JGR
Guitarsars
Blues Semi-Hollow Body Guitar
This guitar is a commissioned piece with a black walnut top and an African mahogany body. I carved this guitar's body out of a single piece of mahogany, and added a rosewood fretboard, with trapezoidal mother-of-pearl inlays. The through body stringing and one piece construction give this guitar exceptional sustain.
The F-holes give this guitar the classic look while still holding the sound of a traditional blues semi-hollow body. This ES-335 ispired build has a Gretsh flare with the single horn, and the ergonomical feel of a fender with the carved top horn to sit comfortably with.
What was the clients request for this guitar?
He wanted a semi-hollow body archtop that fit well with the classic rock genre, both in looks and in sound. Together, we worked out a design that we both enjoyed, and finifhed it with a black walnut top. This gives the guitar a cool "Rock n' Roller" style while still possessing a dark, but warm, tone, with a bit of a low end and an extrememly nice sustain. We talked about a one piece body and through body stringing; its strings never leave the neck, creating more sustain as well having the least amount of tone loss through glue joints. For the body, I worked out of a single peice of African mahogany. There are no glue joints in this guitar other than the top and the rosewood fretboard. I shaped the body, then carved the neck out after I bored out the inside of the guitar until a nice and thin 1/16th" wall, and 1/8th" on the back. With the neck being carved out of the same piece of wood, this guitar has exceptional sustain and a warm rich tone to compliment the dark essence of the black walnut top.
