Guitars

This delightful instrument, appropriately called a Masterpiece, was made by builder Chris Forshage.  It is a chambered electric, meaning that it is not a solid body, but has air inside as does a Benedetto Benny or a Renaissance by Rick Turner or a Ribbecke Chambered Halfling.  This design is designed to reduce feedback at higher volume levels, and for the quality of its tone.

Bill Kraus builds guitars the old fashioned way, by hand, at his shop in Middleport, NY, northeast of Buffalo, described per the town’s website as a quaint little village of about 2,000 residents situated in the Royalton and Hartland regions on the eastern edge of Niagara County.   Kraus guitars are currently offered in two body styles, cleverly named the "OM" and the "D". While the shapes of these instruments are based on the traditional designs, the internal bracing and other design concepts are unique to this brand. It is a trade secret, so don’t even think about asking.

Guillermo owned and operated a guitar shop in the Cobble Hill section of Brooklyn, NY for many decades.   Unfortunately, there is no biographical information about the man in Wikipedia.   In the New York Metropolitan area, however, he had a great reputation for making workmanlike guitars of high quality.

This guitar is accompanied by a photocopy of a receipt from Mr. Del Pilar that states "One Del Pilar Classical guitar made of rosewood.  Completed on August 19/69.   Guitar case included.   NYC Tax.  $500.  Paid in full.”

One of the finest nylon string cutaway acoustic-electric guitars known to mankind, this James Goodall hand-made instrument has a 25.5" scale length, 1.875" nut width, Gotoh Classical black tuners, with Crossover-fitted Ameritage humidity-control deluxe hard shell guitar case.  James Goodall formerly of Kailua-Kona, on The Big Island, Hawaii, is now of Ft. Bragg, California, where he and his son make some of the best sounding and beautiful guitars on the planet earth. When he set his mind to making a hybrid – a classical guitar for steel string players – the end result is heavenly.

Here’s what Collings Guitars says about their OM model: “'OM' stands for ‘Orchestra Model’ but 80 years after this body shape was first designed it has become the most popular 14-fret model with fingerstyle guitar soloists who choose to play on steel strings. Yet flatpickers also find it appealing, and when the graceful cutaway is added these OMs are often used by lead players who routinely explore all 20 frets much as they would on an electric guitar.

This instrument bears the Fender Custom Shop decal behind the headstock; both sides of that headstock and the back of the neck are intensely grained, memorable and fascinating birds-eye maple.  The shape of the 'stock, in keeping with the 1965 motif, is large and bears the large black “Fender® STRATOCASTER, with synchronized tremolo,” two patents and also “Original Contour Body” decals.   The fingerboard is black ebony to match the black finish on the body

This instrument captures some of the appointments and panache of the prewar version – however it is made from solid Indian rosewood on the back & sides, with the addition of the extremely welcome Adirondack “Red” spruce top.  If we cast our mind back to the grand concert sized guitar that the incomparable Sylvia Fricker played in the group Ian and Sylvia (and who could forget that?) you may envision her playing a guitar that was extremely similar to this.

The aptly named Deluxe is quite fancy – we could call it Epiphone’s competitive interpretation of the Gibson L-5.   It is boldly decorated with a 7” long headstock featuring a two-ply bordered  polished pearwood overlay that hosts the “Epiphone” logo in fat mother of pearl script.    Thereunder is found a  floret comprised of 8 leaves, a 3 7/8” long vine and three flowers.   Its Brazilian rosewood fingerboard is inlaid with six large cloud shaped mother of pearl inlays, and at the 15th fret is a mother of pearl block.  

This guitar is made from walnut on the back and sides, a solid spruce top, and sports a five-piece maple neck with twin stripes of walnut. This dark, handsome guitar’s interior paper label reads “This Epiphone Masterbilt Instrument, Model BROADWAY, No. 10805, Guarantee (to original purchaser when registered at factory at time of purchase) against defects in materials and workmanship.  Metal and other parts that receive wear excepted.  Epiphone Inc.   New York.  U.S.A.”     It is a fairly fancy model having a 7” long asymmetrical headstock bordered in crème ivoroid.

 

Per the requirements of the manufacturer, McPherson guitars can be shipped to their destination only by UPS Next Day Air or Messenger Service.

We present a 17” wide, 42 1/3” long, 25” scale, 3” deep rim, apparently all-solid wood, flamed maple back and sides archtop whose top is a closely, parallel-grained spruce.   It features a long (8”) polished black peghead overlay boasting a large, stylized capital letter “P” and no other inlaid decoration, however said ‘stock has a four-ply, white-black border with ivoroid outermost, which continues down the front edges of the black ebony fingerboard, including on its squared off terminus.

This guitar is a collaboration between noted California based designer Ribbecke and high quality Japanese production company in the Kiso region of Japan.   In a reproduction of a brochure from the builder, a website called <wireonfire> states the specifications of this very beautiful brand of guitar, as follows.  We cannot be sure that every specification stated below applies to this particular model, but most of them might.

This truly beautiful, hand-crafted instrument appears to be made from some variation of  rosewood on the back and sides.  It is possible that this wood is Bubinga, also called African Rosewood – from Western Africa.  Or it could be Pau Ferro (also called Brazilian Ironwood or Morado, or Bolivian Rosewood – if you can identify this wood we hope you will tell us what it is.)  The top is high quality (possibly German) spruce.   It appears to have a South American mahogany neck and an African ebony fingerboard.

One of our favorite small-bodies, this extremely wonderful sounding, yet smaller sized, instrument is part of the Martin Vintage series which means it has many appointments of the prewar, while retaining the solid Sitka spruce top of the modern era. It is made using bona fide, solid mahogany on the back & sides, and it has 1/4" scalloped braces, a modified V-neck, a bone nut and saddle

The American Vintage series introduces an all-new lineup of original-era model year guitars that bring Fender history and heritage to authentic and exciting new life. With key features and pivotal design elements spanning the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s, new American Vintage series instruments delve deep into Fender's roots—expertly preserving an innovative U.S. guitar-making legacy and vividly demonstrating like never before that Fender not only knows where it's going, but also remembers where it came from.   The Fender List Price is $2499.99

The American Vintage series introduces an all-new lineup of original-era model year guitars that bring Fender history and heritage to authentic and exciting new life. With key features and pivotal design elements spanning the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s, new American Vintage series instruments delve deep into Fender's roots—expertly preserving an innovative U.S. guitar-making legacy and vividly demonstrating like never before that Fender not only knows where it's going, but also remembers where it came from.

The Orchestra Model guitar, as you know, is considered the ideal sized guitar for fingerstyle, with the ideal sound – crispy, clean and clear with enhanced depth of tone and sustain.   Builder Kukich is known internationally for the level of perfection he achieves in making a guitar that conveys the panache and plectral diversification of the prewar, in a modern instrument.  To say that this guitar promotes effortless picking possibilities with a maximum array of tonal colors would be an understatement.  This guitar is a joyous occasion waiting to happen.