- 650mm Scale Length
- Fan Bracing
- Western Red Cedar Soundboard
- Indian Rosewood Back and Sides
- Elevated Fingerboard with 20th fret
- Purple heart and Maple Rosette
- One Soundport on the Upper Bout
This guitar was my very first order and was commissioned by Stephen Mattingly, professor of guitar at the Univeristy of Louisville, after my visit to his guitar studio in January 2013. The body size, shape and top bracing was inspired by guitar no. 4, but the soundport, 20th fret and elevated fingerboard were requested by Dr. Mattingly. Although this guitar was ordered early in the first year building guitars fulltime it was scheduled for completion after the 2013 Guitar Foundation of America Convention.
When Stephen Mattingly and I were discussing this guitar in January of 2013 he specifically requested that I create an original rosette design for the instrument, and so this instrument marked the end of my using premaid rosettes.
I was a little reluctant at first to make a guitar with an elevated fingerboard. They definitely have a distictive tone; however, this guitar also has a level of power that can definitely be attributed to this increasingly popular design trend, and it will definitely continue to be a ingredient that I can use when requested.