This guitar is a 17-inch archtop. It is a big instrument, but in this case it is quite comfortable because the depth at the sides is only 54 mm (2 1/8″) and the neck joins the soundbox at fret #16. Its discreet look, without bindings, is compensated by the spectacular curl of the maple top.
I’ve been ordered several guitars like this and, oddly enough, always the same color: a rather bright amber that gets a little more orange near the edges.
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 European Curly Maple back and bent sides:
Carved European Spruce top, with X bracing:
European Maple neck, with Hard Maple core. It joins the soundbox at fret #16. Scale length: 25″ (635 mm). 1 3/4″ (44.5 mm) nut, bone. The fretboard is made of ebony, with stainless steel frets, Jescar 47104SS.
Due to the reduced depth (54 mm), the joint between the neck and the soundbox is not done with a dovetail, but with a tenon-mortise:
This guitar has no bindings. I do this only when the top is a hard wood, maple in this case.
Ebony peghead overlay. Schaller M6135 machines, gold with ebony knobs. The neck has carbon fiber reinforcements below the nut:
This guitar is similar to some others that I made years ago, but it has a few differences. Among them, the tailpiece. My client wanted a simple, functional model. And, as all my tailpieces for guitars with magnetic pickups, this one has a reliable grounding system.
An archtop bridge with two-leg compensation, made of ebony:
The output jack is here at the side.
The pickup is a Häussel with a black cover. The ring, made of ebony, has a "tab" where the pickguard is glued. Both pieces make a very robust set.
The ebony pickguard is attached to the neck with a screw, and also to the pickup ring by means of a tab, making the combination extremely robust.
The volume and tone controls are below it:
Nitrocellulose finish. A light sunburst that goes from yellowish amber in the center to orange amber at the edge.
