❌SOLD❌ Mark Kett 13 Fret Brazilian Rosewood 000 Body Guitar, 2010

It’s fairly unusual to see a Mark Kett guitar for sale. His order book currently extends to 2021, so new guitars don’t appear in shops. His custom inlay work is more visible, as it appears on guitars by other builders including Sergei de Jonge, David Wren, Bourgeois Guitars, Linda Manzer, Frank Brothers, Marc Beneteau, and many others. His work was included in the ‘Group of Seven’ guitar set at the McMichael Gallery.

Mark Kett works out of a small shop in Port Perry, a bit east of Toronto, Ontario and focuses on two things – custom guitars and custom inlay. His custom inlay and parts design work is done for his own guitars and for other private builders.

Like many other Canadian builders, Mark Kett took Sergei de Jonge’s guitar building course. He did this in 1997, and then stayed to work with Sergei as an apprentice. His existing skills with CNC systems were brought into the context of guitar inlay and component construction.

This Mark Kett 13 Fret Brazilian Rosewood instrument is based on a OOO, or triple-O deep body design with sound port on the upper bass side. It pairs an Adirondack Spruce top with Brazilian Rosewood for the back, sides headplate and backstrap. The Mahogany neck is built to raise the Ebony fingerboard up from the top, or from another view the top slopes down into the heel. This design allows much better access to the upper frets – the only way that gets easier is with a cutaway body. The Ebony bridge uses a top-mount design where the ball ends of the string slip over pins mounted into the bridge top, rather than have holes drilled through the top. The peghead uses an unusual tapered, slotted design; the slotted head increases the downbearing at the nut without also increasing the head pitch – which would decrease strength. Binding is Snakewood and an L R Baggs Anthem pickup system is installed. The tuners are Waverly antique gold finish, with Snakewood buttons.

As is very common with guitars from builders who’ve studied with Sergei de Jonge, this guitar has a French Polish finish. This finish type is increasing in popularity because it imposes the least restriction on vibration, while providing reasonable protection and a repairable surface. As well, being hand-applied it does not require spray facilities, attractive to those with neighbors or zoning restrictions.

Overall -this rare guitar from a talented builder plays very well and has a wonderful sound. It’s in very clean condition with a bit of play wear to the finish. A hard shell case is included.