Wow nice work on that guitar Bill, you are truly talented. I knew oak guitars had to be out there. Also don’t see too many pine guitars.
Neither of us can win the argument unless we can prove that the brass in the wood affected the tone of the guitar. I would say that personally, if it is just there for looks, then my opinion of Doug Irwin goes way down.
If I were making a guitar for one of the biggest stars in the world, I would be able to justify everything I did.
But that’s just me and my standard. Maybe he just thought it looked cool and thought it would be fun to make it that way.