Introducing the Ponderosa Custom

I was hiking through an area I know well, and noticed a huge old-growth tree that had recently come down. The Forest Service had been doing a prescribed burn in that area, and the fire had burned out the roots underground. That’s likely what destabilized the tree and brought it down.

It was a beautiful tree—about 30 inches in diameter—and it hadn’t been down long. The bark was still fresh, and the interior was clean and solid. I had a “dead-and-down” permit, which allows you to harvest fallen trees from public lands, so a few days later I came back with a friend, two chainsaws, and a plan to camp for a couple nights and break it down.

The tree was about a quarter mile from the closest service road, so everything had to be packed out by hand. We spent one long day cutting billets in the forest and hauling them out. I brought the pieces home, processed and quartered them, and sealed the ends with wax. Then I stacked the blanks to dry. They’ve been slowly seasoning ever since.

The first one I’ve made from that wood is now ready. The body blank I used came from one of the cleanest cuts. The grain has a simple and symmetric character—elegant in its own way. It felt good to work with. Light, resonant, and clean.

The tone of this guitar  is dry and gritty, with a kind of natural twang that fits the Tellurion model well.

I’ve always liked the early Fender designs, simple, honest guitars. In 1950, Leo Fender used pine for the original Broadcaster prototypes before the model became the Telecaster. That idea—building something functional and musical—is part of what inspires the Tellurion design.

This original model represents the roots of what inspired my electric guitar obsession. The wood came from a tree miles from my shop, hauled out by hand, dried for years, and shaped with care. And the result feels special. Not because the materials are rare, but because I know exactly where it came from and what it means.

This is just the first. I have a bunch more blanks from that tree set aside for future builds. Each one will be a little different. But they’ll all carry this same story.