Andromeda

Some say that the electric guitar is male, while the acoustic guitar is female. I’m not so sure about that, but when the highly skilled owner of Perseus was looking for its acoustic companion, Andromeda seemed inevitable.

She is a rarity in the guitar world, a headless acoustic archtop. Also unusually, the soundboard is carved from western red cedar. Darker in colour than spruce, it also imparts a lovely warm woodiness to the tone. The neck is a piece of old elm, salvaged from a 100-year-old piano, and extends all the way through the body to the tail. This strong structural spine ensures that everything stays in alignment under varying conditions and string tensions, allowing a somewhat lighter soundboard and body. The back and sides are figured black walnut, not exactly salvaged, but utilizing leftover pieces from the veneer industry.

Intended for regular stage use, the goal was not for maximum volume, but to provide a good balance between acoustic tone and feedback resistance. The top is more heavily braced, and supports a custom made Blackhawk by Bareknuckle pickups. In addition, a pair of piezo transducers under the bridge can provide acoustic presence even when amplified.

Headless archtop guitars have some unique hardware requirements, so I designed my own tailpiece with integrated tuners and had it 3-d printed in bronzed steel. Two bridges are supplied, intonated individually for either electric or acoustic strings.