Tonewood maestro Bill Wise has been crafting world class fingerstyle guitars for years now, and he’s nailed the sweet spot between easy playability and projection, sustain, and dynamic response. This 2008 Charis Grand Concert comes to us with Indian Rosewood back and sides, Cedar top, 5-ply Rosewood neck, and a glassy setup that practically plays itself. Additionally, there’s a K&K Trinity Pro pickup system installed, which is one of our favorite dual source systems of all time.
This Charis has an exquisitely well-tempered response that’s even from string to string and all the way up to the tiptop frets. Cedar gives a little more warmth and presence to the upper mids and trebles to round things out, and it really loves to go down to altered tuning territory, thanks to a 25 5/8” scale length. The voice has opened up nicely since 2008, and we’re happy to report that the condition is superb.
Other keywords: lutherie, luthier, IR, red cedar, fingerpicking, tkl, k & k, gotoh, abalone