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This special instrument was built for the 2006 Guitar Foundation
of America convention in Georgia. Its rare, highly figured "hazelfichte"
spruce soundboard from Italy's Val di Fiemme is paired with a double
back--a sandwich of Madagascar rosewood and a cedar soundboard. The
spruce top, with the added influence of the cedar, results in an amazing
sound. This instrument has the clear, bell-like tones and quick, even
response characteristic of spruce, and the cedar adds a warm, round,
liquid, almost dark "bloom" to the notes.
 The guitar has the fan
bracing pattern I've fallen in love with over the past year;
traditional, supple fans with the addition of two lattice braces of
stiff spruce from an old Steinway piano. I've modified this fan bracing
pattern to perform well with medium tension strings. It has incredible
reserves of volume. Even with a medium low action, it can be pushed very
hard without the sound "breaking up." At the same time, pianissimo
passages and harmonics seem to jump from the guitar. The palette of
tonal color available appears inexhaustible, probably the single
attribute I'm most pleased with. This is a very responsive, balanced
instrument with a refined, noble sound.
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The Rodgers tuning
machines have genuine black mother of pearl grips and my proprietary
plate design. The scale is 650 mm, and the action has an easy feel. The
nut is 52.5 mm with a 43-mm string spacing, and the fretboard has an
additional 20th fret with sterling silver dots at the 7th and 17th
frets. The guitar is entirely French polished.
Click any photo to
see enlargements.
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