Guitar Grades
Each model is available in each grade and with any desired combination
of top and back and side materials.
Standard
The Standard is our entry-level guitar, but don’t be
fooled by its modest name. These guitars feature superb quality
in materials and construction, along with curly maple binding,
eight-ply top purfling, delicate three-ply mitered purfling
on back and sides, nickel Waverly tuners, multi-colored herringbone
rosette and backstripe, abalone headstock logo, and TKL American
Vintage Series hard-shell case. |
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Deluxe
A Deluxe guitar builds on the Standard grade, adding:
gold Waverly tuners, #3 inlay pattern in green abalone, bound
headstock, abalone rosette and backstripe, and curly maple
heelgrafts. |
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Limited
Limited guitars add the intricate #7 inlay pattern (see photo)
as well as colorful Paua abalone top perimeter to the Deluxe
package detailed above. |
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Custom
We frequently build guitars which fall outside of the parameters
of the above grades. Please inquire about specifics. |
Materials
| The materials used in the construction of a Froggy
Bottom instrument are of the finest quality obtainable. With
the exception of the mahogany neck stock, all our materials are
air-dried. Upon receiving your order, we take the greatest care
in selecting the materials for each instrument so that your finished
guitar will be exactly as you wish it.
The following woods are the most frequently requested tonewoods.
Please inquire about use of other materials. |
Top materials
The top is the heart of any fine guitar. We offer the broadest
range of the very finest spruces available, taking great care
to select both the most appropriate species and the best individual
top to achieve the sound desired. All of our spruce is air-dried. |
| Sitka: Sitka is the stiffest spruce
and the strongest for its weight. It emphasizes the fundamental
of a note more than its overtones, making a guitar which is clear
and loud, with excellent sustain. |
| Engelmann: A white spruce growing
along the spine of the Rocky Mountains, Engelmann Spruce is creamy
white in color and softer than Sitka. It lends overtones to a
guitar, creating a voice of great warmth and tonal complexity. |
| German: Similar to Engelmann,
German spruce is richly complex in tonal color. It has long been
considered among the finest tone woods available. |
| Adirondack or Red: Well over 90%
of our guitars are built with Adirondack Spruce tops. Red spruce
has virtually all of the best qualities of the other species. It offers a strong
fundamental, lush complex overtones, and a unique sparkling edge to the tone
of an instrument which is quite distinctive. Many of the finest steel string
guitars from the first quarter of the last century had red spruce tops. |
Back and Side Materials |
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Mahogany: Light in weight,
stable, mahogany gives a tone of warmth to a guitar. It is
naturally a pale orange to almost brick red in color.
picture shown: Quilted Mahogany |
| East Indian Rosewood: Ranging
from medium brown to a dark purple in color, this wood is very
consistent in its density, and gives brightness and clarity to
a guitar. |
| Brazilian Rosewood: Though now
quite rare and expensive, especially in fine quality, this is
traditionally the choice for the finest guitars. It offers clarity,
warmth and balance to the voice and unmatched beauty of grain
and color in appearance. |
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Madagascar Rosewood: Remarkably similar to
Brazilian Rosewood in appearance, workability and tonal quality.
It is most readily distinguishable from Brazilian by its fragrance. |
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Walnut: We prefer Bastogne Walnut for
its greater hardness and wide range of beautiful color and figure.
Bastogne is a significantly lighter wood than Rosewood, and produces
an extremely responsive guitar. |
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Koa: Honey to a very dark brick red, Koa can
be highly figured or flamed much like maple. It varies in density
a great deal, with darker wood usually being harder, lending
a brighter tone. This range of density is useful in varying the
voice of a guitar. Dramatically figured Koa is becoming quite
difficult to obtain. |
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Maple: With its golden color and dramatic
figure, Maple is unmistakable. Maple guitars tend to be woody
and warm, with a bit less brightness than guitars made of Rosewood.
All maples age to a golden honey color.
picture shown: Big Leaf Maple |
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