{"id":128853,"date":"2022-05-15T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-05-15T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/?p=128853"},"modified":"2023-05-31T20:09:21","modified_gmt":"2023-06-01T03:09:21","slug":"great-acoustics-custom-21-style-cowardin-000","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/great-acoustics-custom-21-style-cowardin-000\/","title":{"rendered":"Great Acoustics: This Custom Style 21 Cowardin 000 Celebrates a Decades-Long Friendship"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Barry Lawson was a twentysomething in graduate school for computer science when he struck up a friendship with a fortysomething computer programming teacher, Jack Cowardin. The latter moonlighted as an instrument repairer and builder, and the academic side of the relationship grew into a musical friendship based on their shared love of guitars, mandolins, and bluegrass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As often happens among guitar-playing buddies, Cowardin began working on Lawson\u2019s instruments and serving as a kind of advisor and foil. Eventually, Cowardin set up shop as Restoration Music, in Richmond, Virginia<\/a>, to focus on building and repairing stringed instruments, while Lawson continued his career in academics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not long ago, the younger player commissioned Cowardin to build an instrument to complement his 1938 Martin 000-18. From the luthier\u2019s stash, they picked out a piece of red spruce for the top and beautifully figured Brazilian rosewood for the back and sides. Lawson wanted an understated 000, so he settled on a Style 21, which traditionally represented Martin\u2019s least expensive rosewood models, instead of the more common Style 28 models. <\/p>\n\n\n\n