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1995 Michael Dunn Maccaferri Grand Bouche
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Serial #: 271, hand signed by the builder
Body size at lower bout: 16" (410mm) Body depth: 4" (112mm) Scale length: 25 3/16" (640mm) Nut width: 1 27/32" (42mm)
Finish: Hand rubbed French polish
Materials: Solid fine grained bookmatched cedar top; solid highly figured Brazilian Rosewood back with Sapele center panel, solid figured Sapele sides; solid mahogany neck; solid ebony fingerboard, compensated rosewood bridge with bone saddle insert; Brazilian rosewood body binding; hand-laminated walnut internal sound reflector; clear scratchplate.
Hardware: Chrome Model 108 Grover tuners; solid brass tailpiece with elm burl inset, adjustable truss rod.
Notes: Starting in the late 1960's, Michael Dunn virtually single-handedly jump-started the revival of Selmer/Macafferri style guitars in North America. An influential teacher whose students include accomplished builders Shelley Park and Chuck Shifflett, Dunn remains the single most imaginative builder in the world of Gypsy jazz guitars. Working in the Classical and Flamenco style of his Spanish teachers, Michael shapes each guitar by hand without a form. With his restless creativity in design and materials, each Dunn guitar is unique unto itself, a work of visual as well as audible art.
Like most true show-biz legends, the Vancouver, BC luthier's overnight success took only about three decades. Having seen Michael's work at a trade show in the mid-90's, Nashville retailer George Gruhn promptly commissioned a Dunn gypsy jazz guitar for immediate delivery. As legend has it, the first customer to play that guitar bought it, a pretty good picker named Chet Atkins, who kept it until his passing.
This example is Dunn's version of Mario Maccaferri's original design, with the Grand Bouche soundhole and the internal sound reflector, as seen on the ultra-rare Selmer guitars of the early 1930's. The top is crafted of solid bookmatched cedar of exceptionally fine grain, with a back of solid Brazilian Rosewood surrounding a center panel of brilliant Sapele, an African hardwood related to mahogany. Sides are ribbon figure Sapele as well, handsomely offset by the dark rosewood body binding. The fingerboard is made in the classical style, with a generous nut width, and a broad flat neck profile that is inviting to play.
The instrument has all original hardware and finish, and in true gypsy style, has been well played and well loved, with the clear open voice of a vigorously played-in soundboard. The solid cedar top shows some scattered pickwear and finish nicks, and the thin French polish finish on the back is now worn smooth in places. Bright, punchy and loud as a locomotive, the Maccaferri is regarded by a number of players as Dunn's finest design, with the superlative power and dramatic looks for which his guitars are justly famous. Few builders today will even attempt the challenges of this pioneering model, and Michael himself has since retired from regular production. One only: call now.
Setup: This instrument is strung with light silvered steel strings (.011-.046). The guitar will accommodate lighter or heavier gauge strings, according to preference.
Case: Original deluxe black plush lined hardshell case.
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