Chartwell Guitar

Ross Gutmeier cypress and spruce traditional

Woods: figured cypress back and sides, alpine spruce top, Spanish cedar neck; French polish shellac throughout.

Specs: 650mm scale, 52.5mm nut, 44.5mm string spacing at nut, 57mm at saddle.  Bass string height at 12th fret 3.75 mm.  Hard shell Gator case, 12 hole tie block, custom rosette.

Condition: new

Comment: this feather light traditional build is identical to the other cypress classical that was in the shop very briefly.  The reason it sold so quickly is the same reason I highly recommend this guitar, which is primarily for its high energy performance, ease of playing, and a surprisingly low bass string response.  Ross’s Santos inspired guitars all have a sweet boldness that equips the player with a potent ally in their best musicianship. This guitar is very lightly braced, which contributes to the object he shared with me years ago, which is to build a traditional solid top guitar that can stay with a double top and yet possess the color a d.t. may not have.

I would also point out how inexpensive this guitar is, compared to the years of the Santos takeoff. This honest luthier offers a simple guitar, basic and direct.