Not long before his death in 1995, Master Luthier Jimmy D'Aquisto crafted an 18" archtop for the Scott Chinery collection. Finished in a bold blue sunburst, it became an inspiration for the Chinery Blue Guitar project. This project involved commissionning 20 of the best American luthiers to come up with their interpretation of the "ideal" archtop. The only rules were that it had to an 18" acoustic archtop guitar, and that it had to be... blue ...Even though I wasn't obviously invited to join the project (!), I felt the urge some time ago to come up with my own interpretation of this mythical instrument, hence the "Blue Swallow" shown herein.
This 17" version sports D'Aquisto like sound holes with slotted solid ebony tailpiece and headstock. The top is Sitka spruce with hard rock flamed maple neck, back and sides. In its final version, the guitar was fitted with a Kent Amstrong hand-wound floating pick up. The end result is (to say the least...) a responsive instrument. Some of my test drivers have felt it to be almost too reponsive for their playing style. But, I can guarantee that if you feel something, play the note, she will voice it...Who said a Ferrari was meant to be stuck in downtown traffic...
(For more pics and info, click on pic above)
Kingston Guitar Master Dave Barton and the Blue Swallow...
