This is an archtop guitar that is midway between electric and acoustic, thus it has a very light construction and a full-size pickup.
The shape is derived from other of my smaller guitars (this one is a 16-inch). It doesn’t have a cutaway, and I think that’s part of its appeal, because I decided to complement the modern top with some other old characteristics, for example the split mother-of-pearl blocks and the plastic bindings. The concurrence of all these things, old and new, in a guitar makes this one of the most beautiful instruments that I have ever made.
The full-size pickup is easier to change than floating units. I know many guitarists that are always experimenting with these things, but this time they are not going to find reasons to change it. It is a humbucker with a single row of polepieces, a design particularly good for jazz guitars, clear and transparent but warm and, as a friend guitar maker said to me, “with some interesting swirl; the overtone content shifts as the notes decay “.
As all the guitars here, this one is just an example. If you want something similar but it is not exactly what you see, please take into account that you can change a lot of things, many without additional cost. Email me and we’ll talk!
Carved curly maple back, with curly maple sides:
Carved European spruce top. The peculiar construction of the top makes it necessary to reinforce the sides where they separate from the top. This is done using Nomex honeycomb material.
European maple neck, with a jatoba core. The scale length is 25″ (635 mm). The bone nut has a width of 1 11/16″ (43 mm). The fretboard is made of ebony, with stainless steel frets (Jescar FW47104SS).
The inlays are split blocks; together with the scroll at the end and the larger peghead this looks like a Super 400 neck. The objective was to give it a classical look, something in the line of what Gibson did during the seventies with its L5S, a very clasical neck in a modern body:
The bindings are cream plastic, which gives them more warmth.
Ebony peghead overlay. This is larger and has a more classical design than what I usually make.
Ebony tailpiece, a simple design with string grounding.
Ebony bridge:
The jack is located here, at the side.
The controls are below the pickguard:
The pickup is a humbucker with horizontal coils, with an ebony case:
The ebony pickup ring has a tab where the pickguard is glued, making the combination extremely tough:
Gold Schaller M6-135, with ebony buttons.
Nitrocellulose finish, honey amber.
