Steve Hoffman said:
That is a fair price but there is no description of CONDITION on there...
As it turns out I did sneak off to go play it today (ostensibly to get some new fingerpicks). :wink:
It's showroom mint! Hardly a fingerprint. No nicks, pickmarks, or wear.
'Scuse me while I gush: IT'S BEAUTIFUL in person, has low action (nickel 12's feels like), doesn't buzz or have any sympathetic trash going on (unlike the pu springs on my Savoy), and sounds wonderful acoustically (I didn't plug it in: were it mine I'd string it with flatwounds and likely never plug it in except initially to check).
It is not loud (needs waking up with maybe some bronze strings) but has a well balanced tone with no harshness at all, and decent sustain.
But here's the part I like: it is the state-of-the-luthiers-art, as far as precision and perfection of form and detail.
I have gotten used to seeing custom luthiered archtops that have maybe a bit of imprecision in the inlays, etc (Triggs and Benedetto's early stuff seemed crudely done to me, compared to say, a Gilchrist).
I don't know what Bob Benedetto "refined" when he signed on with Guild, but it wasn't attention to detail. This thing seems flawless to me (yeah, it ain't loud acoustically, but it has a nice voice for chord solos).
It would be the grail for me were I in the hunt for something this high end.
Steve sez: two thumbs up, check it out!
We now return you to the regularly scheduled de-programming.