Chartwell Guitar

2024 Tim Steis double top

Woods: Macassar ebony back and sides and spruce over cedar double top. Spanish cedar neck. French polish shellac finish throughout.  Paulownia core.

Specs: 650mm scale, 53mm nut, 43mm string spacing at nut, 58mm at saddle. 3.5mm bass string height at 12th fret. Hard shell case, 12 hole tie block. Elevated fingerboard and sound port. Barnett tuners.

Condition: new

Comment: After working in the Ross Gutmeier shop in his early luthier work, Tim has been experimenting with a number of building designs. This being his 44th guitar, he has now found the alchemy of producing a fine voice in the various pieces of wood that require the confident touch that only experience can produce. This guitar has the standard wood core double top DNA, but his decision to laminate the back and sides makes it hybrid guitar to my ear. Laminated, heavier bodies produce distinctive bell trebles, wet and round, with clear sustain. Double tops are warm and breathy, and this guitar is not that, though it is not sour and dark. The bass and mids are steady on, but the trebles are what gets my attention. The open G string is perhaps the best I’ve ever heard and the high E is a delight.