After 50 years in the Mahogany business, Bill Hibdon of Hibdon Hardwoods discovered the most beautiful tree he had ever seen in his life. It was 2016 in Southern Mexico and he was scouting logs at a sawmill when he noticed a full tree length log. At 34’ long and tapering in width from 24” - 39”, a broken piece of bark at the trunk of this large tree revealed an extraordinarily deep fiddleback figure. When it comes to wood, like many things in life, there are no promises - but this kind of figure is very rare in Mahogany these days, so even if just a fraction of the log yielded material with that quality of fiddleback, it would be an epic score.

After cutting the log down to smaller pieces, it revealed the entire tree from bark to core was riddled with this remarkable figure; Hibdon had never seen anything like it in all of his decades of processing Mahogany. He had truly struck a log of Mother Nature’s Gold. From there, the logs were carefully quartersawn for perfectly vertical grain material and the Hibdon team was able to harvest 398 back and sides sets for guitars and 81 neck blanks.

Only 10 of the back and side sets were cut for Archtop Sets.

Archtop backs start as a billet of wood that are approximately five times the thickness of a back for your standard flattop guitar. In other words, five sets of backs for flattops equal one archtop back. So from the perspective of yield, and sometimes ethics, it doesn’t always make sense to harvest billets for carved instruments - especially with something so rare. That’s why it’s extra special when a log like that finds its way into the hands of the wood guy who is considering a variety of instrument makers - even if it means dipping into the yield and profits.

It is not possible for me to put into words how amazing this is.

Because of the consideration and expertise of the Hibdon team, I have received the gift of a lifetime by being able to work with this magic wood. If only more people knew the journey a tree makes from roots to lumber - because once you do, the odds of it actually finding its way to anyones bench, let alone mine, seem nearly impossible.
I mean, honestly…. it’s remarkable that it ever existed at all.

That brings us to January of 2018. I discovered the FBM while surfing the web for wood, and I was stunned. I was in love. I was panicked. Six of the ten archtop sets remained, and each set was priced above and beyond anything I had ever paid. And I wanted them all. In a state of absolute wood frenzy, I called my dad. I told him I was about to spend what felt like a ridiculous amount of money that I didn’t actually have, on not a lot of wood. After listening to my manic and sudo-delirious wood rambles, they uttered three of my most very favorite words:

“Buy the wood”.

With confirmation from the best father on the galaxy, and a new mantra in life, I did just that. Besides - what are credit cards for?! This certainly was not the last time I went completely crazy over a wood acquisition, but I do believe it was the very first. I’ll never forget the rush and thrill of making that purchase - regardless of what my creditors would have said, that was the moment I became the richest girl in the whole world.

Despite having seen photos, nothing could have prepared me for the beauty of this material. When all six sets with their matching sides and neck blanks arrived, it felt like weeks passed by as I did nothing but stare at this wood. I couldn’t imagine not being able to do that for the rest of my life. I was suddenly asking myself, “Do I want to use it, or do I want to have it?” I didn’t even know. I was desperate to live with this material for the rest of my days, while simultaneously resisting the urge to glue up and carve all six sets yesterday.

It was one of these late night hang sessions with my mahogany when some numbers started popping into my head, and suddenly everything made sense. If I were to use a set every five years, I would have one remaining at the age of 50 - seemed only right to wait ten more years to use the final set, at the age of 60. This way I could satisfy both urges to immediately use it, while still being able to live with it and have it for a majority of my hopeful life.

The Fiddleback Mahogany Series was born.

In April 2018 at the age of 30, I began the very first guitar of the Fiddleback Mahogany Series. Can you believe that working with this wood is an even more beautiful experience than looking at it? From the very first kiss of my hand plane, she was singing. Each carve was a musical note, somehow more beautiful than the last, and it was the voice of the Mahogany that guided me for every step of this dance. It was the loveliest and most agreeable material I have ever carved - but alas, when great tools meet great wood, everything goes by faster; I knew this was going to be over before I wanted it to be. It was beautiful. It was somber. It was everything I had dreamed and more. I knew in that moment this wood is truly my legacy.

“Ms. Fiddle” was completed in October 2018, just a few days shy of my 31st birthday and she made her official debut at the Woodstock Invitational Guitar Show later that month. The end result was a guitar with a voice that only Mahogany can create - responsive and sensitive with extraordinary power, balanced, clear, warm, and overtones like woah. I remember when my dear friend, Michael Greenfield, came to check out Ms. Fiddle; he simply plucked the low E string and listened for a long while. He then turned to me, gave me a huge hug, and said “We love Mahogany, don’t we?”

Yes we do Michael, yes we do.