LEVITCH Custom Single Cut 1989 Sunburst by Rich Levitch. Former KOONTZ Harptone Standell luthier Ony1

LEVITCH

Handmade Custom Guitar

by Luthier Richard Levitch

Apprentice to SAM KOONTZ.

INCREDIBLY BEAUTIFUL

1989

Made in the USA.

Very Rare.

THE ONLY ONE.

 

RICHARD LEVITCH. GUITAR BUILDER.

Taken from information provided by Mr. Levitch:

“I started my apprenticeship with SAM KOONTZ, of Linden, N.J., back in the early 1970’s. I was with Sam for five (5) years. I started building “LEVITCH” back in the 1980’s and continued until around 2001. To my credit, I have built over 125 guitars consisting of both acoustic and electric models. Currently I do restorations, rebuilds and I only build a ‘LEVITCH ‘on a special order basis”.

 

ABOUT THIS GUITAR.

 

If you are a fan of SAM KOONTZ, KOONTZ GUITARS, HARPTONE GUITARS, and STANDEL GUITARS, this one is for you. It was built by Mr. Lentz during the years 1988-1989 as a special-order piece. The design is based on the traditional Les Paul single cutaway model.

 

Unfortunately, its original beauty was defiled amateurishly by one of its later owners who attempted to modify it by installing a through the body tremolo system along with cutouts for different pickups, etc. So, when I bought it, it needed lots of work. I entrusted that repair work and “improvement work” to one of my favorite guitar builders, Kevin Smith of TONESMITH Guitars who has done an incredible job bringing new beauty and life to it.

 

Details of this guitar:

 

1.         Body is Mahogany.

2.         Carved top is Maple.

3.         Top diamond insert is Brazilian Rosewood.

4.         Back diamond insert is Flame Maple.

5.         Fretboard is Ebony.

6.         Scale is 25”.

7.          Pickups are RAZER.

8.         GOTOH tuners.

9.         Neck is three-piece maple.

10.   Neck has a “thick flat C profile.”

11.   “LEVITCH” is inlaid in IVORY on headstock.

12.   New tailpiece.

 

NOTES ABOUT ITS REBUILD:

 

1.         The original top of this guitar was flat. Kevin has hand carved it to give it a “relief carve”.

2.         The thickness of the body was close to 3”. Very heavy. Kevin took about 1/2” off the back to reduce the weight and level it.

3.         Due to the extensive cutting of the body to fit larger pickups it was necessary for Kevin to refill the cavities. This was done and the cosmetic use of the front and back diamonds covered the original location of the damage.

4.         Kevin spent many hours rebuilding this guitar into a beautiful, tone-full, and great playing guitar.

 

 

SHIPPING:

 

Free shipping to any continental USA location. Buyers outside USA must contact us for a shipping quote before purchasing it. We do hold a SITES license for shipping these woods outside the USA.

 

MY GUARANTEE:

 

I want all my buyers to be pleased with her/his purchase of these fine instruments from my personal collection. For that reason, I give each buyer a total of 3 days to try the guitar out. If, at the end of that 3 days, the buyer is not pleased with this guitar in any way, it can be returned for a full refund, no questions asked. Of course, per Reverb regulations, Buyer must pay return shipping.

 

Case is NOT original to guitar.

We do accepttrades so let us know what you have available.