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2015 Koentopp Chicagoan, Romanian Maple/Carpathian Spruce
Dan Koentopp is a tried and true craftsperson, from what we can tell by the quality of this 2015 Chicagoan oval hole archtop. A delicate and exacting touch brings together a hand-carved Romanian Maple back with a matching Carpathian Spruce top bound in rich red Macassar Ebony and outfitted with a cello-style tailpiece and Macassar Ebony pickguard. A full 17 inches across the lower bout with three inch body depth around; five pounds on the nose, and a slinky smooth setup. The voice is characterized by a warm, round quality that permeates the bass, miss, and trebles—and translates faithfully when amplified with the Barbera bridge pickup (volume knob under the guard). Waverly tuners help keep build weight down, and Dan appointed this Chicagoan with Pearl skyscrapers on the headplate and a corresponding Pearl inlay on the backplate reminiscent of an “espresso art” tulip.
From tuners to tail, this 2015 Chicagoan from Don Koentopp is a work of functional art. We can’t think of higher praise than that.Other keywords: arched top, arch top, fingerstyle jazz, handcarved, cutaway, ebany, hoffee
SOLD Read moreScale Length 25 in Nut Width 1.75 in String Spacing 2.188 in Woods Spruce - Carpathian, Maple - Romanian
I started taking guitar lessons at age seven and from that point the guitar became a lifelong passion.
My father, an architect, and my mother, an artist, were the creative influences that helped sow the seeds that would lead to my future. In an effort to learn more about the instrument, I went to the public library and was amazed and inspired by a shelf full of books on the construction of the guitar. At age 14, I asked my parents if I could turn a basement closet into a small workshop. That was where, with the help of my father, I made my first guitar. After studying guitar performance with Fred Hand for a couple years, I decided to come home to Chicago and enroll in Product Design at Columbia College. With the support of my professors and the college itself, I focused all my work upon the guitar. At this point in my life I had completed six instruments, the last three being archtop guitars.
While making my seventh guitar I met violin maker Michael Darnton and joined the restoration team at Darnton & Hersh Fine Violins. This was the beginning of what was to become a three-year period in which I was introduced to the world of string instruments, the true ancestors of the archtop guitar. While working with Michael I learned and practiced restoration techniques on many museum-quality instruments. To examine, close up, the detail, the knife work, and the overall tradition of some of the most important instrument makers of all time, is paramount in developing your eye. Michael’s work solely encompasses hand tools and traditions based upon methods from the seventeenth century and this is the foundation of my practice.