2015 Nick Gregory Cutaway Carved-Top Archtop Guitar

Nick Gregory is a small-shop builder up here in Vermont. He's a friend of a friend and we met just the other day. He's passionate about his work, that's for sure. This guitar's back, sides, and neck are cut from a walnut tree he felled himself. The other work I've seen of his (an amoeboid electric, for instance) are much like this one -- organic-looking, curvy, and with a lot of odd and interesting features that betray an overactive mind (a good thing) and a focus towards making the instrument accessible and very playable (also a good thing).

He built this one back in 2015 and it's a little rough around the edges here and there, but I gather it was a bit prototypical when he made it. There's a lot of complicated joints that this guitar needed solutions for, for sure! It's held-up well, though, and the super-stable (and comfortable) neck is thankfully trouble-free. That's the first thing I look for in a small-shop guitar -- can the maker build a good, stable neck? If not, then I don't see the point in being in business building guitars in the modern age -- and believe me, I've seen enough extra-boutique guitars with finicky necks to let you know that there's folks that know and folks that don't.

The top and back are fully-carved and they're set over thin-depth (2 3/8") sides. The top is x-braced, carved spruce while the back and sides are walnut. I almost wish that Mr. Gregory had left this guitar fully-acoustic, too, because its natural acoustic voice is impressive as heck. This thing would go toe-to-toe with any good mid-'30s Gibson or Epiphone carved-top in the 16" body range and at the same time it has better fret access and a smaller profile in the lap. That's some good work, sir. But -- ya know -- having a pickup to jack-in doesn't hurt, either.

It has a 24 5/8" scale and a medium-C neck with 10-12" radius on the fretboard, so to me it feels like "Gibson home base" for the left hand. I like it. There are even little "aircraft carrier" carved-detail edges where the neck runs over the body.

Work included: grounding the pickup, minor compensation to the bridge, and a good setup. It plays with 3/32" EA and 1/16" DGBE action at the 12th fret (though there's plenty of adjustment room at the saddle). I strung it with 56w-13 nickel-wound strings to take advantage of the pickup and tame some of the overtone ring (as the tailpiece can't be damped). The neck is straight and the truss rod is good to go.

While the modern styling is not my flavor of tea (I'm just a sucker for old-old-old), I do admire the practicality of the double-cutaway shape. It makes playing this as an acoustic just as fun as playing an electric. The top has a pretty severe carve to it, too, with a pronounced bulge all the way to under the tailpiece.

How about those complicated curves?