NAMM ’15 – Gibson Custom Solid-Formed 17″ Venetian Cutaway Arch Top Guitar
NAMM2015: We are really impressed with the introduction of the new Gibson Custom Solid Formed 17” Venetian Cutaway Arch Top guitars. This elegant guitar is the first to be introduced in the Gibson Solid-Formed range, and we are excited to be one of the very few North American dealers to make it available for pre-order!
The Music Zoo was fortunate to get our hands on this well thought out beauty at the NAMM show last week in Anaheim and here’s what we loved:
A rich and more pronounced tone due to a breakthrough in the Arch Top’s design. The top and back are built from two book-matched pieces of solid wood with redirected grain instead of being severed, as you’ll find in traditional carving. This process was in development for years, and it is finally being presented in this beauty of a guitar. In addition, the design is also eco-friendly in that it was constructed through a process that required only 1/3 of the wood of conventional carved top design for the top and back.
A redesigned neck with ½ less wood is grafted to the headstock in a continuous grain for a very special neck that not only makes it stronger, but actually enhances the guitar’s tone and sound performance. Over where the neck and body meet, you’ll find a heel block that’s precision glued to the neck shaft and has a precision dovetail joint. You’ll then see the neck shaft is glued into a matching dovetail joint in the body. A dual action truss rod also allows for complete flexibility in adjustment. We felt Gibson Custom did a great job redesigning this neck and it really shined through in person.
Now back to some other reasons why the tone on this one had us giddy. A Johnny Smith mini Humbucker floats above the body and is attached to the pickguard, and this design actually creates an amplified acoustic sound. That means there’s no dampening. To further avoid messing with the guitar’s natural tone, Gibson designed this with no rim jack. The input jack is actually thoughtfully run through the end pin, and the tone/volume controls are mounted to the pickguard – keeping them away from touching the guitar. The pickguard and electronics can even be removed if you’d like to make it completely acoustic!
These features and well thought out design improvements have us excited to offer these lively Solid-Formed 17” Venetian Cutaway guitars at The Music Zoo. They will be available in 3 colors: Bourbon Burst, Sunset Tea Burst, and Cremona Brown. To pre-order, please contact our sales team at sales@themusiczoo.com or by calling 516-626-9292. Have a look at our pictures below of this beautiful Gibson Custom Solid-Formed guitar!You can also view our full line of Gibson Arch Top guitars by clicking here.
