Amazing Tele-Strat hybrid 50/50 guitar from Rafael Villanova Bazaga

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Can't decide between a Strat and a Tele? Maybe you want a guitar that's a bit of both? One answer would be this offering from Spanish luthier Rafael Villanova Bazaga which is quite literally half-Telecaster and half Stratocaster right down to the half-tremolo on the Strat side! The attention to detail is quite something. Check out his other guitar and bass creations on the Bazage Guitars website.

[Thanks to Antony Moggridge of Shonky Guitars for the heads up on this one!]

G L Wilson

© 2016, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - the blog that goes all the way to 11!
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The Danelecto Bellzouki 12 string guitar from 1965

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This Danelectro Bellzouki was the brainchild of Vincent Bell, a session guitarist in the 1960s. Apparently when asked to play bouzouki for a gig he tuned one up 12 string style and faked his way through the show. This lead him to design an electric version of a bouzouki. 

Initially there were 2 sets of g-unison strings to help emulate the sound of the greek instrument but quickly evolved to a standard 12 string tuning. Interesting to note that the heavier gauge of the octave strings are on top as opposed to the bottom as on standard 12 strings. I've always thought this would be a better idea, but have never owned a 12 string long enough to try it out.

Other than the bouzouki shape this guitar is very Danelectro with the lipstick pickup, aluminum nut , and skate key tuners.

R.W. Haller

© 2015, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - the blog that goes all the way to 11!
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Warmoth Telemaster in stunning Blackburst Finish

guitarz.blogspot.com:

I'm fairly surprised that the Telemaster style of guitar is as polarizing as it is. I became a fan when Fender Custom Shop built the prototype for Makin' Music, a Chicago guitar dealer.

Since then, as I've researched and coveted this awesome hybrid, I have found either sheer adoration or pure vitriol for the Telemaster. Not a lot of indifference.

As a Telecaster player and a former Jazzmaster owner ( stolen in 1990.....still fills me with rage to think about it ) I cannot help but love the design.

This Telemaster built with Warmoth and USACG parts borders the line where it almost could have been too flashy or precious yet held back enough to land in a very classy place.

It was listed for $700 OBO in Calgary, but wasn't up for long before someone, sadly not I, snatched it up.

R.W. Haller






© 2015, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - the blog that goes all the way to 11!
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One of A Kind Doc Fossey acoustic Banjo. A Banjotar in reverse?

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Here is a nice take on a hybrid instrument. With all of the 6 string guitar-tuned banjos out there its nice to see someone go the other way with the idea. An acoustic tuned to open G with a high G on top should thrill finger-stylists and banjo players looking for a different sound.

It's a very nice looking instrument as well, and I'm way less offended by the double cutaway than I normally would be. I guess it's an odd enough instrument that it's ok.

Currently Listed at $1200 Canadian.

R.W. Haller

© 2015, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - the blog that goes all the way to 11!
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The Banning TeleBacker - If Rickenbacker built a Telecaster...

guitarz.blogspot.com:

...it would look like this, the TeleBacker, made in the USA by Banning Guitars custom shop.

The example in the photographs reproduced here is currently listed for sale on eBay with a Buy It Now price of US $1,899.99.

G L Wilson

© 2014, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - the blog that goes all the way to 11!
Please read our photo and content policy.

Martinez Daytona Series DS-W

guitarz.blogspot.com:

I have very scarce information about this Martinez Daytona DS-W - the brand seems to be the German distribution brand of a Chinese or Korean company, and though they mostly produce the usual copies of the 4 same models (like anybody else, also in Europe and the US, even the high-end brands), they happen to also release some rather eccentric models, though without any marketing support that would help their customers to pick their guitars over more secure brands... 

Don't get me wrong, I already stated here that the current Chinese clone cheapos are 100 times better than the plywood planks people bought in supermarkets in the 1960s/1970s, they are playable and sound something, and anyway a guitar is not a smartphone, you shouldn't get one if you're not ready to learn how to maintain and upgrade it like you'd do for a bicycle… A guitar always has something to teach you, believe me.

Anyway, this one is on the bizarre side, since it seems to be a hybrid acoustic/electric model with a piezo bridge pickup, probably thinline flat body, a blade humbucker in almost central position and a strange blobby pickguard (at first glimpse I thought it was an Egmond) with controls on the upper horn. The outline is nice, simple and balanced, with the minimum of personality needed, but the frontplate kind of spoils the guitar and makes wonder if the guys understand anything about guitar design... But then who would let such an instrument leave the factory if it's unplayable - these people know about business, don't they? 

Well I don't know about you, and what you think about this guitar, but I'm still waiting for the day when a Korean factory won't have to copy or hide behind a historical western company, they'll have the machines, the knowledge, the practice, the spirit, the designs, the entrepreneurial skills and we'll happily buy their instruments without any questions - or play on 2-strings cigar-boxes appalachian dulcimers...

Bertram D

© 2013, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - the blog that goes all the way to 11!
Please read our photo and content policy.

Fender special factory run Rattlecan Stratosonic - a Strat that thinks it's a Junior

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Fender fans will probably be aware of the Fender Stratosonic models from a few years ago. They were essentially Stratocasters given a Gibson Junior-esque make-over. This particular example is currently listed on eBay as a Fender Stratosonic Rattlecan Stratocaster Junior, and the seller describes it as a:

...factory special run guitar [featuring] a sleek mahogany body finished in Peacock Green, a 24-3/4" scale length 22-fret maple neck with rosewood fretboard, pearloid dots, single P-90 bridge pickup, amber tone and volume knobs, chrome plug where toggle switch would go, Tec-Tonic adjustable bridge, chrome tuners and a brown shell pickguard.

It's certainly quite a looker, and with its Junior-like configutation it ought to be a real player too.

Currently listed on eBay with a Buy It Now price of $839.

G L Wilson

© 2013, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - the blog that goes all the way to 11!
Please read our photo and content policy.

Fender TLAC100 Japanese-made hybrid acoustic/electric Thinline Tele

guitarz.blogspot.com:

I've quite fancied getting myself a Fender Acoustisonic Telecaster, a hybrid electric/acoustic Telecaster launched in 2010 and already discontinued (and which is NOT the guitar pictured here), but which still fetches quite high prices on eBay... certainly more than I can afford anyway. They also seem quite scarce; it's unlikely that Fender produced these in large numbers.

An alternative - that may or may not work out as a cheaper option - would be to track down Fender's earlier hybrid Tele, the TLAC100, as pictured above. On this Crafted In Japan Tele, Fender haven't tried to disguise it as a regular Tele, and so we have no pickguard, a slanted neck pickup (a Lace Burton Silver USA) and a Thinline-style body with f-hole. It has an undersaddle piezo pickup in the acoustic-style bridge, while the three controls take care of volume, balance and TBX Blend which blends the single coil and Piezo. I believe that the more contemporary Acoustisonic can produce more convincing acoustic tones, but the TLAC100 can't be that bad, after all it was good enough for the likes of Stevie Winwood and Richie Blackmore.

Currently listed on eBay UK with a Buy It Now price of £650, although take note, the seller would prefer the buyer to collect from Cornwall!

G L Wilson

© 2013, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - the blog that goes all the way to 11!
Please read our photo and content policy.

1980s ESP Hybrid I Telecaster/Stratocaster crossbreed guitar in shell pink

guitarz.blogspot.com:

This ESP Hybrid I guitar from the 1980s is a Strat/Tele hybrid. It's essentially Tele parts on a Strat body, plus a Strat-like tremolo with a David Gilmore-sized arm. (Not that Gilmore is short, I'm talking about his preference for diminutive tremolo arms). Anyway, it's a lot nicer aesthetically than those other Strat/Tele hybrids that feature Strat parts on a Tele-style body, and which unfortunately look like someone has taken a saw to a Stratocaster.

As an 80s Japanese-made guitar, it's quality all the way, and so should appeal to those who like their Teles to look a little more contoured than usual and to have sprouted an upper horn and tremolo arm. Hopefully they like shell pink too. For those people, this guitar is currently listed on eBay with a Buy It Now price of $790.

G L Wilson

© 2013, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - the blog that goes all the way to 11!
Please read our photo and content policy.

Super rare Gibson Les Paul Jumbo turns up on eBay

guitarz.blogspot.com:

I've only ever seen photos of the almost mythical Gibson Les Paul Jumbo reproduced in black and white in guitar books. And I've always been rather puzzled by the model's existence in the first place. Surely, the whole point of the Gibson Les Paul was that it was a solidbody electric, but here we have an acoustic version! What's that all about?

It seems it was all a marketing ploy by Gibson; in 1969 they thought putting Les Paul's name on an acoustic, albeit an electric-acoustic, would draw in the punters. In reality the guitar was a failure and reportedly only 49 were sold.

The Jumbo has a single low-impedence pickup, similar to those used on the Les Paul Recording and Personal models. In place of the usual Rhythm/Treble legend around the toggle switch, you'll notice that here it is instead labelled "In / Out". Of course with just a single pickup, the toggle isn't a pickup selector switch but instead allows the player to bypass the tone controls - in much the same manner as the switching on the single pickup Fender Esquire.

The Jumbo pictured here is currently listed on eBay with a Buy It Now price of £5,000.

G L Wilson

© 2012, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

Porl Thompson's one-off 8-string guitar

guitarz.blogspot.com

You might have heard that The Cure's former guitarist Porl Thompson currently auctions some of his instruments - including this strange 8-string hybrid bass/guitar. 

I cannot figure out what is the device under the strings - my first idea was some kind of adjustable buzzing thing turning it into a guitar sitar, but it seems much more complicated that the buzz bridge or saddles one can use for that purpose (as you can see here). 

The instrument has 6 guitar strings and 2 bass ones with a much longer scale - hence a fretboard divided in two parts with two different nuts - simple but effective (though much less elegant than fanned frets)  - and it makes sense - when I play bass I mostly use the 2 lower strings... It's quite an inspiring instrument in my opinion, anybody know anything about it and its features - and was it ever used with The Cure?

Edit: thanks to our Facebook page, this guitar has been identified as a Carter Custom Hybrid 8 - there are no detailed explanations about what they call the "Dampler Strikers" but the photos show a.o. that there is more room under the strings that it seems... More comments are welcome!

Bertram D

© 2012, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

Quiz: the mystery guitar strikes back!

guitarz.blogspot.com

Don't look at the lower picture, just focus on this one and try to guess what famous brand released this bizarre guitar, with a carved Telecaster outline, uncovered humbuckers, a strat fixed bridge, minimal controls (including a split coil push/pull tone knob) and glossy metallic blue finish. 

Usually when I show this kind of hybrid guitars on Guitarz, people protest in the comments that they are pointless, if you want a Tele, you take a Tele, and if you want a LP, you take a LP, but I like it and to be honest, I only read dithyrambic reviews about it, though it's been very short-lived (it seems that it's been a prototype for an also short-lived model from a more high-end brand) - it's from the early 2000s - and stayed mostly unknown...

So did you find what it is? It's a Squier Double Fat Tele Deluxe!

Bertram

PS. Usually I don't do that, I don't talk here about my personal blog, but yesterday I posted on it a new series of guitar design sketches that I quite like, and I want to invite Guitarz readers to have a look at them - partly with the hope that one day I will meet a guitar maker - a luthier, or a company, or an amateur - looking for new guitar designs, since I'm still a debutant maker and won't use a 100th of the ideas I have - and willing to collaborate...

© 2012, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

Grass Roots bass mixes Gibson Thunderbird with Rickenbacker 4000 series & Ibanez Iceman

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Francis writes:

Hi, I'm a fan of the Guitarz blog. With all the oddball shapes that run by you, I thought it would be cool to share some photos of this oddball bass I recently acquired. It's a Grass Roots bass from the early 90s, I think. Previous owner told me it was MIJ but I think Grass Roots moved production to Korea at some point. My facts might be off as I'm not usually an ESP fan. It has that characteristic Firebird/SG neckdive but because of its odd Rickenbacker headstock-on-Iceman/Firebird-bass cut, the butt end of it perpetually rests underneath my elbow and maintains balance but for all the wrong reasons. Any idea where this is from and when it was made? Originally white, I believe. Yellowed clear coat. Both P-bass and Jazz Bass pickups.

Thanks for those photos, Francis. I'm afraid I know nothing about this bass nor the Grass Roots brand. You mentioned ESP, and your bass does look like it could be a relation of this ESP Phoenix Firebird-like guitar that we looked at in April 2010.

If any readers know more about this bass please let us know via the comments. Thanks!

G L Wilson

© 2012, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

Vintage & Rare guitar of the week: 1968 Rickenbacker 456 6/12 Convertible

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Just over a year ago we looked at another Rickenbacker 366 featuring this cunning mechanism to switch between 6-string and 12-string playing. I've seen similarly equipped Rickenbackers before, but never before have I seen the same mechanism on this model of guitar, the above-pictured Rickenbacker 456 6/12 Convertible. I don't think the mechanism looks quite as awful on this model as it does on the 366, but still I can't help being reminded of a very pretty girl who has to wear corrective braces to allow her teeth to grow straight.

Looks aside, you have to wonder why a contraption such as this wasn't more successful and why it didn't spawn much imitation. It must surely be a much more convenient way of switching between 12-string and 6-string guitar than using an unwieldy and back-breaking doubleneck guitar. Maybe I have just answered my own implied question, as the Rickenbacker Convertible lacks the visual impact and sheer stage presence of a doubleneck. I guess that rock'n'roll isn't all about the most sensible way of doing something.

This particular Rickenbacker 456 6/12 Convertible is from 1968, is finished in "Mapleglo", and is currently available for sale via Vintage and Rare with a price of €2800.

G L Wilson

© 2012, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

Budget ergonomic guitar is a Klein/Telecaster hybrid

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Ergonomic guitars don't usually come very cheap. They are specialist instruments and are very often luthier built. It's little wonder that many people have sought to build their own, which is where the resources available at the Building the Ergonomic Guitar website make themselves invaluable.

The one design that crops up time and time again is that based around the Klein guitar as designed by Steve Klein (no doubt using the Ovation Breadwinner as inspiraton). Kleins have long been out of production with existing examples changing hands for many thousands of dollars, so it's not surprising that the design has been appropriated by other builders.

The above pictured guitar, however, is currently listed on eBay for $199 Australian dollars, which is approx £132.40 GBP, and a little over $206 US dollars at the time of writing. The body design, although a bit "blocky" and under-sculpted is copied from the Klein, although unlike the Klein guitar it is not headless (note the cutaway area behind the bridge - that's where the headless tuners would be on a Klein). The bridge, pickups and controls are borrowed from the venerable Telecaster.

Now, at this kind of price I couldn't comment on the quality of the guitar, but suspect that seeing as it utilises readily available Telecaster components, that it could be upgraded very easily and may well appeal to those on a strict budget wanting to experiment with guitar ergonomics.

G L Wilson

© 2012, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

Telecaster hybridized with Rickenbacker lapsteel pickup - a real ugly duckling for sure

guitarz.blogspot.com:

I'm going to be really lazy today (hey, it IS the holidays) and copy extensively from the eBay listing for this Tele/Rickenbacker hybrid:

This is a guitar which was constructed using:

Fender MIM neck Serial Number MZ4013361 (hard rock maple)
Non-Fender Tele style Mahogany body
Rickenbacker horseshoe pickup from a Rickenbacker (old spelling is Rickenbacher) Model 100 lap steel
Lipstick pickup (4.9K) GFS from Guitar Fetish
Brass nut

Other misc parts from Guitar Fetish, staggered tuners and string tree, 3 way switch, tele jack cup, Tele dome knobs, cloth wiring.

This guitar was born in a Hamtramck second hand store where I found the Rickenbacker lap steel. At the time I could not even tell what brand it was because there were no tags, markings, or serial numbers on it. Also the body had been crudely modified, some wood cut away, strap buttons put on so it could be played slung around your neck more like a regular guitar. The store owner told me it had been owned by a friend of hers that had passed away. who was from the coal mining fields of Tennessee. He had also painted numbers on the metal fretboard. That genesis gave me the idea of putting this pickup on a telecaster style body.

Since the Rickenbacker is an old pickup with usage marks, I bought a Fender neck which showed a little natural wear. I then yellowed the face of the neck over the logo to make the neck looka little further aged. It is a very subtle effect. (I used gunstock oil infused with a little walnut dye.)

I picked up a mahogany body and modified it so the Rickenbacker pickup fit on it. At first I used a Gibson style wraparound bridge behind the rickbacker pickup. But it seems like some of that lap steel singing quality was missing. So I filled those holes, cut a little more wood and used the bridge integrated into the pickup. I also more tightly attached the neck to the body by using threaded steel neck inserts instead of the standard wood screws. You can search on ebay to see what inserts are are like.

The end result is that this thing sings like a woman! I took the guitar to my sister's house in Michigan's UP and played with her old-timey, bluegrass band. With the bluegrass band, I had to use the lipstick pickup because the Rickenbacker was too powerful, too bluesy. We were just playing an instrumental, but after the end of one song, someone asked "Who is singing?" No one was singing. It was the TeleRick. I was playing on the next song, and I thought I heard a woman singing vowels, I looked up from the fretboard and no, my sister (the only female musician present) was not singing. It WAS the guitar.

I had configured the guitar with a brass nut at first. It sounded great. I then switched to a solid plastic nut, and the open notes sounded more muffled than the notes held with the slide did. So, I put the brass nut back on. Also, when you play I think the brass affects the tone even more than just the open notes. I mean, the string does vibrate from the slide back to the nut unless you dampen it. The lipstick pickup loves the brass nut. I think the singing woman tone is a combination of the brass nut, lipstick pickup, mahogany body, threaded steel inserts, and the very solid Rickenbacker bridge. As I mentioned, the bluegrass people were not into the powerful Rickenbacker sound.

I put a 3 way switch on the guitar so you get the raw lipstick pickup, lipstick and Rickenbacker combined, and Rickbenbacker by itself. The tone and volume knobs only affect the Rickenbacker pickup. I did it this way for a couple reasons. If you wanted you could physically move the Rickenbacker pickup from the tele body to the Rickenbacker body, by only by snipping two wires. If I had integrated the tone and volume with the lipstick pickup, then more wires would have to be cut. Tonewise, the guitar rocks this way. The lipstick is a kind of a hollowed out singing acoustic sort of sound, you can play 4 strings together and they blend like a gospel choir. The Rickenbacker pickup has twice the output of the lipstick and is more raucous so you would only want to play 2 notes together (unless you are going for the heavy distortion). So you can do this multiple string sliding with the lipstick, and then flip the switch and go into a real heavier tone on the Rickenbacker pickup. You can tone down the Rickenbacker pickup with its controls to more closely match the lipstick if you want. The one pickup sounds like a logical extension of the other.

This guitar sounds so good, it could be the basis for a whole new unique style of playing. You can get lost flipping back and forth between them for hours..

The string height (action) is such that you can play the classic boogie woogie on the low strings from open to the 7th fret, and if you are sliding at the 5th fret, you can press down the strings behind the slide to get the missing notes in the scale, but when you are at the 12th fret you will be all slide all the time. Now, the action could be lowered a little. The bottom of the brass nut could be filed, maybe the neck truss rod could be used, but the Rickenbacker bridge is a little higher than the tele bridge, so the action will always favor the slide player. But that is not a loss on this guitar, because this is a slide players guitar.

In my heart of hearts, I believe that is a guitar born for slide and it will need a slide guitarist to properly appreciate it. That is why I am putting it on a month long listing. This special guitar requires a special person...

Likely this guitar is as amazing as the seller claims, but it's sure not going to win any beauty contests. Personally I think the placement of the volume and tone controls is a mistake - and I appreciate this was dicatated by the plate used from the Rickenbacker lapsteel. Nevertheless, I think he should have put the controls in the usual position for a Tele, and maybe plugged the holes in the lapsteel plate - else not used the plate at all if it is detachable from the pickup. I'm not just talking aesthetics here, those controls would get in the way where they are.

Currently listed on eBay with a Buy It Now price of $1,000.

Thanks to Andrew who saw this listed on eBay.

G L Wilson

© 2011, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

The Rockin' Chair (for anyone whoever thought that a Flying V or a doubleneck or whatever was an awkward shape!)

guitarz.blogspot.com:

The Rockin' Chair was invented on a coffee break at a newspaper in Värmland, Sweden, back in 1984 by the journalist Kjell Palmers and noted by his college Stefan Markebo. Many years later Stefan thought it would be a good idea to really build this handy instrument.

The guitar chair is played through the nice Volkswagen amp and the bass chair is played in a cheap little Hellborg amp.

Stefan Markebo

© 2011, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

1967 Rickenbacker 6000 Bantar Electric 5-String Banjo

guitarz.blogspot.com:

This instrument is unmistakably a Rickenbacker with its gently contoured upper body edges, the back's checkered binding, the varnished rosewood neck with distinctive triangular inlays, the fireglo finish... but it's a banjo!

Indeed it's a Rickenbacker 6000 bantar, a hybrid between a solid electric guiar and a 5-string banjo, as played be legendary banjoist Bela Fleck. It doesn't feature the skin as found on a traditional banjo so is not going to have the same percussive tone, so soundwise its classid Rickenbacker all the way, just utilising banjo stringing and tuning.

Another weird Rickenbacker hybrid instrument of the time was the Banjitar, which according to the promotional literature:

"...combines the sounds of the plectrum banjo, mandolin, Hawaiian guitar and Spanish guitar. Two harmony string pairs and two single strings plus a vibrato unit create this incredible range of tones."

To look at the Banjitar you might think at first glance that it was a standard Rickenbacker guitar, but the very narrow long neck might cause you to do a double take.

G L Wilson

© 2011, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

El-gitarrorgel - a hybrid guitar/electric organ from Sweden

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Hi, thanks again for maintaining such a great blog. Here is something you might like from a swedish auction site:

http://www.vend.se/ad.php?83223

Below is a translation, some info is repeated and the first line is a classic, but you get the idea:

This is a unique instrument! It is also the only one of its kind!

It is constructed as a guitar with all the possibilities of an electric organ. The instrument contains the circuit board of an electric organ, which is controlled from the strings and fretboard. Basically the organs "lower/under manual" (not sure what he means here) is replaced with a fretboard and strings.

When a chord is played on the fretboard and strings, a preset rhythm, background and bass line starts. The strings work as they would on a conventional guitar.

An organ keyboard is built into the instrument, with different harmonies.

The construction is a easy to handle electric guitar, with all the possibilities for rhythm, backgrounds and bass lines of an electric organ.

The builder was a musician and telephone electrician, who for years had been thinking about how to build a guitar with backgrounds, just like an electric organ. In the end he built this prototype. Technical drawing is available.

Price: £142 / €165

Kalle Mattssonwww.hijackyourlife.com

Thank you, Kalle. That is, indeed, a classic. Love it. - G L Wilson

© 2011, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

BC Rich NJ Series Made In Japan electro-acoustic jazz guitar

guitarz.blogspot.com:

B.C. Rich's NJ Series replaced the B.C. Rico brandname that originally appeared on their Japanese-made instruments and which had been the subject of a lawsuit from the Rico Reed Company. Although the initials NJ stood for "Nagoya, Japan" where the first NJ instruments were built, later Korean-made guitars also received the NJ Series designation.

This B.C. Rich NJ Series electro-acoustic jazzer, reminiscent in some ways of Gibson's Howard Roberts model, is a Japanese-made example which the seller claims was made by the Daion company. (Check here for other Daion guitars that we have looked at previously here on Guitarz). Daion guitars were manufactured from the lates 1970s through to 1984 by the Japanese company Yamaki, so I guess that it was this same company who built these B.C. Rich models rather than Daion specifically.

The guitar features a humbucker pickup at the neck plus a piezo in the bridge, controlled via volume and tone pots for each and a 3-way pickup selector switch all boldy mounted on top of the guitar. The soundhole is a suitably angular shape considering the brand, as is the sharp Florentine cutaway. The heel of the neck is comfort contoured so as to facilitate playing at the top of the neck.

This guitar is currently being offered for same on eBay UK (although the item is actually located in Sweden) with a starting price of £599.99 and a Buy It Now price of £999.99.

G L Wilson

© 2011, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!