Steel Strings

My steel string guitars are designed primarily for fingerstyle playing, and are lightly made for low string tension to maximize responsiveness and playability. Like my classical guitars they are loud and clear, have a broad tonal palette and dynamic range, project and sustain well, and are extremely well balanced and even throughout with good separation string to string. The finish is French polish, applied by the traditional method by my partner, Cyndy Burton. My basic model is somewhat smaller than a traditional steel string, and is proportioned more like a classical guitar. The neck joins the body at the 12th fret. The top design has evolved from early variations based on the traditional classical fan bracing to the hybrid X-and-fan system that I settled on in 1986. This design is very versatile, and has worked equally well for 6- and 12-string guitars, as well as for both 10- and 20-string harp guitars. In 1977 I designed a compound cutaway to provide easy access to the higher frets. In 1990 I designed a pinless bridge that anchors the ball ends of the strings on the bridge itself so that I can freely brace the top with the hybrid X-and-fan design. In 1996 I designed an optional 24-fret extension that is removable beyond the 19th fret.