The Heron

The Heron model combines my favorite aspects of both the solid body electric, and the arch top jazz guitar. It is an instrument that delivers the sound of an arch top and the ergonomics of a solid body electric

The top is carved and graduated like a true arch top. This makes efficient use of what is a very small, fully hollow soundbox. It projects well for its extremely thin body, enough to practice unplugged and for the player to feel its resonance acoustically when amplified.

The back and sides are carved out of the same billet of wood. This is how the comfort carve on the back, and the carve into the cut away are achieved. This allows the player to have easy access to the highest frets. On the bass side of the body the instrument is three quarters of an inch thick, on the treble side it is an inch and a quarter. The lower bout is 14 inches wide.

The bridge, pickup, pick guard and tail piece, are all floating, and also hide some of their hard ware. The tail piece mounts onto a threaded height adjustable post, which means no visible screw heads. There are no thumbwheels for adjusting the string height, instead an allen key can be used which gives better leverage. The pickup is visually floating, but is mounted directly to the top, this removes the need for a pick up ring which means fewer screws, and also gives it the direct solid sound of a mounted pickup.

Please check the available instruments or archive pages to see examples of specific builds and options.