Playing a hollowbody guitar is a harmonious experience.
I’ve always loved hollowbody guitars, especially the Languedoc guitars, but I was never able to get Paul Languedoc’s attention to build me one. Like the rest of the luthiers making fully-hollowbody, ergonomically-designed guitars, he just can’t keep up with demand. So for years I settled for semi-hollow body guitars.
I spoke with every luthier I could find building small hollowbodies, but the designs available didn’t resonate with me. The “copy-cat” guitars seemed in poor taste, and just weren’t as well executed as the original. Some of the more unique designs were interesting, but didn’t incorporate all of the playability features I was looking for and still came only after extremely long waits.
I could see only one solution. I had to build the guitar that I wanted to buy, but couldn’t find available to purchase. So in 2009 I put pen to paper and began designing my guitar. The engineer in me focused on scale length, body size and volume, tonewoods, and dozens of other technical details. The musician in my demanded playability; unobtrusive heel joint, easy access to all 24 frets, simple controls, comfort whether playing standing or seated. It took the artist in me to combine these criteria into one attractive package.
In September of 2015, I began building the Schnell guitar prototype. Building my first guitar was only possible with the advice of fellow luthiers, abundant reading on guitar making forums, countless hours watching instructive YouTube videos, and by referring constantly to several great books (including Robert Benedetto’s seminal work, Buildinging the Archtop Guitar). By June 2016 that first guitar was approaching completion and I dove head-first into a career in guitar-making.
I sincerely enjoy every day I get to work on perfecting my craft while creating functional works of art inspired by my imagination and built by my own two hands. I feel a connection to something larger than myself. I have truly found my calling.
The guitar as we now know it is the product of nearly 4,000 years of evolution.
There is evidence that Egyptian pharaohs were entertained with über primitive straight-necked stringed instruments as far back as 2000 B.C.
By the late 1600’s, master luthiers in Cremona, Italy including Antonio Stradivari were applying their master building techniques to create surprisingly modern acoustic guitars.
Lloyd Loar, considered the father of the archtop guitar, perfected its design during the 1920’s while working for Gibson. Instruments built to his original specs remain the guitar of choice for jazz players today.
Loar’s guitar found favor for its ability to cut through the mix of an un-amplified big band. High frequencies were prone to being drowned out by the horns. Low frequencies competed with the subdued sounds of the upright bass. The archtop guitar found the proverbial sweet spot right in the middle.
Guitar design has always evolved to push the limits of building materials and to meet the needs of modern-day artists. Today’s guitar players use amplifiers when they perform with a band. Just because amplification has become the norm, guitars that sound great acoustically also sound excellent plugged in.
The Schnell Guitar design builds upon the heritage of legends like Loar, Paul, Gibson, Fender, Benedetto, Languedoc, and other master luthiers.
Violin construction methods. Ultimate playability. Sensational tone. Schnell Guitars represents the hollowbody archtop guitar enlightened. From primitive beginnings to cutting-edge.
