This is a multi-scale, baritone guitar. The body shape is similar to the Gretsch Super Axe, but with a rounded cutaway. The body is black walnut with a thin Sitka spruce cap and ebony bindings. The mahogany neck is 2″ wide at the nut and the ebony fretboard has a 12″ radius. The treble scale length is 27.5″ and the bass string scale is 28.75.” The pickups were custom made humbuckers by Kent Armstrong and have black walnut covers. The bridge is made of 6 Hipshot saddles on a walnut base. This finish is nitrocellulose lacquer.
This is a short (23 1/2″) scale version of a solid body guitar I have built several times. The design works equally well with a longer scale. Although it looks a lot like a Les Paul, the body is quite a bit wider at 13 1/4,” and shallower at 1 1/4.” It is a hybrid of 2 models that Gibson stopped making a long time ago, the L5S and the L6S. The body shape is from the original L6S template that I acquired when Gibson moved from Kalamazoo to Nashville. The carved maple top was inspired by the L5S (the L6S was a single-piece body and flat on the top as well as the back.) The back of the guitar is Honduran mahogany. The 3 piece neck is master-grade hard maple. The Ebony fretboard holds 22 jumbo frets. Macassar ebony was used for the peghead veneer. Grover Imperial tuners, Schaller bridge and tailpiece, and Duncan ’59 PAF humbucker pickups complete the hardware. The guitar is finished with amber-tinted nitrocellulose lacquer.