Beautiful & Unusual Classical Guitars - Episode 6: 'C3' Michael Greenfield

Soundport + Stunning wood = Beautiful sound and aesthetics for days.

Introduction

Michael Greenfield has been in the business of making guitars for over 20 years and playing them for twice as long! After servicing and restoring many instruments he decided to setup shop professionally in the 1990s. The experience that he gained through repairing older instruments provided Michael with an insight into what makes great guitars great but also what makes certain guitars fail. After many years of careful study Michael has set out to improve upon the guitar and make instruments that are truly worthy of the concert stage. 

Flawless view of the back & sides of this glorious instrument.

Specifications

• Offset soundhole
• Secondary soundport
• Asymmetric & elongated fan bracing
• Elevated fingerboard
• 21 frets
• Scale length - 655mm

Check out the elevated fretboard...a player's dream!

How you can get one!

Michael Greenfield is an exclusive luthier and his instruments do not come cheap. With a base price of US$10,500 for the GF Acoustic Model it is a major purchase. All other models (including the C3 pictured here) start at US$14,500! Start saving...

• Michael Greenfield

Be sure to check out my articles on Modern Classical Guitar Design to learn more about elevated fretboards, soundports, lattice bracing etc etc:

Part 8: Fanned Frets

Part 7: Arched back

Part 6: Double Tops

Part 5: Lattice Bracing

Part 4: Armrest

Part 3: Soundport

Part 2: Indented Cutaway

Part 1: Elevated Fingerboard

Beautiful & Unusual Classical Guitars - Episode 4: 'Newark' Christian Koehn

A fabulous front view of the Newark 2016 model.

Introduction

Christian Koehn - a luthier from Germany has been making guitars professionally since he graduated at the top of the International Guitar Making School course in 2006 in Newark at the Newark College. Interestingly, the guitar featured in this article is named after the college and area that offers the guitar making course. Koehn was the recipient of the prestigious Ashley Mark Publishing Prize for being the best of the best in his graduation class.

Since that time Christian has gone on to setup his own workshop back in his birthplace - Berlin. 

The guitar featured in this article is a custom order. Not too much is revealed about the woods used in its construction but all I can say is that the result is breathtaking to say the least.

Striking Features:

• Stunning aged tonewoods
• Hand-carved rosettes and headstocks

Easy to see the headstock, soundport & beveled cutaway.

• Soundport

An awesome view of the huge soundport.

• Beveled cutaway

Superb look at the beveled cutaway allowing for easier playability past the 12th fret.

• French polish with shellac
• Traditional tooling used in construction
• Traditional Antonio Torres design

That aged look is amazing!

How to get one for yourself?!?!

Christian has a 12 to 18 month waiting time which isn't too bad considering some luthiers have waiting lists of almost a decade! I reckon get in quick before Christian's guitar list fills up! Here's how:

• Get on the waiting list now

Christian has easy payment terms of just 10% to secure a guitar with a further 10% payable when he starts the build (30% for custom builds).

Here's where Christian studied guitar-making if you're keen to have a go for yourself:

• Newark College (United Kingdom) Guitar Making Course

Check out my other articles of beautiful & unusual classical guitars here.

As always,

Let your fingers fly!

Beautiful & Unusual Classical Guitars - Episode 3: 'Black Diamond' (Rafał Turkowiak)

'Black Diamond' by Rafał Turkowiak.

 

Introduction

Polish luthier extraordinaire Rafał Turkowiak is no stranger to building and designing some of the most stunning and ground-breaking classical guitars in the world. After deconstructing an ancient guitar in 1983 Rafal developed his passion for playing and building guitars right up until the present day. At 51 Turkiowak has built a respectable reputation with almost 35 years of luthier experience reinforcing his skill. The exquisite guitar featured here is known as 'Black Diamond' because of the black diamonds embedded in the headstock - amazing!

A fabulous shot of the front & back of this magnificent guitar.

Design Innovations

• Acoustic Tubes - special 'holes' placed in the neck that increase resonance and reduce neck mass

A perfect view of Turkowiak's 'Acoustic Tube' innovation.

• WAVE type resonator - increases vibration through the soundboard; reduced bridge mass

A diagram of the WAVE type resonator pioneered by Turkiowak.

Guitar Specs:

• Top - Western Red Cedar
• Back and Sides - Black and White Ebony
• Neck - Flame Maple (assymetric)
• Fretboard - Ebony
• Head - Crafted with natural black diamonds and authentic Mother of Pearl
• Bridge - Black and White Ebony with Mother of Pearl
• Armrest - Beveled (see my article on armrests here)
• Tuners - Ebony, Aluminium, White Mother of Pearl with an 18:1 ratio
• Fret markers - Mother of Pearl
• Varnish - custom

Specs aside this is a staggeringly beautiful guitar with attention to detail and perfection evident at every turn. The combination of woods, mother of pearl, and synthetic are fused to create a truly memorable guitar.

A nice closeup of the 20th fret, Nickel-Silver frets and striking rosette.

A headstock to remember - Black Diamonds & Mother of Pearl.

Check out the 'Parabolic' or 'Arched Back' made from Black & White Ebony below. You can also read my article on Arched Back classical guitars here.

I'm starting to really love Black & White Ebony.

All of this beauty and innovation doesn't come cheap though. With a price tag of US$8,640 it certainly is an investment and probably only for top class players or serious amateurs and collectors. The cool thing with this guitar though is that all of the workmanship, innovations and care that have gone into crafting it will ensure that you have a wonderful instrument for a lifetime.

Rafał Turkowiak

Check out my other articles on Beautiful & Unusual Classical Guitars here.

Let your fingers fly!