Let's start with an 'art pic'. Making archtop guitars and mandos
is quite difficult but not half as tricky as photographing a gloss
black one! Gloss black lacquer is like a mirror and shows every
reflection, piece of dust and fingermark so I am particularly proud
of the pic above! It is my normal archtop mando using fine spruce
and maple (under the lacquer so you don't get to see it) with ebony
fingerboard, bridge and scratchplate. Binding is ivoroid and hardware
is gold plated. The frets are Warmoth gold coloured nickel silver.
Don't know how they do it but the gold colour goes right through
and, like the rest of the hardware, contrasts beautifully with the
black. It has the typical sound of an archtop with the added advantage
of the Highlander pickup installed in the bridge so you can amplify
it to your heart's content. The battery for the Highlander preamp
is in the tailblock which is enlarged on the backside to allow it
to fit but remains small in the contact area with the top so does
not affect the acoustic sound.
A couple more regular shots (note the reflections!)
For more about the Archtop guitars go to the
Mandolin Page
Return to Acoustics