❌SOLD❌ Ryan Paradiso Grand Concert Steel String Guitar, 2020

Here we have a very special Ryan Paradiso Grand Concert model, built during 2020 in Southern California and with all of the Ryan appointments. It is rare to see one of these models on the used market.

Kevin Ryan has been building guitars since 1987, while he was an engineer for Northrop AgroScience Lab, building models of jets for transonic wind tunnel testing. The necessarily extreme thoroughness and attention to detail carried over into his guitar designs, producing many innovations – not to mention great sounding guitars!

This is not the first time builders have approached guitar building from an engineering standpoint. One notable example, though less successful, was the work of Michael Kasha and Richard Schneider during the 1970’s, which resulted in the 1976 to 1979 Gibson Mark Series.

Here we’re looking at a Kevin Ryan Paradiso Grand Concert, with a spectacular Bearclaw-figured Sitka Spruce top paired with Indian Rosewood for the sides and back. The bridge and fingerboard are Cameroon Ebony, and the head plate appears to also use this wood; the rear of the headstock appears to have a layer of Cocobolo. The body blocks and neck are Honduran Mahogany. Bindings and purfling are cocobolo and Paua Abalone, and the fingerboard inlays are Diamante. The nut and saddle are Ox bone, CNC cut to improve action and intonation. The bridge pins are Titanium, a Ryan innovation. The tuners are made for Ryan by 510. There are no pickups or other electronics installed.

This guitar is of course equipped with the ‘Ryan Bevel’ on the bass side of the top. This bevel differs significantly from what might otherwise quickly come to mind – the Laskin arm rest, introduced by William Laskin in the late 1980s. The Ryan Bevel is quite a bit larger, and incorporate a set of sonic ports or ‘Acoustic Flutes’.

The top is quite flat, compared to the common practice of ‘doming’ steel-string guitar tops. Inside, there is an X-brace and a set of support braces to the outer sections of the X, but for the bulk of the top a honeycombed pad acts for much of the bracing. The braces themselves are have laser-produced cutouts, and in the photo showing the Ryan Bevel you can see one of the cutouts through the soundhole. These cutouts reduce the weight, but not strength or height of the braces. Many of the interior features can be seen at the Ryan Innovations page linked here. The finish is a thin UV-cured high gloss, which is showing some natural sinking effects.

Like other Ryan models, this is a longer scale guitar at 25.7 inches. The extra bit of length adds clarity to the low notes, helpful when lowered tunings are used. Sonically, it is very full sounding with excellent representation throughout the entire range.

This spectacular Ryan Paradiso is sold with its original blue Calton flight case.