Pledger Slope Shoulder D Luthier Built Dreadnought Acoustic Guitar

Up for sale, a Pledger Slope Shoulder D, brand new and complete with a hardshell case. Built by hand with finesse, care, and intention, Pledger Guitars is a one-man shop, where Clayton Pledger carefully crafts exceptional instruments with unique design and tonal properties. Pledger recently relocated to Chelsea, VT, but this particular Slope Shoulder D was made at the original Portland, OR workshop. As Clayton Pledger describes his journey with luthiery:

"Building instruments came from my love of music, enjoyment in working with wood, and the desire to create something beautiful and useful in the world. In my little shop I build around six, one-of-a-kind guitars a year. I look at building each guitar as a slow meditation, one that involves a lot of sweet talking, listening and responding to my materials, and many hours to complete. During the process, the guitar and I develop a strong bond that will last for my lifetime; I will always be there for it."

This Slope Shoulder D takes full advantage of one of the acoustic guitar's most celebrated and time-tested shapes, and the tonewood complement features solid African wenge back and sides paired with a (scalloped) X-braced Carpathian spruce top, mahogany neck, and slab ebony fingerboard. With 14 frets clear of the body and a full 25.4” scale, this Pledger has plenty of power and projection on tap, with excellent string-to-string clarity. Immediate and snappy with great treble articulation, this Slope Shoulder D has rich upper-midrange bloom, vibrant trebles, and a tight low end, with an ideal amount of smooth growl when digging in hard. The Slope Shoulder D excels at both strumming and fingerpicking, switching from big and bold to sweet and clear with ease. Weighing 5lbs, this Slope Shoulder D has been professionally setup here at Mike & Mike’s Guitar Bar with 12-53 bronze strings and easy-playing action.

Neck Specs:

-Wood: Mahogany
-Shape: Medium C, slight shoulders (almost a soft V in the upper registers), measuring .875” 1st fret, .970” 12th fret
-Fretboard: Ebony slab, 14th fret join
-Frets: Slender, pristine
-Scale Length: 25.4”
-Nut: 1 3/4”, bone
-Tuners: Gotoh 510 Mini, Gold
-Joinery: Dovetail

Body Specs:

-Wood: Carpathian spruce, African wenge
-Finish: French Polish
-Bracing: Sitka spruce scalloped X top bracing, mahogany back bracing
-Bridge Ebony, compensated bone saddles
-Plastics: Tortoise pickguard
-Binding: Flame maple, Amboyna burl end graph
-Label: Signed by Clayton Pledger

The guitar comes with a TKL hardshell case and factory paperwork.