What’s New (Recent Arrivals)

David Flammang is known for his steel string flattop guitars (they are the guitar of choice for noted fingerstylist Howard Emerson, as well as many other amazing guitar players).    This is an unusual example since it’s a classical.   It is very beautiful, having select East Indian rosewood sides, back and headstock overlay, a traditional head design with  scallops and a center bump, having an open architecture style headstock featuring rounded slots with etched-plate, gold tone, three-on-a-plate open gear tuners with pearloid buttons.  

Although a gig bag of this other-worldly quality is meant to be taken out of the house, this one looks as if it never was.   This is a dreadnought size, suitable for the "heroic" shaped guitar, or a Grand Auditorium size guitar, or perhaps even an OM or 000-size guitar.      If you have visited the Reunion Blues you may have seen them throwing this model case out of a third story window of a decrepit boarding house, landing in the dirt (the case, that is) and then the case is opened and the guitar inside is unscathed. 

The GPCPA1 Plus acoustic-electric cutaway model has solid East Indian rosewood back and sides. This instrument integrates state-of-the art electronics with striking aesthetic features, player comfort and enhanced bass.  The Martin List Price is $3999

We present, for your approval, a modestly appointed Martin Custom 00-21 that’s just a tiny bit strange as a 00-21 is thought to be 14 1/8” in body width on the 12-fret, and this is just 14”. However the top bout is supposed to be 9 ¾” and that it is.  At the waist it is 8 ¼”.  It is a short-scale guitar, being 24.9” nut to saddle; it has a 1 ¾” nut width and a 2 ¼” bridge spacing.  It has a lower side depth of 4 1/16th”.   We feel it may be a 00 that skips lunch every day and has a sensible dinner of salad and farfel.

Our Discount Price is $3,350.00 and Our Cash Discount Price is $3,250.00.

This Silverdale, Washington State-based builder says: "I believe a musician's potential is limited by the quality of their instrument. Schenk Guitars exists to remove all limitations and inspire you to achieve your greatest musical potential." - Rod Schenk. With that lofty goal in mind, Schenk Guitars specializes in building custom master class instruments for players who are ready to take the next step in their musical journey.

The Guild Custom Shop presents a beautifully crafted and rich-sounding Orpheum series jumbo acoustic. U.S.-built by the talented luthiers of the Guild Custom Shop in scenic New Hartford, Conn., Orpheum series models are designed to stylishly evoke the bygone 1930s-era golden age of U.S. acoustic guitar design and construction. Indeed, you could say that Orpheum models are finely crafted Guild guitars that never were but could have been.  The Guild List Price is $4799.99

The story of the Gibson ES-339 as told on the Gibson website:    In 1958, Gibson debuted a guitar that provided the perfect combination of solidbody and hollowbody features—the ES-335. With a solid maple block running down the center of its thin, hollow body, the ES-335 provides the fat, resonant tone of a hollowbody guitar while delivering the sustain and feedback resistance of a solidbody. Gibson’s hybrid design, known as a semi-hollow guitar, remains a perennial favorite of players of nearly every style of music from jazz and blues to rock and punk.

Guild (new) Orpheum 14-Fret Rosewood Slope-Shoulder Dreadnought in Natural, serial #  with hard shell case.  The Guild Custom Shop presents the beautifully crafted and rich-sounding Orpheum series "Slope 14" dreadnought acoustic. U.S.-built by the talented luthiers of the Guild Custom Shop in scenic New Hartford, Conn., Orpheum series models are designed to stylishly evoke the bygone 1930s-era golden age of U.S. acoustic guitar design and construction. Indeed, you could say that Orpheum models are finely crafted Guild guitars that never were but could have been.  The Guild List Price is $4999.99

Let's just say that if you own a Martin tiple and it lacks a case - we are able to make a strong case for your adopting this one. 

We order these with the special option of the Adirondack “Red” Spruce top because we know that this wide-grain wood produces tone like no other top wood. It is the wood of choice on the original “Golden Age” guitars of 1934-1944, but, unlike those guitars, this is made using East Indian Rosewood for the back and sides. Like the prewar it sports grained ivoroid bindings, prewar style scalloped bracing, a herringbone top border, crosscut grained ivoroid and wood strip rosette, a tortoise style pickguard, gloss-finished all solid mahogany neck, an ebony fingerboard and bridge, a 25-1/2" scale length, and we also choose the option of the 1-3/4" nut width.

This fine sounding J-200 bears no interior label, but it has a serial number stamped on back of headstock, with no “Made in USA” underneath, and no volute (hand-stop) carved on the back of the neck.  It has many of the same features as the late ‘60s J-200.  We have left it entirely original as we feel that it is better for a guitar as beautiful as this one is to retain its full, bona fide, authentic originality.   Doan Chu?   And it actually does sound great!

From our old and very dear friend, Wikipedia, comes this succinct but accurate description of this most honored and welcome model:

“The Gibson ES-335 is the world's first commercial thinline arched-top semi-acoustic electric guitar. Released by the Gibson Guitar Corporation as part of its ES (Electric Spanish) series in 1958, it is neither hollow nor solid; instead, a solid maple wood block runs through the center of its body. The side 'wings' are hollow [unlike a chicken] and the top has two violin-style f-holes over the hollow chambers.

This mandolin was made during one of Gibson’s most golden period.  1924 was the last year in which Lloyd A. Loar was the Acoustic Engineer at the Gibson factory.  The inventions and co-designs of Mr. Loar are legendary.  It is a snakehead, which means it has a somewhat slimmer neck shape than the mandolins that came before; it is made using some of the concepts that Loar incorporated into the -5 series (top of the line) Gibson instruments – includign as to curvature, torque and the creation and transmission of sound.