ESU student Mitchell Lurth has already engraved one guitar and made it into a custom work of art, but he wanted a new project to hand engrave. He purchased this Epiphone Firebird, playing it for a few months while he developed designs and ideas for the engraving.

Lurth loves most everything about this guitar, save for the white plastic pick guard that comes stock. Compared to the rest of the guitar, he just didn't think it fit the quality of the body. He removed the plastic guard and began this custom hand engraving project.

To fit the Epiphone name, Lurth decided on the mythical firebird for the design. Since the original pick guard shape didn't allow for outstretched wings, he expanded the shape to run under the strings and give him the room he needed. He then drew out a design, copied it in reverse and used a solvent to transfer his layout.

The phrase Mitch has engraved on the banner, Fidei defensor, is a Latin title that means Defender of the Faith.

With the engraving finished, the final touch became a 2.5mm white round-cut diamond set deeply into the metal. Although a bird's eye is more rounded (like the stone) than a human eye, the metal around the setting has been slightly displaced to create an artificial eyelid of sorts. Mitch wanted the creature's eye to capture an essence of wisdom, and portray less of an untamed air. Also, the deeper-than-normal setting keeps the stone from being too bright and reflective, visually knocking it back down into the rest of the artwork.

Mitchell Lurth is enrolled in the Engraving Arts program at Emporia State University.