Hands down, one of our favorite parts of the job: working with builders to craft a guitar specific to a client’s needs. Our latest Lion from Ben Wilborn is just one such collaboration, and we’re happy to announce it came out even better than we hoped. Honduran Mahogany back and sides, Sitka Spruce top, and Ben’s surgical attention to fit and finish all come together in a package that catches your attention right at the start, and runs with it. The voice of this small-bodied gem echoed the precision of its handworked facets to a T: a smooth, easy player with lots of definition for individual notes, and an ability to let all the colors of complex chords ring out. Ben buffs his guitars to a mirror sheen which catches the light easily and holds it. So much so that we found it difficult to play the Lion for any length of time without pausing just to watch how the light played across its curves.
Ben’s guitars have a master’s touch, and it’s an honor for us at Dream Guitars to get to work with him. If you’re interested in commissioning one of Ben’s guitars yourself, give us a shout! We would love to help.

Other keywords: lutherie, luthier, custom guitar, bespoke guitar, custom build, finger style, fingerstyle

We hardly had a chance to play this guitar in the shop before someone swooped in and took it home with them. This is Ben Wilborn’s 2015 Orchestra model, his workhorse contender for any and all environments. The articulation is astounding, with a low-end that sings even and clear. The Cocobolo back and sides and Sitka Spruce top create a crisp upper register which doesn’t overpower the instrument’s tone, and the setup is glossy smooth and effortless to play. Wilborn’s addition of a Cocobolo pickguard and headplate complements the Curly Maple bindings very well, and showcases his excellent eye for detail: the fit and finish is flawless! This guitar comes with the original hardshell Superior case.

New Zealand’s Laurie Williams utilizes gorgeous and unique tonewoods from his native land to build exquisite modern instruments—and here we’ve got the cream of that exclusive crop. The back and sides on this 2012 Signature Model are Laurie’s coveted “Whitebait” Premium Kauri, some of the most dynamically figured tonewood on the planet (to rival even The Tree Mahogany). This wood is so called “Whitebait” for its similarity to the lightshow to behold when a school of whitebait fish shimmer beneath the surface: the Kauri shines and glows with incredible depth and chatoyance. You can lose yourself in those depths. The top is also Kauri, and boasts a hand-carved rosette of intricate vines. Twin arm and rib bevels, venetian cutaway, and Gotoh 510 tuners complete the package of a true collector guitar. The voice is equally clear and colorful, with fat trebles that put out sweet overtones to really fill it out.

Other keywords: fingerstyle, exotic wood, tone wood, 12170, white bait, figured wood

Ancient Kauri wood is one of the most rare tonewoods we have and a single log of it was found in 1998 with an intense figuring that resembles a school of Whitebait fish swimming beneath the water. Laurie Williams reserves the handful of sets he has of this Ancient ‘Williams Whitebait’ wood for his finest guitars. There are only a few guitars of this quality in the entire world and this is one of them. The back and sides are simply mesmerizing and the headstock and backplate also feature Whitebait. The top is modern milled Kauri and the entire guitar is bound in Cocobolo Rosewood with very fine lines of Abalone giving it a sophisticated shimmer. Laurie’s current price for a true ‘Williams Whitebait’ is $35,000 and he increases the price $5,000 with each one he makes so these are wonderfully collectible guitars as well as superb playing instruments

Here we have a like-new Laurie Williams Tui model crafted from his rare Ancient Kauri wood in the Whitebait Premium figure (see below text about this wood). The term ‘Whitebait’ refers to the wonderous figure of the Ancient Kauri which appears like a school of Whitebait fish swimming beneath the water. It’s sumptuous golden color is unique in the world of tonewoods. The top is Swiss Spruce with abundant medullary rays that adds brilliant shimmer to the powerful voice of the Tui body shape. The Rosette is exquisitely crafted from Abalone in a pattern of the indigenous Maori people native to New Zealand and it blends with the thin abalone that borders the top, fingerboard and headstock for an elegant yet subdued gilding.