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African blackwood is a true rosewood, very rare and beautiful,
difficult to find and hard to work with due to its extraordinary
hardness. Used in the guitar, it is notable for the projection and
clarity of tone it produces. It is also extremely stable, hence the
wood of choice for oboes and clarinets. In this instrument I paired
the blackwood with a center panel of bookmatched curly Brazilian
rosewood. |
| Again the top is master grade European spruce from Italy's Val di
Fiemme, the Alpine valley which was the historic source of spruce for
Stradivarius and other great Cremona luthiers. I have added a cross
lattice brace to my usual fan pattern, similar to the bar used by Robert
Bouchet, made of spruce salvaged from a 100-year-old Steinway piano
soundboard. |
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This guitar's tone is pure and clear, powerful and sustained, with a very
even response from string to string. The instrument is a joy to hear now,
and further playing will only add to the beauty of its concentrated tone.
The low action, neck shape and careful fret setup make this guitar very
comfortable to play. The mahogany neck is reinforced with double graphite rods for
stability. Scale length is 650 mm, nut width is 52.5 mm, and the bridge
uses the 12-hole system at the tie block. Both nut and saddle are
compensated at each individual string for better intonation.
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The binding on this guitar is ebony. As always, the
rosette was made just for this instrument using the same techniques as
Torres did--no end-grain sticks, all side-grain veneers that shimmer
under the polish. |
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Spruce top; African blackwood back/sides with
Brazilian rosewood center panel |
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Spruce top & African
blackwood sides; detail showing purfling, bridge, and high-gloss
French polish finish. Note the 12-hole tie block at the bridge. The
spiral ribbon purfling matches the rosette. |
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My signature Moorish heel cap; the Brazilian rosewood
panel is framed by purfling which is half the pattern used to make the wheat
purfling in the rosette and peghead center. |
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The peghead front is rosewood, in keeping with the
brown-and-black visual theme; fingerboard and peghead back volute are
ebony. Tuning machines are Rodgers, of my design, inspired by
replacement machines I had fabricated for an 1878 Torres guitar. |
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