Custom Options
Check out your options for a personalized instrument on this page and submit your selections on the following page for a no-obligations quote.
Choose a Body Style
Orchestra Model
Dreadnought
The Orchestra Model was designed in 1929 to appeal to jazz orchestra players who wanted an alternative to the banjo. They needed a sensibly sized guitar that could project with great tone. Having been perfected over the years and popularized by singer-songwriters, the OM is a tremendous achievement in quality tone and volume built into a compact body.
The Dreadnought was likely named after the large battleship, the HMS Dreadnought. Having a larger body size and a shallower waist, the Dreadnought has a lot of surface area on the top that allows for a great deal of reverberation, resulting in a big, booming sound. This is the most popular acoustic guitar body style of all time, and it’s the favored guitar among folk, country, and bluegrass pickers.
Choose Tonewoods
Soundboard Tonewoods
Sitka Spruce - Meet the tried and true standard. It’s punchy and responds very well to vigorous strumming by projecting pure bold tones.
Adirondack Spruce - For the past century, Adirondack has been the favored wood for steel-string acoustics. Imagine all of the qualities of Sitka, only more pronounced. This is a premium rare wood that makes for a treasured instrument.
Engelman Spruce - This is the sensitive member of the Spruce family. Dynamic playing and finger-picking will come through in a textured harmonic way through this soundboard.
Back/Sides Tonewoods
EAST INDIAN ROSEWOOD - THIS SPECIES OF ROSEWOOD IS THE STANDARD FOR ITS GOOD RESPONSIVENESS, ESPECIALLY ON THE LOW-END WITH WOODY OVERTONES THAT MATCH SITKA SPRUCE BEAUTIFULLY.
COCOBOLO - A SOUTH AMERICAN WOOD WITH STUNNING COLOR, COCOBOLO IS ALSO ONE OF THE DENSER WOODS AVAILABLE, MEANING THAT IT WILL ABSORB LESS TONE AND REFLECT THE SOUND BRILLIANTLY BACK THROUGH THE TOP. THE RESULT IS BETTER VOLUME, SUSTAIN, AND CLARITY AS WELL AS A VISUALLY BEAUTIFUL GUITAR.
MAPLE - THIS WOOD FINISHES BEAUTIFULLY, REVEALING DEEP FLAME AND CURLY FIGURES. IT'S A LESS DENSE WOOD THAN COCOBOLO, BUT STILL RELATIVELY DENSE AT 44 LBS PER CUBIC FT. A MAPLE GUITAR WILL REFLECT SOUND WELL FROM THE BACK AND SIDES, WHILE MELLOWING OUT THE BASS NOTES. MOST PLAYERS ASSOCIATE MAPLE WITH CLEAR BRIGHT SNAP.
BUBINGA - BUBINGA'S BEAUTIFUL CURLY FIGURE IS ITS MOST NOTICEABLE FEATURE. HOWEVER, THIS GRAIN PATTERN MAKES IT RISKY TO BEND AND JOINT. HAPPILY, THE RESULTS ARE WELL WORTH THE RISK. ITS TONE IS VERY SIMILAR TO INDIAN ROSEWOOD, HAVING A RICH WOODINESS IN ITS SOUND, WHICH TENDS TO FAVOR THE LOW-MID RANGE OF THE GUITAR.
AFRICAN BLACKWOOD - THIS STUNNING WOOD IS HARD TO FIND BUT WELL WORTH IT. IT'S A VERY HARD AND STABLE WOOD, WHICH MAKES IT GREAT FOR PROJECTING CLEAR, BELL-LIKE TONES FROM A GOOD TOP-WOOD. ITS PHYSICAL PROPERTIES TEND TO RESONATE BASSIER SOUNDS, SO YOU'LL REALLY FEEL THIS GUITAR WITH THE LOW NOTES.
MYRTLE- A MEDIUM-DENSITY WOOD, MYRTLE'S TONE IS MOST EASILY COMPARED WITH MAPLE. IT PROJECTS MID-BRIGHT FREQUENCIES MOST EASILY AND MELLOWS ON THE LOW-END. DUE TO ITS UNIQUE FIGURE PATTERN, THERE'S A LOT OF VARIATION BETWEEN MYRTLE PIECES BOTH IN LOOK AND IN TONE, BUT GENERALLY THE GUITARS MADE FROM THIS WOOD HAVE A VERY CLEAR TONE THAT CUTS THROUGH BRIGHTLY.
BLACK WALNUT- THIS WOOD RESONATES WELL ACROSS THE SPECTRUM, BUT IT'S CHARACTERISTICALLY EARTHY TONES ARE BEST HEARD IN THE MID RANGE. THE BASS AND TREBLE NOTES FROM A WALNUT GUITAR TEND TO HAVE LESS OF THE CLASSIC WALNUT SOUND. BUT, OH BOY, IT ADDS A SERIOUSLY RICH TEXTURE TO EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN!
OVANGKOL- USED AS AN ALTERNATIVE BY MANY LUTHIERS TO INDIAN ROSEWOOD, OVANGKOL IS LESS DENSE AND EASIER TO WORK WITH. IT SOMETIMES HAS VERY ATTRACTIVE MINERAL DEPOSITS THAT SHOW UP WELL UNDER FINISH. MANY BUILDERS FAVOR THE SOUND OF OVANGKOL IN LARGER BODIED GUITARS BECAUSE ITS SOFTER TEXTURE MAKES THE MID-LOW RANGE NOTES LESS MUDDY WITH THE LARGER BODY CHAMBER.
Necks
Take your pick between a solid Mahogany neck or a solid Maple Neck with Rosewood Laminate pieces.
Additionally, we offer Khaya, which is a great alternative to Mahogany with a beautiful flame.
Fretboards
The default fretboard for all guitars is Macassar Ebony.
Bindings
Bindings are installed around the perimeter of the top and back of the guitar for corner protection and a lovely aesthetic feature.
Curly Maple is standard, but Ebony is a good darker alternative to contrast with a lighter back/sides wood.
Fretboard Bindings
Extend the binding scheme from your guitar body onto the fretboard.
Fretwire
Choose between gold and chrome
Personalized Fretboard Inlay
Your guitar is a work of art, and we can make it unique to you.
A luthier will discuss the possibilities for inlaying your guitar fretboard just the way you want.
Personalized Headstock Inlay
Our Standard Logo is made from three different types of shell.
The Oversized Logo is a great upgrade!
You can design something personalized to adorn your headstock.
Tuners
Our Standard Tuners are Gotoh brand with an 18:1 gear ratio.
Pro-Tip: Choose Tuners that match your fretwire color.
Top Purfling
Purfling is an adornment around the perimeter of the guitar top.
Our standard is an ebony/maple marquetry purfling. It can be upgraded to a shell purfling or an inlaid Celtic pattern for an extra flare.
Rosettes
Rosettes are another top adornment around the Soundhole.
Like the purfling, a marquetry Rosette is standard, but you can upgrade to a shell Rosette.
Pro-Tip: Match your Rosette to the Purfling. It will look amazing!
Bridges and Bridge Pins
Our default bridge is Ebony, but you can choose between the same variety of tonewoods available as fretboards for your bridge.
Choose which endpin will best match your desired bridge material.
Pro-Tip: Match your bridge material to your fretboard material if possible for a unique design!
Pickup
The K&K Mini Acoustic pickup is our go-to for an optimal user-friendly pickup. This Bridge Plate Transducer picks up the guitar’s sound in a rich true manner that doesn’t even require batteries or a pre-amp.
