (42 days from claim date) Claim Center was called again to inquire of status. They had no record of the claim and recommended contacting the Gainesville Post Office (GPO) to possibly entertain the idea of sending in another claim since it might be lost. The GPO was called and the associate that handles insurance claims was off for the day. A Post Office associate said they would find out some information and call me back.

August 15, 2007 (44 days) Due to no response from the Gainesville Post Office, that PO was called again to inquire about the claim. The Post Office associate that handles claims at the local post office was not aware of the previous call inquiring why the Claims Center had no record of the claim. The associate said they would inquire of the status and call Pawless Guitars back with information, and agreed to leave a message in the event of the phone not being answered.

August 17, 2007 (46 days) No response from the associate at the local Post Office. Pawless Guitars called the Post Office Claims Center and they did have the claim showing as pending.

August 20, 2007 (49 days) Claims Center called and status is showing it's awaiting review and payment decision.

8/22/07 (51 days) The local Post Office returned the call a week later to inform Pawless Guitars the claim had arrived at the Claim Center, and that Pawless Guitars would hear something in 2 to 4 weeks.

8/28/07 (57 days) Status: awaiting review and payment decision.

8/30/07 (59 days) Status: same

9/5/07 (65 days) Talked to an agent at the Claims Center. That agent could not help me because their computers were down. Call back later for help.

9/6/07 (65 days) Talked to an agent at the claims center. The agent informed me that this claim will go through judication on Sept. 16th.

9/10/07 (69 days) Pawless Guitars called the Post Office Claims Center today and discussed the issue with a supervisor in the Claims Office. The Supervisor realized the time and the delay in getting this resolved and said the claim would be resolved quickly. A call came later to Pawless Guitars and a message was left on voice mail that the claim had been paid, and a check would arrive within ten days. With that information and wanting to avoid any more delays in getting the guitar repaired, Pawless Guitars called the local Post Office to make an attempt to pick up the guitar so the repairs could be done. The local PO stated that they could not release the guitar until they have been notified by the Claims Center, as well as if the claim was paid in the full amount insured, then they will keep the guitar to be destroyed unless it's some kind of special situation. With the guitar being needed for the repairs, Pawless Guitars then called the Post Office Claims Center back and talked to an agent in trying to get the facts. The agent contacted said yes, if the claim was paid in the full insured amount, the guitar would not be returned. It was explained to the agent that the guitar is property of Pawless Guitars and it was not for sale. The agent said that it is just like when you total a car and the insurance pays you for the "totaled" damages, the car then belongs to the insurance company. It was then explained to the agent that the claim was not for the full amount that was insured, and the agent then told me the guitar would be returned. After giving the agent the claim number in order to look it up, the agent said that the box on the claim "All Contents Damaged" had been checked by the Gainesville PO (GPO), and the agent ALSO said the box obviously was wrongfully checked, since what Pawless Guitars had written in the description of article was "Acoustic Guitar Damages", as WELL as the claim not being for the full insured amount. The agent recommended that Pawless Guitars request the local Postmaster of the Gainesville PO to sign an affidavit that the wrong box was checked by mistake to get the guitar returned. The agent was then asked if this was going to be a problem and the answer was, "It depends on how your relationship is with the local Postmaster". The agent was then asked, "Is this what it all comes down to?". The reply was that the wrong box appeared to be checked and that the local PO postmaster should "own up to to their mistake". On a side note, the Pawless Guitar copy of the claim sent to the Claims Center does not have the "All Contents Damaged" box checked. In fact, none of the boxes are checked. ???????

Later in the day the Claims Office was once again contacted conerning what exact steps were being done as to the payment status and if the guitar will be released or not so plans can be made to at least get the Pawless Guitar client taken care of. The Claims Center agent said they will call back with information within 8 hours.

The Claims Center called back to inform Pawless Guitars that an agent (name withheld) is assigned to the case and will call tomorrow on 9/11.

9/11/07 (70days) After two phone conversations today with the Post Office Claims center, the agent stated that the check had been mailed for the amount of claim turned in and the guitar would not be returned to Pawless Guitars and eventually destroyed. When asked why, the agent responded with the reason of a statement from Pawless Guitars on July 2, 2007 valuing the guitar at $5K. The agent was informed of Pawless Guitar's opinion that the stated value of the guitar in any state had no bearing on the outcome of a estimated repair of damages claim for $4975 which was with-in the insured amount of $5,000. Pawless Guitars then called the local Post Office and talked to the same agent that previously told me that I would get the guitar back for repairs if I didn't file the total amount originally insured. This local PO agent was surprised to hear the outcome and advised for Pawless Guitars to bring the check into the Post Office once it arrives, and said Pawless Guitars would probably get the guitar back.

Sept. 14, 2007 (73days) The check arrived. Pawless Guitars called the local PO agent and set up a time to come in on monday morning to get things resolved and again advised Pawless Guitars "things" will work out.

Sept. 17, 2007 (76 days) Pawless Guitars (PG) went to the Post Office. When PG asked for the agent, PG was informed that it was the agent's day off and that the Postmaster could help. The Postmaster then advised PG that the Claims Center had called them and informed them that PG was not to get the guitar back. PG called the claims center. PG asked them what their reasoning was behind keeping the guitar and they replied because the claim was for the full amount of the guitar insured. PG explained to them the claim was not for the full amount, and the response was it was "close enough" for a total loss. PG then asked for their formula to call it "close enough" and they couldn't answer. They said the guitar belonged to them now and it was a "done deal". I asked them if what they did entitled them to keep my guitar was the law and they couldn't answer. It was also discussed the mystery of why my copy of the claim the local Post Office filled out did NOT have the "All Contents Damaged" box checked and their's didn't, and the subject was changed. The Claims Center agent then advised me to call the Post Office Consumer Affairs.

Sept 22, 2007 At this point, a letter is being written and sent to USPS Consurmer Affairs, as well as copies to Congressman Michael C Burgess, the Consumer Advocates Office, and the Post Office's Office of Personnel Management. The letter outlines the events that took place, requesting answers to specific questions, i.e. inconsistencies between Pawless Guitar document copies and the Claim Center's, and suggestions that Pawless Guitars feel would help their service educate their customers to know exactly what they are purchasing when buying insurance.

This guitar is currently sitting in a vault in the Gainesville, Tx. Post Office. Pawless Guitars do hope they are watching the humidity levels.

October 5, 2007: Have not heard from a Post Office agency. However, Pawless Guitars was contacted by the Congressman's office requesting information.

October 16, 2007: No reply as of yet from the Post Office Consumer Affairs regarding the inquiries. The copy of the letter sent to their Office of Personnel Management was returned with a lot of markings over the address (which is still legible) and a stamped "Forwarding Order Expired" on the front. The "FOE" stamping was researched on the USPS website and found it meant that the address I used was an old address and all forwarding of those letters had been stopped. I emailed the USPS today to inform them of the old address being on their website, and any forwarding of that address has expired, as well as asking them to send me the new address.

October 17, 2007 Received a response from the Post Office regarding the Office of Personnel Management's address on the USPS website. They apologized for the wrong address being posted and requested information from Pawless Guitars as to what website had that up so they could report it. I responded and let them know it was their website and gave them the URL. In their email it was also suggested that Pawless Guitars contact the local Testing and Hiring office with my issues.

October 19, 2007 Received a response from the Consumer Advocate's office. It stated, "Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention. According to our records, Our St. Louis Accounting Service Center has issued a payment ...on September 11, 2007.." The other information was basically the amounts and the check number explaining it was for the Acoustic Guitar plus postage re-imbursement. Interesting how the "description" of the claim item has now changed from "Acousic Guitar Damages" to "Acoustic Guitar". They do apologize for any inconvenience and frustration this matter has caused.

October 25, 2007 Pawless Guitars received an email from the USPS requesting a survey to be filled out regarding their response to the email Pawless Guitars sent them regarding the wrong address of their website having the wrong address of the Office of Personnel Management on their web site. It was asking lot of questions about how quick they were to respond to Pawless Guitar email. They responded within one day to the inquiry. Interesting how they want to know how they did when they answer promptly. They did a really good job of answering the "complaint" email and pretty much brought it to my attention they "acknowledged" it, but the address on their web site is STILL incorrect, even though Pawless Guitars has PROMPTLY given them the URL location they requested!

November 5, 2007 Pawless Guitars received a second letter from the Consumer Advocate on USPS letterhead. This was from a different person. It was responding in more detail of the issues inquired about. The person writing the letter again explained that when a claim is paid for the full amount, the damaged product is not returned. Again this explains that the Post Office keeping the guitar is wrong because the claim paid was NOT for the full amount of the guitar's "designated" value.

They did explain that damaged items with a value of over $10 is "presented for auction periodically" in order for them to recover their loss. It stated that the items that were less than $10 are available for customers to pick up and if pickup is not done, it is considered waster. This verifies that what Pawless Guitars was told by the Post Office originally was not a truth about the guitar being destroyed.

Also the person writing the letter said that "all contents damaged" was correct as the guitar is considered one entity and there were no other articles in the package. Clearly in the claim submitted by Pawless Guitars, the claim was written to REPAIR the damaged guitar. The Post Office has determined otherwise and it seems they believe what they say "goes".

This person writing the letter could not explain why the claims clerk while talking with Pawless Guitars would make a statement of, "it depends on your relationship with your Postmaster"" because their regulations and procedures are documented in the International Mail Manual".

November 6, 2007 The address for the Office Of Personnel Management posted on the USPS web site has still not been updated. If a complaint is to be made about personnel, that address is wrong, and even the forwarding order has expired.

Update February 7, 2008 Due to lots of inquiries concerning the guitar... at this point Pawless Guitars has done everything possible to resolve this and the Postal Service has only presented two options. Option 1 is to return the claim check and the guitar would be returned. However, that was offered to the Postal Service in order to get the guitar back months ago and they seem to have forgotten. When I was assured at that time it could not be done because it was a "done deal", then Pawless Guitars used the claim monies to purchase materials to start on a new box for the guitar. Option 2 was Pawless Guitars had the right to an appeal the claim, but the Postal Service has failed to notice that Option is not available due to their guidelines of appealing claims. However, Pawless Guitars does not have a problem with the claim. The "claim" was handled fine except for their long delays in customer service. Pawless Guitar has a problem with the Postal Service confiscating property that does not belong to them.

It appears the Postal Service is holding Pawless Guitars to the estimate turned in for value of the guitar being $5,000. It was explained to them that estimate was turned in due to THEIR putting the value of the guitar at that amount on the initial mailing receipt and Pawless Guitars was trying to avoid any descrepancies. Pawless Guitars was also informed BY THE POSTAL SERVICE the guitar would not be confiscated if the amount turned in for claim if the claim was paid because it was less than the insured amount. Therefore, placing a minimum value of the guitar at $5,000 was not an issue. My BASE price for a guitar of this nature without all the inlays, etc. that this guitar contains is $8,000. I challenge ANYONE to get an estimate for this kind of guitar to be RE-BUILT for anything close to that amount.

Pawless Guitars shipped the guitar and insured it for an amount that would at least repair most of the damage that may occur in that event. It will cost Pawless Guitars around $6,000 in materials and labor to repair the guitar if it is returned.

On April 22, The USPS returned the guitar to Pawless Guitars.

More carving on the neck

Wallpaper for your desktop

Securing the box in the dovetail cutting jig. The tape is just insurance.

The box in the jig ready for the dovetail to be cut.

After the dovetail is cut, tape is used to cover and protect the wood until it is glued. There will still be some fiinish applied and the tape will protect the cavity from that.

Build coats and sanding.

A detail of above

ore tobacco sprayed on bottom and rounding center

There was a little rough spot around the rosette with the tobacco (light spot), so I took it into the booth and sprayed the tobacco again. The tape caused the problem. It tends to pull lacquer when you spray. This time it will be scraped.

Most of the color is sprayed. When the lacquer "settles", the excess will be scraped, and some drop fills will be done to detail it.

All bindings glued!

WASH COAT!!!!!

Back Binding on!

Making the back spine out the Red Spruce scraps from the top

Wallpaper size below ( I know you like wallpapers!)

End strip installed

Gluing the x bracing

Xbrace made.

Sanding the rosette level and removing the soundhole. This will detailed up later,

The last black and white ring installed. Now we just wait for the glue to dry and sand it flush.

Disregard the raggedy routing...that's just a guide. After I sand off the inlays I'll go back and take out the sound hole and clean up the cut.

First black and white ring is being glued into place.

To prepare the top for the rosette. First a hole is drilled in the area where the "center" of the sound hole will be. A circle cutting jig is used with a dremel to route the channels for the inlay and a "ghost" soundhole circle is cut. I like to cut out the sound hole after the inlay is done.

Cutting out the outline of the top

Joining the Top Plates of Red Spruce

Sanding some adjustments to straighten the top joint.

Candling the joints to make sure they're straight.

Joining the top (railroad track used for weight on center while the sides are pressured inward).

"Nice Parts"

Building the neck

Carefully "mapping" out the cuts, then cutting the rough shape of the neck to give a good "start".

Starting with a Honduras Mahogany special stock from the 40's... this can be stressful. Extra care is made in measurements and cuts. All cuts now will be outside the tolerances, and the final shape will be hand "carved".

Slicing the neck to shape

Gluing the Brazilian head plate to the headstock.

After head plate is glued to head stock, I then do some final edge sanding and shaping around the headstock.

The "raw" side woods before thickness sanding

Thickness Sanding of the sides

After thickness sanding of all woods.

After thickness sanding, and "profiling" the sides" (cutting the widths), I sand the marks from the thickness sander down. This help the odds on the grain not trying to split when the sides are bent.

Usually on a dreadnaught side, I can stick it right into the bending jig, but on this "special" wood I want to do the initial waist bend by hand to lessen any stress I can on the wood when it's put into the bending machine.. I use a strip of steel to support the wood and it keeps a lot of heat from escaping.

Bending the sides in the bender. (don't laugh at my crude jig...it works fine!)

After the initial bends are safely done, I remove the steel strip and put the wood back into place. For a while I keep it wet, let it cool, and actually turn the heat back on. Much like relaxing tensed up muscles....switch from heat to cool, back and forth to acclimate it to it's shape.