As an acoustic guitarist, I have often wondered whether it would be possible to design a comfortable on-stage guitar that has a great amplified sound and is feedback resistant in a live setting. The search of a solution to these requirements has led to the development of thinline acoustic models, namely the Hummingbird, the Albatross and the Raptor Acoutic.

THE HUMMINGBIRD

The Hummingbird model has solid African Mahogany back and sides with a Spruce top, custom acoustic bridge and V-style bracing. The body is 50mm thick and has an added comfort-carve on the back. The neck has a comfortable feel with an angled 6 a side headstock, but the most striking feature of the Hummingbird is the offset soundhole, which dramatically increases the resonant surface of the Spruce top. Under the guidance Marc Maingard, a legendary luthier in his own right, the top bracing was tuned to produce a full-bodied acoustic tone when amplified. The first model became my personal research platform, as I experimented with a variety of pickup configurations, including magnetic and piezo acoustic pickups, as well as single-coil and P90 electric pickups! I eventually settled on a traditional Fishman piezo pickup system, although there seems to be no end to the quest for the ultimate amplified acoustic tone!

THE ALBATROS

The Albatross model, although is still under development calls for a traditional soundhole design, along with solid African Mahogany back and sides, braced Spruce top and custom acoustic bridge. The back will be arched to increase the internal volume of the guitar without compromising comfort, and the top will be inlayed into the sides, allowing for a radiused front edge to further increase ergonomics. The 25.5” scale neck will have a larger headstock to complement the cutaway body and either Fishman or LR Baggs electronics for amplification.

THE RAPTOR ACOUSTIC

The Raptor Acoustic models are designed to be comfortable to play, and sound amazing plugged-in, but also have a natural acoustic tone to allow you to practice at home unplugged, and therefore are more complex instruments to build than the electric models I’ve made in the past. Sitka spruce top with hand-tuned V-style bracing, contoured Mahogany sides, Black Limba back and headstock veneer. 3-piece Maple neck with Indian Rosewood fretboard and Maple fret markers. 25.5″ scale with Indian Rosewood bridge, Bone saddle and TusQ Nut. 6-inline black tuners, black strap buttons and black knobs. Piezo undersaddle pickup with custom 2-band preamp (concentric bass/treble and separate volume knobs. I built and tuned the preamp myself to suit the Raptor Acoustic’s natural characteristics, and to provide a full-range acoustic guitar tone plugged in.

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