Cp Thornton Guitars Blog

I’ve posted our latest batch.

We’ve got an exciting new variation in this batch, a Semi-Hollow Improv. We did one with a Mahogany body and another with Maple. They sound fantastic!

Rich

Hi Everybody,

The latest batch is up in our gallery.

This batch introduces the new Legend Special Contour, with a hollow back, arm cut, and tummy tuck. This guitar was designed for a customer who needed the lighter weight and ergonomics of a contoured instrument. I just love it.

Chuck threw in 4 extra guitars this batch, so we’ve got them for sale. There are two Legends, a Legend Special, and one of the new Legend Special Contour guitars.

Rich

Hi Everybody!

I haven’t had a chance to process all the photographs from the latest batch, because I’m in the middle of getting Chuck the parts for the next batch.

But, I have done the 4 extra guitars Chuck built on spec and that we have for sale.

One of the guitars is Chuck’s new Legend Special Contour. We have a customer who needed a lighter, slimmer LS to meet his ergonomic needs. So, Chuck has designed a version of the LS with a hollow back, tummy tuck, and arm cut. Both Chuck and I think it’s really something.

Rich

Hi Everybody,

I just wanted to let everybody know that I misspelled Andy Argondizza’s name in my video notes, and so it got misspelled in the credits. I’m deeply sorry about that.

Rich

Hi everyone, it’s taken us a while to get these on the website but here are some videos of the Improv being played by Tony Gaboury, Steve Lynnworth and Andy Argondizza.

I hope the different styles of playing give you a good idea of the Improv’s tonal qualities.

I hope you like what you hear.
Thank you.
Chuck

Chuck told me this morning that he had been asked for a size reference for the Improv. I with I’d thought of taking a photo of an Improv and an AT together!

I’m going to try to composite a photo so that it shows both, if I can get the scale just right. If it does the job, I’m going to post it to the blog. Otherwise, I’ll post a wireframe drawing.

The best I can do as of right now is to say that the Improv is 1.5″ wider and 1.1″ longer than an AT. The headstock is also about 10% larger. The f-holes are similarly larger, but the proportions and placement are different.

The AT is 1 3/4″ thick at the edge. The Improv is 2 1/8″ thick at the endpin, and tapers to 1 3/4″ at the heel. There is a side-on shot of guitar #0282, which shows the taper really well.

There’s a story behind the taper. The guitar was originally designed, like a typical archtop, to be the same thickness from end to end. But, when Chuck assembled the mockup, he thought it looked too clunky in the heel area; so he disassembled it and took a belt sander to the parts. When he re-assembled it, it looked like a completely different instrument.

Because of the taper and careful design of the interior, the weight of the 1 pickup version is about 1/2 lb less than the Professional Acoustic, and the 2 pickup version weighs about the same.

Rich

I’m proud to introduce the Improv, my 15″ archtop.

While I’ve kept the Cp Thornton family look for this new guitar, the Improv is a true archtop, with a wonderful acoustic tone. The single pickup version is designed as a jazz guitar, and the two-humbucker version works wonderfully for jazz or for a blues guitarist looking for a big sound.

There are pictures of the first batch of Improvs in the Gallery, along with pictures of the new custom alligator case.

Chuck

I’ve posted the latest batch to the Gallery.

Chuck and I are absolutely thrilled how they turned out! Of course, he’s working full throttle on the next batch. He’s got a new and exciting model coming up in that batch, which should be out at about the end of the year.

Rich

Hi everybody!

We just got the PDF of the review of our Legend guitar in the April issue of The ToneQuest Report.

Our guitar is on the cover and is the subject of the lead article (the review itself starts on page 4).

Allow me to share a few quotes:

[T]he Legend’s vibrant intensity is entirely unique when compared to past evaluations of mahogany Les Paul models.

What would you rather play – a great Historic Les Paul or the Thornton?” And our answer will be, “Given a choice, we’d prefer to play both for entirely different reasons, but if we needed to cover the broadest range of styles and tones, we’d pick the Legend.”

Both Chuck and I are overwhelmed, and truly grateful.

Hi Everybody!

I’ve posted the photos of the new batch in our Gallery.

Both Chuck and I are really excited that this batch marks the debut of the new Legend Special model.

We’ll be putting up a page for this model as soon as we can.

Rich