Tempe, Arizona
Cast Iron, Cast Bronze, Laser etched + Inlay Figured Maple, Ash, Bocote, Sinew.
"Great Grandpa’s" is a nostalgic homage to the iconic phonograph, reimagined through the fusion of traditional craftsmanship and modern technology. Designed around repurposed motor components and a stylus salvaged from a hand-cranked phonograph, this piece captures the essence of vintage music generation made using new technology.
The horn is crafted from bent laminated maple segments, coopered together and laser-etched with epoxy filled scrollwork inlays. As the sound journeys from the stylus, it travels through hollowed Bocote and Maple wood sections, winding its way up and out through the parabolic horn—eventually reaching the listener’s ear with warmth and resonance.
The stylus arm features a built-in plate and bearings, enabling its smooth swivel motion. The scroll-like framework is a testament to traditional casting techniques. Sand cast from iron, its wooden pattern was hand-carved from poplar. The crank, an essential functional element, is cast in bronze using ceramic shell “lost wood” process. Crafted from laser-cut wooden sections, it was turned on a lathe to achieve its final shape before being repeatedly dipped in ceramic slurry. The wood pattern was then burnt out and the shell was used as a mold to cast it in molten bronze.
With a simple turn of the crank, the magic begins—drop the needle on a classic 78, and let the natural amplification of analog sound transport you back in time. The vibrations, forever etched in the grooves of the record, embody an era when sound was recorded by imprinting physical pulses onto its surface—a raw and tactile contrast to the digital world of today.