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Custom Oversized Brazilian Rosewood Adirondack Spruce Acoustic Guitar - $6,000 (Buena Park)
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MAKER: Ruben Esquivel, a master luthier who studied under Lorenzo Pimentel (PimentelGuitars.com), made this custom acoustic guitar 30 years ago using the much hallowed "Golden Era" wood combo like pre-war Martins.
BACK AND SIDES: The old growth Brazilian Rosewood with its colorful hues and amazing aroma was 90 years old at the time of build which makes the back and sides 120 years old now. From the sound hole comes a SONIC BOOM of overtones with surprising volume, clarity and depth!
TOP: "No other guitar top tonewood has the history, the ambition, or the sheer power, sustain and dynamic range of Adirondack spruce."(Breedlove) This guitar has a very fine narrow grain spruce top indicating that the tree grew very slowly high up in the Adirondack mountains. The wood lines are so close to each other, giving the top a bright, clear, thick, dense sound with more articulate ringing and much more volume and sonic energy.
SOUND: I must’ve played over 1000 acoustic guitars in the past 40 years...all sorts of models with all kinds of wood combinations, dozens of factory and boutique brands...and without a doubt, this guitar is the LOUDEST of them all! It has been broken in and played regularly for almost 30 years which makes the already incredible wood resonate so much better and louder. It’s dry, crisp, deep, clear...and SUPER LOUD!! I’ve dared people to bring over their guitars and they are all blown away when they hear them side by side. The clarity and volume are night and day to every guitar compared so far!
SIZE: A BIG reason for this guitar’s incredible volume and headroom is that it was custom made to be slightly oversized. Standard dreadnoughts are already made to be louder and produce stronger bass and project more sound than other body shapes, but this dreadnought was made to be longer and wider and deeper than standard...in short, this guitar goes to 11!
-Standard dreadnought body length is around 20". This guitar is 21" long. (1" longer)
-Standard lower bout width is around 15.5". This guitar is 16" wide. (1/2" wider)
-Standard upper bout depth is around 3.75". This guitar is 4.375" deep. (5/8" deeper)
-Standard lower bout depth is around 4.75". This guitar is 5.25" deep. (1/2" deeper)
IMPORTANT NOTE (and the ONLY reason why I’m selling it): The neck is wider than standard. The standard dreadnought nut width is around 1.75" and this guitar is 1.875" (1/8" wider). "A wider neck gives the strings longer sustain."(Lowden) The strings will ring longer, but (word of caution) IF you have small hands, you will have to spread your fingers a little more than normal. If you have medium to large sized hands, it might even feel more comfortable to you so it could be a plus. The whole guitar will feel "jumboish" as you play, and it has become harder for me to play comfortably in my old age as my hands are smaller. I'm a 50+ year old 5' 8" Asian to give you an idea.
PICKUP: In my opinion, under-the-saddle pickups affect the natural acoustic sound a lot. So I installed a K&K Pure Mini pickup instead. No batteries needed, ever. The K&K pickup pads are stuck on INSIDE the guitar body so there’s no sound-deadening clarity-muffling pickup strip or paper shim under the saddle. There is only complete unhindered sound transference from the extra-long string vibration to the ultra-fine grain Adirondack spruce top and over-a-century-aged Brazilian rosewood body for maximum sound energy. I even got the gold version of the K&K jack (instead of the regular default chrome) so it would match the gold Gotoh tuners and gold strap lock. So all the trim matches and looks great and sounds great when plugged in!
CONDITION: This guitar has been played and used for 30 years and is in very good condition when you consider that. There is definitely some checking(nitrocellulose crack lines) on the top. It is the original and authentic high quality "breathable" finish that Ruben masterfully applied back then and has not been reglossed at any point. Besides, a lot of people "relic" their new guitars by freezing and heating them to crack the finish to give it that old broken in look. Relic lines are valuable to some and this guitar has the relic look which happened NATURALLY over 30 years and not through some artificial fast cooling/heating process, giving the guitar some nice personality and character.
CASE: It comes with a heavy duty hardshell padded case and there are 3 Humidipaks in the case along with the head and sound hole pouches to optimize the humidity inside the case to an ideal level.
CONCLUSION: This is your chance to get an oversized UNICORN one-of-a-kind custom dreadnought acoustic guitar with a great passive pickup that’s not under-the-saddle. Superb sound both acoustically and plugged in. I bet it’ll be the LOUDEST guitar you’ve ever heard in your life! People have played it and when they compare the sound with their guitars, they almost always and immediately go: Whoa! Then they say things like: This thing is LOUD! Man, this thing’s a CANNON (or beast or monster)! Another common phrase I hear is: Holy *insert expletive here*! But sadly........it’s just a little too big and too expensive for me to handle in my current life stage. I’m hoping it goes to someone with larger hands who will use it well for another 30 years as it is a very special guitar with great value. :)