{"id":2026,"date":"2019-09-04T10:00:41","date_gmt":"2019-09-04T17:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/koentoppguitars.com\/blog\/?p=2026"},"modified":"2019-09-04T10:04:15","modified_gmt":"2019-09-04T17:04:15","slug":"2019-summer-oval-hole-chicagoan-064","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/koentoppguitars.com\/blog\/2019-summer-oval-hole-chicagoan-064\/","title":{"rendered":"2019 Summer Oval Hole Chicagoan #064"},"content":{"rendered":"

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This guitar has a modern and simplistic aesthetic and is built with aged European tonewoods throughout. For a while I called this guitar the “Canon” for obvious reasons. The client wanted a dual pickup configuration which is tricky to do with an Oval hole. Most times, guitar makers move the sound hole further south to incorporate a humbucker pickup. I like to avoid interfering with the soundboard and bracing design so the best and most non-invasive solution is giving up a few frets at the end of the fingerboard to mount the pickup with clearance from the sound hole.\u00a0It features a slightly deeper body depth which helps add more bass support by lowering the pitch of the body resonance. You can feel this thing breath and vibrate against your ribs as you play it, even with the slightest touch.<\/p>\n

The dual pickup configuration and sound port also make it a challenge to keep all those wires in order and tidied up so things don’t look bad and more importantly so the wires don’t vibrate. The pickup wires are neatly tucked away with custom wire clip-side braces while they go from pickup to tone and volume controls located at the sound port and then to the offset stereo output jack. It’s a dream to play this thing into two separate amplifiers. The Barbera saddle pickup is one of the most accurate and versatile acoustic pickups I’ve ever heard or worked with. Having the low powered 6.8k Kent Armstrong pickup adds another great flavor of sound.<\/p>\n

Another feature that I have started to do is rub down my necks after the finish has cured and been buffed to a polish. This is essentially what is done on violins after brushing lacquer has been applied. The feel is soft, smooth and fast.\u00a0This guitar was set up with coated Phosphor Bronze strings (.012’s) and it just sings with clarity, note separation, and sparkle.<\/p>\n

I really like how this guitar came to be. Everything flowed from start to finish in an organic way. The simple accents support this clean and modern aesthetic with much respect to the beautiful materials and clean form.<\/p>\n

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Chicagoan Oval Hole Archtop #064<\/strong><\/p>\n