Brand new Avalon A1-Oak auditorium sized guitar, part of their Cara Series. Hand crafted from kiln dried native ancient Bog Oak from the Fenlands area on the east coast of England, carbon dated at 5300 years old. 

The top of this guitar is made from high grade Western Red Cedar; the fingerboard is Ebony with a MOP Celtic "Tree of Life" inlay, a feature of the Cara Series. The bridge, bridge pins, heel cap and tuner buttons are also Ebony. The bindings and the end pin wedge are made with Australian Blackwood. Irish Sycamore was used for the purfling, dressing up the guitar with a nice contrasting line throughout. 

Sycamore is also used, along with Indian Rosewood, to bind the fingerboard, and encompasses the rosewood center strip, which, along with two large pieces of Mahogany, makes up the five piece neck. The neck is warp proof due to its cross grain construction; all Avalon guitars feature this sturdy neck design, while the Ard Ri series (whose features are also included in the Cara Series) sports the dressed up five piece neck.

The tuners are Gotoh SG381's. Also has a Gotoh Bi-flex two way truss rod. Ox bone nut and saddle. The headstock facing is made of Indian Rosewood. The finish is a nitrocellulose lacquer. Comes with a Hiscox Pro II AC hard case.

This guitar rings out with clarity and note separation typical of Avalon guitars. You will also notice great sustain, and a reverb quality to the tone that's hard to put a finger on. Very well balanced.

(See a thorough description of this unique and rare tone wood - and read more on the Cara Series -below!)

Inky black to very dark brown and with a significantly higher density and hardness than ordinary oak, bog oak was created when prehistoric forests were submerged under water and silt in anaerobic conditions (no exposure to oxygen) thousands of years ago. This oak used in this guitar has been carbon dated and is 5300 years old.

The Cara Series is built with woods that are native to Ireland and the British Isles. Cara is an old Irish word meaning "friend", or referring to a connection with nature. The ancient Irish were the first to create a law protecting trees - referred to as the Brehan laws, they protected oak, ash, and yew woods which were referred to as the "Chieftain" (or "nobles of the wood") trees. The Fretted Buffalo also has an Avalon Cara series guitar built with native ash woods which can also be seen on our Reverb.com page.