This guitar was purchased directly from Roy, around 2008.   However, before Roy delivered the guitar, he updated the headstock with new Ebony overlays (front and back), as well as his new logo.   Otherwise, this instrument was built in 1998 in his shop in California, before he moved it to Washington state.   Here's what Roy wrote about the specifications and history of this instrument at the time of purchase:

"This guitar was built almost 10 years ago as a presentation model for an exhibit. It was immediately bought by a client who owned several of my guitars.   Business has taken him overseas and he is thinning out his collection. Because of the high quality and fine condition of this guitar, I personally wanted to represent the resell of this instrument. The Lucas model is designed loosely around the early Gibson Nick Lucas/L-00 guitars from the 30's.   This is a long scale (25.4"), 14 version. The back and sides are extremely nice, perfectly quarter-sawn, old-growth Brazilian rosewood.   This wood is exquisite.....there isn't much wood like this left in the world. I had owned this board for many years before cutting it for guitar wood.   This wood has been cut and dried for more than 75 years prior to me owning it and is of much higher quality than the current "stumpwood" which makes up much of the Brazilian rosewood seen today.

The top is an equally nice piece of true German spruce.   This top is also very old and beyond master-grade.   True German spruce is not really available much anymore (at least, not from Germany)....and certainly not of this quality. You can see in the photos that this top exhibits full quarter-sawn medullary rays (silking) and has aged to a very beautiful vintage amber color.

The body is bound with Brazilian rosewood and has Paua abalone purfling as well as rosette.   The ebony fretboard is bound with ebony and has a very fine white purfling between the board and binding.   There is also a simple custom, but elegant, 12th fret inlay.   The ebony headstock overlay also has a custom crowned inlay just above the nut.   The tuners are gold Schaller minis with ebony buttons.

The overall condition of this guitar is very good to excellent.   The only factor from calling it 'as new' would be that the original nitrocellulose lacquer has aged and shrunk into the grain....but I personally love this aesthetic.   The lacquer also shows some compression around the back side of some of the tuners.   This is typical of nitrocellulose lacquer and does not by any means impede the performance or quality of this guitar.   The guitar looks virtually unplayed...which, unfortunately, was close to reality. Curiously, this client didn't actually play many of his guitars much. There is no fret wear...no pick scratches...no dings...nothing. This was the main reason I wanted to offer this guitar....even though it is nearly 10 years old, I am offering this guitar with a full extended warranty....less the natural lacquer aging process. The tone is very crisp and articulate.   This guitar, because of the German spruce top, has a very nice overtone balance....not too complex, not too dry. The string to string separation is fantastic and is much louder than you'd expect from a smaller body guitar.   The guitar was voiced to perform well for both finger-style and flatpicking/strumming.   It has lot of headroom and does not overdrive when played heavily....but it is also sensitive to a light attack for finger-style."

The condition of this instrument has not been diminished since Roy's description.   It remains a beautiful jewel of a guitar.   In fact, it has improved, since Roy updated the headstock, so the "compression" of the lacquer finish around the tuners he descibed is not a factor.   And the tone and playability of this guitar is of the highest quality.

Speaking of jewelry, I lucked into a set of walrus, fossil-ivory pins and strap button.   Walrus is preferred, since it's much more stable than Mammoth.   The carmel color of the ivory, as with this set, is very hard to find!   They were custom made for the guitar by "The Ivory King," located near the islands off the coast of Alaska, where such fossils are found.   Pretty cool.

Listed on the Acoustic Guitar Forum, with member comments.

If you're seriously interested in purchasing this instrument, please email info@cypresscoastmusic.com to request the latest pricing information.