2011 Austin Clark 17AT Carved Electrified Archtop Guitar
Overview: Well how about this one, huh? It's a high-end archtop guitar made by a beloved, high-end mandolin builder. The story goes that the owner asked Austin to build this guitar for him and this is the first one he built. For a first, carved-top guitar, this thing is a tour de force! It's extremely light in the top and the whole instrument is surprisingly-lightweight. As a result, it's a powerhouse acoustically -- loud and full and warm -- and that's even with the D'Addario Chromes flats it has on it. With roundwound nickel or monel this thing would leap right out with the best of them. The humbucker pickup mounted at the neck has that "modern jazz" sound to a T -- clean and clear but, when tweaked a bit with EQ at the controls or amp, it will get right into that mellow/classic jazz thing, too.
Repairs included: It arrived playing decently but needed some adjustments to make it spot-on. Ancel added a ground to the strings on the underside of the tailpiece to eliminate idle hum through the jack. He also removed the pickup mount to the pickguard which was causing a problem at the fretboard extension -- the pickup was too high and so the strings (when played over the extension) were buzzing on the pickup cover when it was setup correctly. I used a thin, pickup-mounting (removable) adhesive film stuff (K&K sends their pickups with them) to attach the pickup instead and that solved the problem -- it's anchored with the stuff to the end of the fretboard and also the top. It's now playing bang-on and ready to go.
- Weight: 5 lbs 2 oz
- Scale length: 25 3/8"
- Nut width: 1 3/4"
- Neck shape: slim C/D
- Board radius: 14"
- Depth at first fret: 7/8"
- Depth at seventh fret: 29/32"
- Body width: 16 1/2"
- Body depth: 4"
- Top wood: solid Adirondack spruce
- Back & sides wood: solid flamed maple
- Bracing type: x
- Bridge: ebony
- Fretboard: ebony
- Neck wood: maple
- Pickups: Kent Armstrong humbucker
- Action height at 12th fret: 3/32” bass 1/16” treble (fast, spot-on)
- String gauges: 54w-12 D'Addario Chromes flats
- Truss rod: adjustable
- Neck relief: straight
- Fret style: modern medium
Condition notes: There's a little wear and tear here and there (small scratches, light scuffs, some weather-check to the finish) but overall it looks grand. The materials used are first-rate and the whole thing glows with a quality feel and fit. The top has sunk a hair around the f-holes, but it has been stable in service as it's aged.
It comes with: It has a ne-plus-ultra hard case that's perfectly fitted and likely custom-ordered for it.
Consignor tag: LWRN
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