The idea of this guitar was put into my head just about a year ago by a Client/ Friend Lou D., and then again a couple of months later by another Client/ Friend Jay W., both of which said they would be very interested in this guitar if I were to build it. We have four orders for this guitar now. One is for Jay and another for Lou.
As all of you who follow my guitars know, I try never to copy anyone else’s designs. And, you probably know that my Semi Hollowbody Thinline Archtops are through neck instruments, which I believe adds structual integrity to the guitar.
Because we want the same structual integrity of our Thinline Archtops, we decided to design this guitar with a floating top and back, but with a through neck.
Reason 1. The tailpiece hinge attaches to the neck extension instead of an end block, so over time, as the weight of the strings pulls against the tailpiece, it won’t distort the end block. So, the binding and purfling won’t crush into the spruce top which could cause it to split over time.
Reason 2. I’ve seen so many set neck guitars with the ski jump in the fingerboard that I have never seen in my through neck design.
Reason 3. One of the biggest drawbacks to a full hollowbody with pickups is uncontrolled feedback. We’re hoping the through neck helps reduce some of this problem.
With these three explanations one might say it’s a semi hollowbody but the top and back are only glued to the sides they do not have the integral soundpost design that my Thinline Archtops have. And, the pickguard and tailpiece don’t attach to the top.
The concept is if the top and back are constructed like other archtops then the guitar should have the sound qualities of other 15″ hollowbody archtops, but without the drawbacks.
So, when we were designing this guitar, we both had the same question as Ralph. Is it a hollowbody or semi hollowbody?
Maybe it’s both.
Also, I would like you all to know that this is the first guitar that Richard and I designed together from the ground up. Richard brought wonderful ideas and solutions to the table that I might not have thought of, and has spent the last three months programming it.
Chuck
