Plante Yuko Custom

This is the latest in a series of extended scale guitars commissioned by a good friend and customer. It improves upon the earlier 27 fret model in its improved access to the upper registers (36 frets!), and the addition of a locking tremolo unit. Despite its hyper extended scale, it boasts two pickups specially wound to make the most of the narrow spread between them. 

Though the headless design seems far out, the instrument is actually patterned off of the classic fender stratocaster. The result is good balance and a familiar feel in spite of the envelope pushing aesthetics. The center section is old growth mahogany and the body wings are coastal redwood with laminated Indian rosewood.

Here is a closeup of the headstock and locking nut. The setscrews clamp down each string individually, creating a dead stop of the string beyond the nut. This eliminates any slipping that could occur with more conventional nut designs. The tuning stability on this instrument is excellent.

Plante LE1 Bass

Late last year I was commissioned to build a 5 string bass in the style of a laminated "hippie sandwich." Inspired in equal parts by Alembic and Ken Smith, the resulting LE1 bass is light weight and harmonically versatile.