This model has a size of 15 inches, much smaller than usual archtops. The first Jamaicas had carved solid bodies, with back and sides made from the same piece of wood. I kept adding options and now, many years later, most of these guitars have a conventional construction with bent sides and carved back; this one is like that. I would also mention the color, which I call “old violin”, in this case applied with more confidence. Apart from this, the guitar has an spectacular electric tone, and a good part of it must come from the Lindy Fralin pickup, the brilliant choice of my client.
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!
Curly maple carved back, with curly maple sides:
European spruce carved top.
Maple neck, with 25" (635 mm) scale length instead of the more common 25.5". The bone nut has a width of 1 11/16″ (43 mm). The ebony fretboard is curly (although that is hardly noticeable in this peculiar wood) and it has offset mother-of-pearl dots and stainless steel frets (Jescar FW47104SS).
Due to the finish, the bindings are not very noticeable, but they are at the edges of both top and back. They are made of jatoba, a hard wood, and their purpose is to protect the edges, especially the soft spruce top.
Ebony peghead overlay:
Ebony tailpiece, with ground connection for the strings:
Bridge with ebony foot and Schaller adjustable saddle:
The main photo shows a metal saddle, but I included another made of ebony. I think that the client must try both:
The jack is here, at the side.
The volume and tone controls are on the top. The ebony buttons are my own design:
This guitar has a Lindy Fralin humbucker with an ebony ring that extends below the pickguard, to which it is glued, making the combination extremely strong:
The pickup has a connector, which makes it easier to change the pickup (guitar players are like that):
Black Schaller M6-135 machines:
D’Addario EJ21 (12-52) strings
Nitrocellulose finish, "old violin".
Ebony pickguard. It is glued to a tab that is part of the ebony pickup ring: