William ‘Grit’ Laskin has been one of Canada’s premiere builders for quite some time. After working with Jean Larrivee, William Laskin set up his own shop and aside from the quality of his instruments, is also known worldwide for the quality, innovation and skill of his inlay work.
This 1976 William Laskin Cactus Guitar is named (by us) for the fingerboard inlay. Between the last fret and the soundhole, there is a small inlay of a cactus and a moon, rendered in mother of pearl and abalone.
The body form is Laskin’s proprietary shape, just under 16 inches across, with a spruce top, Indian Rosewood back and sides, multi-layer wooden binding and an ebony bridge. The neck is mahogany with a grained-ivoroid bound ebony fingerboard and a rosewood headplate. Grover Roto-Matic tuners and bone nut and saddle, a heel-mount strap pin and a transducer pickup with endpinjack finish off the hardware. A clear plastic pickguard was added at some point to stop fingertip damage to the top.
This guitar is in good playing condition, and the action is 6.5 to 7/64ths inch (treble to bass). The nut width is 1 12/16ths inches. There are some wear marks in the finish on the top and back, though not much lacquer checking.
As with all Laskins (and this is the case for all of Jean Larrivee’s former employees), the design and construction are top notch, clean inside and out.
What this guitar really has – is sound. This guitar has been played, and you can tell. It has a full, richly detailed and evenly balanced tone and it’s easy to just get lost exploring the harmonics and overtones.
Incidentally, this guitar was built the year The Twelfth Fret opened its doors at 920 Kingston Road!
Serial Number: 120576, built during 1976 at William Laskin’s shop in Toronto.
Pricing: $2,999.00 with hardshell case. SOLD
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