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2008 Benedetto Bravo

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SN#: S-1449

Body size at lower bout: 16" Body Depth: 2 1/2" Scale length: 25" Nut: 1 3/4"

Finish: Honey Blonde

Materials: Arched custom-laminate spruce top with solid spruce braces; arched custom-laminate maple body; solid maple neck; solid ebony fingerboard; gold headstock logo; bound body; solid bone nut.

Hardware: Gold hardware includes Benedetto A-6 humbucking pickup and 16x1 tuners with ebony buttons; solid ebony tailpiece, fingerrest, knobs and truss rod cover; volume and push/pull coil tap tone controls.

Notes: The iconic name in the contemporary archtop guitar, Bob Bendetto has set the standard for the craft in over three decades of innovative custom luthiery. The Bravo is the ultimate extension of a process begun some 60 years ago, with the introduction of the Gibson ES-175. Long prized by working players for its versatility and reliability, the 16" cutaway body with the built-in pickup was further refined by Jimmy D'Aquisto in the '70's. With its slimmer body depth and custom laminated soundboards, D'Aquisto's electric guitar was both more playable and sonically rewarding.

Today, with 16" guitars enjoying yet a third wave of popularity, The Bravo has pushed the evolution to an unprecedented stage of refinement. With its custom-laminated soundboard of fine grained spruce, (rather than the maple ply found on it's imported competitors) and braced with carefully graduated parallel solid spruce tone bars, the Bravo weighs in at an astounding 5lb 8oz. (2.52kg): the lightest, most responsive guitar in its class we've found. This ultra-light construction offers both increased resonance and a more comfortable playing experience, especially on gigs of extended duration. The net result is an instrument more durable, feedback resistant and affordable than traditional acoustic archtops, yet actually lighter in weight than many of today's pricey custom guitars.

Another discovery of contemporary players has been the clear open voice of the traditional single coil pickup, found in the classic instruments of the '30's through the 50's. The Bravo embraces this legacy with a specially designed pickup that is coil-tapped, allowing the player to choose either the extended frequency range of the single coil, or the warm fat tone of the conventional humbucker. A cleverly employed push-pull tone pot doubles as a coil tap switch, allowing the player to switch tone colors instantaneously at will. The slim, gentle D profile neck is a marvel of comfort, sitting effortlessly in the hand with a 12 radius fingerboard of solid dark ebony, matching the deeply lustrous tailpiece and fingerrest.

This example has been carefully played, and apart from a trace of scuffing on the pickup and the back, shows very little playwear altogether. She's supplied with her Benedetto arched plush hardshell case, complete with owner's manual, key, and truss rod wrench. A handsome, high-demand, and hard-to-find instrument, at an unheard-of price. One only, call now.