Vienna Traditional Brown Archtop Masterbuilt Start Price USD 11,500.00 Current Price USD 11,500.00 Time Left - Bid Count 0 Buy It Now Price - Reserve Price - Start Time Sunday, November 16, 2008 End Time Wednesday, November 26, 2008 Location Roosendaal See more about 'Vienna Traditional Brown Archtop Masterbuilt' Description Because of personal reasons I offer from private collection:   Scharpach Vienna Traditional Brown Archtop (2008) This 18" handcrafted custombuilt jazz archtop guitar from january 2008 is a very (!) professional instrument in sight, sound and construction for both jazz-guitarists and collectors alike requiring the ultimate in archtop making. This is the third Vienna productionguitar after the prototype and for now the first one in this georgeous and astonishing (!) Vienna Traditional Brown colour by luthier Scharpach. Only natural materials and custom designed parts have been used for this masterpiece of art and craftsmanship. Luthier Scharpach has been the only European luthier chosen to participate in the Chinery Collection of Blue Guitars Exhibit at the Smithsonians Institution's National Museum of American History in Washington, honoring the late Jimmy d'Aquisto. For this exhibition he built the first Vienna prototype (the "Blue Vienna"). Some of Scharpach's customers have been Olaf Tarenskeen, Al di Meola, Bachman Turner and Steve Howe (and me of course!). This Jazz arched top beauty has a radius fretboard and the neck has the custom Gibson Super 400 measurements. It has a powerful, big and well-embalanced acoustic superiour and very sophisticated sound and is very easy to play. It's suited for Big Band, Solo and small groups alike and stands out in the crowd qua stunning looks and its outstanding beautifull acoustic archtop sound which is unheard of! This very professional Jazz Archtop Guitar has no scratches or dings whatsoever (pristine mint condition/brandnew) and comes with a professional -exact fitting- black Calton hardcase with a beautiful green inside which suits the guitar perfectly in looks.This guitar has a top hundreds of years old and it is acoustically superiour. The tailpiece is cut from a solid block of a specially selected brass, and is not cast. It is heavily gold-plated using fine jeweler's techniques as opposed to industrial plating. It also features three pure silver inlays and in one of them the "Scharpach-bird" is engraved which symbols the "S" in Scharpach. The clean shape of the guitar represents the essence of the sound. The guitar was built using craftsmanship and acoustic design principals similar to what has been utilized for hundreds of years by fine violin and cello makers as Stradivarius, adapted to guitar acousticss. Another beautiful handcrafted detail is the open headstock, not common to Archtops, featuring countersunk machine heads. The string rollers run horizontal for perfect tuning and harmonic balance of design. This idea is far from simple to construct. It uses a new design for the machines and also requires some new construction methods in order to achieve an aesthetic fitting of the machines to the headstock. The result is truly exceptional and original. And these extraordinary machines tune like no others! The plate that covers the machine is hand-engraved. Specifications 18" Scharpach Vienna Archtop: Top:                    250 year old Spruce X-braced Sides/back:        Figured maple/Riegelahorn Fingerboard:      Brasilian ebony with Gibson Super 400 radius Nutwidth:           42 mm Width 12th pos  51 mm Bridge:               Brasilian ebony Scratchplate:     Brasilian ebony Scale:                 643 mm Machines:         Custom countersink Tuningknobs:    Mother Of Pearl Cutaway:           Standard Pickup:              Custom Alnico III Tailpiece:          Goldplated with silver inlays   ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________   * This guitar can be shipped worldwide. Shipmentcosts and insurance are not included and depend on shipmentaddress. When bidding, the bidder agrees these costs to be added to the salesprice. I will obtain a quote upon request. * As a private seller I can not give any warranty nor returnpolicy. * When selling outside the Netherlands I prefer payment by PayPal. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Original cost of this guitar has been $ 22.000 in januari 2008 (without import taxes and shipmentcosts).   HAPPY BIDDING! Place a Bid!