If we ever got a guitar from Bill Tippin which didn’t completely blow us away, we might need to hang up our hats and quit the business. Lucky for us (and you), that’s simply not the case: a Tippin guitar is incapable of sounding anything less than stunning. The Crescendo we’ve got here is proof of that. Custom-built for one of our clients, if it’s a feature Bill offers, you’ll find it on this guitar. From the asymetrical swooping soundport and arm rest bevel to Bill’s gorgeous two-piece Honduran Mahogany-and-Ebony carved neck block and Mother-Of-Pearl adorning every surface, this is a guitar which looks as amazing as it plays. Our client requested the best of the best, so Bill used a chocolate-dark set of Brazilian Rosewood for the back and sides and a creamy moon-harvested billet of Swedish Spruce for the top, which when combined produce a voice which has resounding depth, surgically precise seperation between the strings, and trebles with huge presence and unflagging sustain. All of that rich, fearsome tone has been gracefully bound up in an elegant display of Mother-Of-Pearl across the headstock, Ebony fretboard, Blackwood trim, African Blackwood rosette, and bridge pins. Fingerstyle or flatpicked, this Crescendo is more than capable to turn the simplest melody into a lush concerto.

Here is a custom Tippin Crescendo with Brazilian Rosewood and Carpathian Spruce. It is adorned with Curly Maple bindings and purflings. The tone of this guitar is solid, vibrant and rich, with thick, meaty trebles that seem to guide your hand of their own accord. Supported by a foundation of strong, articulate basses and mids, this guitar is a veritable tone machine. Subtle, yet tasteful artistic accents like the half diamond inlay at the nut an Bill’s famous heel design make for fine compliments to the elegant, all wood aesthetic. It’s no wonder both Al Petteway and Paul Heumiller own Tippin guitars. They inspire.

Here is a super clean Tippin DST, 12 Fret Slope Shoulder Dreadnought. This beast is crafted from Mahogany and Adirondack for a vintage tone. It features a 1 3/4″ neck so it suits fingerstyle as well as being a flatpicking cannon. This is a very versatile guitar, very similar to the one Martin Simpson had built for himself some years ago. The voice is clear and bold with strong trebles. This is a great guitar for single line work, strumming and a great fingerstyle guitar for the player wanted a full Dreadnought voice.

This was a wonderful custom order project for a client of Dream Guitars. Bill Tippin really created an other-worldly guitar in this elegant Pink Ivory and Alaskan Yellow Cedar Crescendo model. All of the appointments are one-of-a-kind and the inlays feature several exotics shells. The craftsmenship is sublime, something Tippin guitars are known for. The tone is nothing short of magical. Pink Ivory in the hands of a Master, it doesn’t get any better than this…

This is a very special custom Tippin Crescendo featuring a set of Brazilian Rosewood to die for. It’s dark and rich with stunning grain. Bill selected on of his finest Adirondack Red Spruce tops for this instrument as well and together these woods make this one of the strongest and most versatile guitars you’ll play. The appointments are ideal, first there’s Bill Tippin’s Goldburst top finish that is set off by the thin red perfling lines that surround fine abalone and Maple lines. Then there are curly Maple bindings on the body, neck and head. All this is capped off with a beautiful Brazilian Rosewood headplate and Brazilian Bridge as well. A superior Tippin guitar much like our own the one Al Petteway now plays for his main axe.

Bill Tippin’s guitars are now played by Al Petteway, Peter Jansen, our own Paul Heumiller and a host of others. Bill is revered by other builders for his designs, clean workmanship and superb voice. His 000 has long been a popular choice and is the design that grew into his recent Crescendo model. This beautiful example is crafted from rare curly Brazilian and Adirondack Red Spruce for a classic sound but with Bill’s modern edge. It’s further enhanced with a cutaway, slotted headstock, torch markers and Waverlys. Base price for a Tippin nowadays is $8500 for Indian/Sitka, so this one is a wonderful value as well.