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Hand Made Guitars by Luthier Dan Koentopp

The Campbell BlueLine

 

Words don’t even come close to capturing what this instrument means to me. Danny built something beyond my own conception of a perfect guitar, and it still excites and inspires me each day I play or even look at it.

The process

What a truly magical experience it was to be at Danny’s shop to watch the guitar go from slabs to stringed. Danny is so passionate about his instruments and it shows in every way. Watching him bring the guitar to life was incredible. We took measurements of my personal favorite guitars and discussed tones we wanted to capture. I have a background in classical guitar, as does Danny, so we were inspired to capture that element as well….and of course he did, in both aesthetics and sound. This guitar truly is the perfect guitar for me in every single way and I can’t thank Danny and Anjuli enough.

Aesthetics

This guitar is simply beautiful. I loved his Honduran mahogany stash he had in the back of his shop and WOW. With the maple binding, it gives off a “halo” affect that is so clear in defining the overall shape of the guitar body.

The shape was exactly what I was looking for. Simple, proportional, and optimal for sound. Also an overall sense of “tradition” with the innovative touches of modern elements such as the tail piece, head stock, and that gorgeously streaked Macassar ebony for the fingerboard, bridge, tail piece, and headstock veneer.

The top is a stunning bear claw spruce that I immediately fell in love with and the brown finish blended beautifully with the mahogany, giving that “halo” affect of the maple binding all the way thru the guitars outline. Truly a stunning instrument to look at from every angle.

The Sound

When I first played the guitar, it was baffling how balanced the frequencies were within the guitar. It is so light weight and so full in its projection, much like a masterfully built classical guitar. All of the harmonies already “fit”. The trebles just effortlessly float through the mid range harmonies, with the bass filling and resonating full and clear and this was just naturally from the guitar, without me putting any extra into dynamic expressions yet. It really has a piano-like feel to how it resonates within itself with incredible and effortless sustain. It is a true joy to play as just an acoustic guitar.

The Ron Ellis pickup was a must. With the volume rolled off a little and the tone knob rolled off  a little more than the volume knob, it is an incredible capturing of the acoustic sound of this guitar….with the option for a little more. The pick up can put some juice on it and give a nice lively electric punch familiar to traditional PAF pickup electric guitars. This guitar has been a dream to play in solo, duo, trio, and quartet settings at varying volumes and rooms.

All in all, this guitar checked off not only all the boxes I wanted in a fine custom archtop, Danny checked off boxes I wasn’t even aware of until going through the process and watching him bring this dream guitar of mine to life. Such an incredible guy all the way around and his guitars undoubtedly show it.”  –Eddie Campbell 

 

#075 BlueLine Specifications

•16.25″ Lower Bout, 12.75″ Upper Bout, 21″ Body length, and a 2 3/4″ Depth
•Cutaway, X-braced
•Romanian spruce top
• “Bee’s Wing-Flamed” figured Honduran Mahogany back and sides
•Flamed Mahogany, two piece neck with bone nut width of 1.72″ , C profile
•Neck thickness taper .85″ at 1st fret – .95″ at 10th fret
•Macassar Ebony Fingerboard with scale length of 25.25″
•Macassar Ebony veneer on front and rear of headstock
•Macassar Ebony heal cap
•Flame maple body binding with violin style purfling bordered with Red and Green lines
•Elliptical Side position markers in Ebony
•Medium jumbo frets
•Unadorned Fingerboard bound in flamed Maple
•Straight Fingerboard extension at 21st fret
•Gotoh 510 HAP tuners with Ebony buttons
•Hand cut compensated, Ebony adjustable bridge
•Headstock bound in Flame maple
•DK logo in Maple
•Magnetic “Push-Access” Truss Rod Cover
•Carved Macassar tailpiece, swoop cut out, and inlaid brass electrical ground
•Custom Ron Ellis “Bill Frisell” pickup set in a Ebony ring
•Volume and Tone knobs (500k VIP) hand turned Eboy knobs with carved point
•.022k Oil-in-paper Russian capacitor
•Lacquer Finish
•Rubbed finish on neck

 

 

#075 BlueLine in Romanian Spruce and Figured Honduran Mahogany

 

Close up of front with Ron Ellis LRP humbucker mounted in ebony ring

 

Back and sides in figured Honduran Mahogany

 

#075 in Perspective

 

Close up of the backs lower belly

 

Detail of carved ebony tailpiece and knobs

 

Close up detail of ebony tailpiece

 

Headstock in Macassar Ebony

 

Detail of custom brass and ebony tailpiece saddle and endpin

 

Purfling and binding detail with a subtle hint of color

 

The “Blackbird” shot of course!

 

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