Custom 17-inch Archtop

Serial No. 400-Built 2005

To celebrate the construction of my 400th instrument, I decided to build something unlike anything I’ve built before. I started with a set of Eastern hard maple back and sides. This species rarely grows large enough to yield wood that will produce an archtop guitar back. It has a fine texture somewhat like German maple, but is denser and harder. I paired this with a beautiful Engelmann spruce top, resulting in a sound that has the warmth and balance that my guitars are known for, but with more volume and punch than usual. I used S-style soundholes, German maple body binding, and a 25.4-inch scale. The finish is lacquer with light golden shading. The tuners are satin gold Sperzels.

Since 1990 I have made archtop tailpieces out of graphite fiber and an ebony face. This guitar has a new version with several improvements. The face is slightly curved, rather than flat like the old version. Overall, the design is lighter and more slender.

Features:

• GoldTone finish
• 17-inch wide body
• Englemann spruce top
• Red spruce tone bars, X braced
• Eastern hard-maple back, sides, and neck