George Leach of the Phoenix Guitar Company stopped by our booth at the Winter 2017 NAMM convention in Anaheim, Calif., to show us his latest Jazz Classical guitar, a nylon-string, single-cutaway model with a German spruce top, Amazon rosewood back and sides, a soundport on the upper bout, and a unique, Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired rosette design. Leach comments, “The back of the neck has a much faster arc-shape profile, instead of the D-shape profile on a lot of classicals, so people who aren’t familiar with classicals find this neck to be a little more comfortable.” Following the description of the guitar, Vermont-based blues, jazz, and Americana guitarist Paul Asbell demonstrates the guitar’s sound, playing a bit of Luiz Bonfá’s Manhã de Carnaval (from the classic 1959 film, Black Orpheus).
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