Product Description
Sakashta like feel, with a more complex tone, great clarity for jazz without feedback
Specs:
upper bout: 11-1/2”
lower bout: 15-5/8”
thickness: 1-3/4” at the rim
scale: 24-3/4” (Gibson scale)
bone nut: 1-3/4”
carved spruce top with parallel bracing
carved back and sides: Spruce, Mahogany
body frame is curved on the inside—sort of like a bicycle tire.
pick up: Kent Armstrong, custom wound humbucker
truss rod : double action rod
ebony fret board, bridge, tailpiece, control knobs, truss rod cover and peg (that holds the tail piece)
strings are grounded
tuners: Gotoh 510 gold with black knobs
Some small finish dings on body. Kent Armstrong Epoxy Pickup ring has a repaired crack in it.
BIO: Where did I learn to build a guitar?
When Dennis Kistler was twelve, he had a vision. I wanted my skateboard to look like a surfboard. In Southern California surfboards were just evolving into slick fiber-glass foam boards with redwood/balsa strips running through them. The skateboard of my era was a 2×4 with adjustable steel skates—usually donated from someone’s sister–pulled apart and nailed to each end. I knew what to do, but I needed use of my father’s power tools, especially the table saw, so I kept asking. Eventually he relented, “Everything but the jointer,” he said, fearful I’d drag my finger through it. Soon my skateboard had a fiberglass-resin finish, redwoods strips and the shape of a surfboard. This was cool, and I made more for the neighborhood. Later it was doll furniture for my sisters and a trailer to haul my surfboard behind my bicycle. When I acquired an old lawn mower engine, I made a wooden go-kart. Freedom with tools was a gift from my father.
As a young adult I built on those early skills, sometimes working as a cabinet/furniture maker and carpenter. I was in and out of college, flew helicopters in the army and finally, then with help from the GI bill, completed a BA at Berklee College of Music. With no job and no money, it was, once again, my woodworking skills that provided an income. Starting with handyman stuff, to cabinets and furniture, to additions- renovations and custom homes, I built a reputation for good work. Along the way I hired someone who had been building racing yachts; he was an over qualified helper, so I made him my partner. Together we built a business noted for quality and craftsmanship. www.kistlerandknapp.com
In the beginning we did everything, but success meant more management and less hands-on craft. My need to make things, however, lived on. I’ve always maintained a small shop at home. Over the years I had built a few guitars, repaired several others, and learned to do my own guitar setups. Then I had a new vision.
H model guitar
I’m a guitar player wanted a smaller, more comfortable guitar that could hold its own in an ensemble, wouldn’t feedback and still had that warm jazzy sound. I measured a half dozen archtops looking for the qualities I liked best. I put body and neck profiles on transparencies so I could overlay them and see the differences. I have a Gibson 120T, which is fun to play (just don’t plug it in); it has the upper and lower bout proportions similar to my vision. I had made a travel guitar with rounded details and saw other guitars with rounded sides (most notably those of the late Sakashta ). I had no real idea how this would shape the sound; it just looked cool. I built two prototypes. To my delight the guitar performed well. I gigged with the first one for a year and loaned the second to accomplished jazz players in my area. The response was positive. Typical comments were: balanced tone, good sustain, neck feels great, comfortable. And this common comment I loved: “it sounds like a bigger guitar”. Here’s a youtube link of Gustavo Assis-Brasil playing the #2 prototype. http://youtu.be/8XIuHDtoLRg
CNC machine
If I was going to continue making guitars, I needed relief from repetitive motion that wreaks havoc on my hands and elbows, so I invested in a cnc machine. This was like starting all over. I had to learn three new computer programs—a tall order for an old dog like me—and build a whole new set of jigs. This took another year. I’m now about three years into my “new vision”. As a player, this guitar is my all-time favorite. But best of all, hearing other musicians play my guitars, now that’s a really cool thing.
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