One of the greatest builders of our time, Canada’s own William “Grit” Laskin is known across the globe for transforming the art of instrument inlay from the purely decorative to the downright artistic. Today we have his “Cubists” Jumbo, built in 2003 with Brazilian Rosewood back and sides and a Bearclaw Sitka Spruce top. Laskin’s work has attempted to plumb the depths of artistic exploration for decades now, and it hasn’t reached the bottom yet. His engraved inlay here is a series of colorful Cubist art objects across the fretboard and the headstock inlay is borrowed from Spanish Cubism painter and sculpter Juan Gris’s work, with its asymmetry and pastel palette. Ringing in the soundhole is the square, the circle and the triangle, the geometric shapes that are fundamental forms of cubism, and a pencil offset towards the lower bout.
You can read even more about the Cubists build process and Grit’s inspirations in the second collection of his work, Grand Complications.
Everywhere else, the instrument has more traditional lines, with the addition of both an arm rest bevel and an upper bout soundport. Flatpicked, this instrument roars, with a much more well-rounded sound than its inlays’ angles would suggest. Thanks to the time-honored combination of Sitka Spruce and Brazilian Rosewood, the tone is rich and articulate, with a low-end that is fabulously clean and balanced with the other registers. This is the kind of guitar which will always stand out in a crowd–and that’s before you even play the thing. This guitar comes with the original Calton hardshell case.
Check out our previous demo of this lovely number here: https://youtu.be/MVJtocr16SE.
Additional Demo: https://youtu.be/r-v8sJcrYA4