The Gibson J-160E is one of the most recognisable steel string guitars, due largely to recordings and performances during the early 1960s by The Beatles.
Based on the Songwriter designed by Ren Ferguson at the Gibson Acoustic shop in Bozeman, Montana, the Gibson Custom Shop Songwriter Performer Limited was produced during 2012. Using a traditional square shoulder Dreadnought body of Sitka Spruce and Mahogany, and a 25.5 inch, long scale Mahogany neck and Indian Rosewood for the unadorned fingerboard and bridge, the Gibson Custom Shop Songwriter Performer Limited sports an abalone ring around the soundhole.
The C. F. Martin 000-18 is an extremely versatile, great sounding guitar with a smaller body and shorter scale length than the classic D-body Dreadnoughts. As an ’18’ level model, Mahogany is used for the back, sides and neck, with Sitka Spruce for the top and Ebony for the fingerboard and bridge. The 000-18 is well known for its even, well represented tone, excellent for both strumming and fingerstyle.
he Larrivee SD-60 is influenced by early Dreadnought designs, which date as far back as 1916. The earliest Dreadnought body guitars appeared around 1916 and were built by Martin for the Ditson company. The Martin-Ditson Dreadnought body style tends to be long with a wide waist. It has developed into the Dreadnought, the single most used body style in the world. The original Ditson dreadnoughts had many of the features found here on the Larrivee SD-60.
Furch offers a wide range of body styles and wood options, and seems to focus on allowing the customer to customize, rather than making specific models with minimal substitutions. In effect, it’s almost entirely what others call their Custom Shop. As is identified on the label as a Furch G23CR Cutaway, this breaks down to Grand Auditorium body shape, style 23, with American Red Cedar top, Indian Rosewood back and sides, and a Cutaway. The neck is Mahogany, with Ebony for the fingerboard, bridge, and headplate.
‼️Reduced‼️ This example was built at Guild’s New Hartford, Connecticut shop as the third guitar on Tuesday, June 16 2009. The top is Adirondack Spruce and the back and sides are mahogany, as is traditional for Bluegrass style instruments. It sports a sunburst finish, a DTAR active pickup system and Gotoh open back Sta-Tite style tuners. It’s in very good condition.
