He peered through his eye-piece and surveyed the yellow wood. With the magnification, he could see the breaks in the fiber and make an evaluation of the condition of the guitar.
Without a word he turned the guitar over and examined the dark shiny rosewood body and the scratch that ran in a circular fashion across the rosewood and abalone-trimmed three-piece back of the guitar. A delicate finger ran across the scratch, trying to determine its depth.
Then, after a moment, he went back to the eye piece. The knowledge gained from forty years of working on guitars was now being accessed. Mental calculations were being made. Decisions based on the new knowledge . . .
Chuck turned to me and smiled.