Chartwell Guitar

2018 Tim Steis double top

Woods: figured Indian rosewood back and sides. Engleman spruce over cedar double top. Honduran rosewood neck. French polish shellac throughout.

Specs: 640mm scale. 52mm nut, 43mm string spacing at nut, 59mm at saddle. Just over 4mm string height at 12th fret, bass string. Substantially raised fingerboard, a la Humphrey. Hard shell case. Rubner tuners.

Condition: very good. A few stray nail marks and some unevenness in the French polish on the top, typical of four years of playing. Case appears new.

Comment: Tim has been building powerful guitars for some years now and this double  top is a good example of his work. I hear a fairly neutral voice that balances between bass and treble sides. If one didn’t know it is a double top they would suspect a traditional build. One aspect of Tim’s design that he may have borrowed from his mentor, Ross Gutmeier, who in turn borrowed from Dieter Muller, is the placement of the five fan braces fairly close to parallel with the grain.  They are long braces and the top shows no evidence of a dome, so this light bracing delivers the power he expected without sacrificing stability.