2016 Traugott BK Multiscale, Brazilian Rosewood/German Spruce

A 2016 model BK from tonewood virtuoso Jeff Traugott with Brazilian Rosewood, German Spruce, and a multiscale fretboard? The options are limitless. We’ll try to keep it professional, but it’s hard to talk about this guitar without using hyperbole to articulate its inspirational qualities. This is the sort of guitar that will do just about everything you want it to, and do it effortlessly with a shocking clarity. Note to note and string to string, this Traugott BK has pristine separation and sustain, making fingerstyle arrangements incredibly detailed, and flatpicked passages crisp and defined. The sustain is unwavering. Let’s call it haunting. In your gut you can feel the heft of every note as it careens out of the pearl-bound soundhole. The top is also bound in pearl, while the 27 to 25.4 inch multiscale fretboard remains inky black with only position markers on the side. This Brazilian Rosewood is from Jeff’s secret stash of “Kentucky” Brazilian, the stock of which was originally used in veneer mills outside of Knoxville, Tennessee around 1900 to 1920. This is the real deal: the same kind of Brazilian Rosewood found on the best pre-war Martins. It’s particularly special to Jeff, since he was able to repurpose such beautiful, old growth wood.

With a Traugott like this in your hands, bad dreams are a lifetime away. Don’t blame us if your personal and professional lives suffer from inattention.

Other keywords: santa cruz, lutherie, luthier, fingerpicking, flatpick, mop, purflings, multi scale, Gotoh