I've been so busy working on my current 'TotalRojo' guitar that I have not uploaded photos of creations #3; 4; or 5.

The name for my guitars (TotalRojo) originated from a trip my wife and I took to Cancun. We were on the beach and I decided to go to the cabana for towels. The kid asked my name and when I told him it was Allred, he said, "Oh, Mr. Todo Rojo." We had a good laugh, and from then on, I was known to the waiters by that version of my name. For various reasons and uses, I bastardized the spelling into a Spanglish version, thus TotalRojo is my moniker.

So, with that explained, I'll share some photos of the newest versions #3, 4, and 5 of TotalRojo guitars.


#3 is a pretty straight froward CBG created from a nice Liga Maestra Robusto box. I decided to add four sound holes, two on either side of the neck, which has produced a very mellow but vibrant sound. Like all my CBGs, I used a Peizo transducer for sound amplification, but this plays well acoustically, too. The neck is red oak, and the fingerboard is natural poplar, which gives nice contrast to the mahogany box. Two of the sound holes are covered with brass drain covers, and the othe two are screen-backed f-holes cut into the lid. The bridge is a simple creation of mahogany base with a small dowel as the string rest. It is hard to see in this photo, but on all my CBGs I inset BBs into the leading edge of the fingerboard at the critical fret locations for markers . . . it's unusual and kind sets my builds apart from others in a small way.

#4 is a fun four-string guy. I had an old Hershey's pretzel tin laying around the garage from my hotrodding days, which I used for small parts. I cut a couple slots in the can for the neck and a couple more for sound holes. Laminated the neck and wired it for sound, and voila, a great sounding rig. I didn't like the tinny sound on the first go-round so I reinforced the back of the thin with a thin piece of wood, and added a wood bridge, which mellowed it out. It still has a banjo-sound to it, but not tinny. To add to the fun, I glued a pretzel to the headstock before I varnished the neck, and it has become my TotalRojo Pretzel guitar. The darn thing sound good finger style, but it has a great slide sound as well.

#5. What can I say, this is my 'real' fun rig. It's my TotalRojo Redneck. I designed the neck to have a slot for the tuners, with no frets, so that I can play it as a slider. Painted it a bright red, added a tricked out box complete with a dirty old guy on the lid (my wife says it looks like me when I have a beard) checking out a hot babe; a redneck invite on the back; and a 'warning' on the inside. The small screen-backed f-holes provide plenty of sound and this thing is a hoot to play, and it gets lots of attention.