Introduction of the "Arch de Lutan" at the Newport Guitar Festival

8/4/06 - The Arch de Lutan prototype debuted on August 4 in Newport, Rhode Island at the Newport Guitar Festival, one of the world's premier shows for makers of custom guitars.

“Lutan” is an Old-English word meaning “to bend,” and describes the sound board design of this new archtop: a top made from thin staves of wood which are hand-bent, joined, and carved to shape.

The Arch de Lutan was displayed for the first time at Newport and was void of any embellishments - no binding, purfling or fancy inlay. Maker James Ellsberry hoped the guitar would stand on its own - on merits of sound and performance.

Strung up just 3 days before the event, players at the show broke it in and offered their thoughts. Some of the player comments were:

"richer, fuller, projects more"

"a really strong mid-range"

"a cross between an archtop and flat top"

"it's like a loud archtop with a gypsy Django sound"

"this has a real big sound - scary, for only being strung up [less than] a week"

"there are a handful of outstanding archtops here, and this is one of them" (New York player)

The guitar demonstrated a large and unique sound with it's 5-piece, bent/carved top. It had an unusually strong and punchy mid-range with plenty of treble and sustain.

Ellsberry expects the guitar will cut very well in a pure acoustic setting. Two models of the de Lutan are being developed by the maker - a bent top version as well as a model with both a bent top and a bent back.

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