| We are very excited to be able to offer our very
first " Kenny Hill Signature " guitar! Of course we have had many
of this fine luthier's instruments over the last ten years or so,
but this time we have pulled out all of the stops and ordered the very
top of his line!
Kenny's current Signature Model incorporates
many of the modern advances in the art of classical guitar building.
The negative neck angle not only allows easier access to the upper registers,
but also significantly increases the string angle in relationship to the
top, giving the instrument more power and definition. The two
side ports situated either side of the neck heel provide "porting" for
the sound chamber and result in a much more open sounding sonority.
The innovation that probably has the most dramatic affect on this concert
instrument is the revolutionary " double top " option.
This is how Kenny Hill describes this instrument.
"The current Signature Model features a "double top" as first practiced
by Damman, Wagner, and others. It is a sandwich of Nomex, an ultra light
cell structure, between two very thin layers of cedar or spruce. This makes
an extremely light sound board, but is also quite stiff, in a good way.
Outwardly it seems just like a normal cedar sound board. This technique
is borrowed from ultra light aviation technology. This guitar is braced
fairly traditionally, with a bracing pattern similar to Miguel Rodriguez.
The Signature Model also features optional sound ports in the upper shoulders,
as influenced on me by Robert Ruck. This is a feature I have grown to love
(maybe addicted to is more like it); a guitar without these ports seems
incomplete to me."
I was personally introduced to the double top
guitars around fifteen years ago when Serge de Jonge was experimenting
with the concept. Since that time I've always found the idea
intriguing. Every double top instrument I've played could be described
with one word ... "more". These instruments just seem to have a bit
more sound emanating from them, a bit more expressiveness and immediacy
of response ... just a bit MORE!!! |
