Finally, a singlecut model.
The shape is pretty standard, but there are some notable departures from the legacy design.
Specifications
The body is comprised of a heavily beveled 3/8" thick cap carved from Spalted Maple.
Above is a nice shot of the bookmatched maple cap after being planed down to thickness.
As usual, all of the wood used on this guitar – excluding the rosewood and ebony used on the fingerboard, trussrod cover, and pickup rings – are of local (Scotch Plains, NJ) origin and have been felled from natural causes.
Beneath the cap are the body wings and neck stringer carved from Walnut, and the total body thickness is 1-5/8".
The control cavity covers were cut from the same Walnut billets as their respective body wings, so the grain orientation and color match the surrounding wood.
Pictured above is the handcarved volute, and this guitar is devoid of any scarf joint between the neck and headstock.
Which means that the neck stringer is one consistent piece of quartersawn Walnut extending the entire length of the guitar from the bottom strap button to the tip of the headstock.
The top surface of the headstock features once again a Spalted Maple headcap, with the stamped “Manitou” logo.
The trussrod cover is routed/recessed into place and was handcarved from Ebony, with the middle triangle consisting of the lighter-colored sapwood.
The nut was carved from unbleached bone at a 1-21/32" width, and the tuners are Gotoh locking style.
The neck profile is something new, which is an “offset, asymmetrical C” shape, that stays consistently about 5/16" towards the bass side, all the way up the neck.
Since it stays at a consistent offset in regards to the center of the neck, this is a non-compound asymmetrical neck profile.
Neck thickness is 0.0825" at the 1st fret, and 0.0955" at the 12th fret.
This profile, while somewhat radical, is very comfortable and minimizes hand fatigue while playing for long periods.
The fretboard is rosewood and features a 12" radius, 25" scale length, tall/jumbo Nickle/Silver fretwire and Roman Numeral stamped inlays.
The face of the fretboard, just like the back of the neck, is finished with a satin finish, to minimize fingerprints while protecting the wood underneath.
These are the pickups, and the rings were handmade by yours truly from Rosewood.
Carving pickup rings is quite time-consuming, but worth it when taking in the final product.
As for the electronics controls, this has a standard 3-way toggle with individual volume and tone controls for each pickup.
All cavities that contain electronics are shielded to minimize interference and unwanted noise.
The end result is an instrument that feels natural and comfortable to play both sitting or standing, with lots of resonance even at super-low action and an open midrange that cuts through the mix.
It is most likely my favorite build to date!
–Brian K.
