SBC Guitars Cygnus Ebony top 2023 - Satin oil

Some of my guitars are made to a theme, this guitar is not. I've changed my processes a lot this year and much of my process is increasingly done by hand.

For this guitar, I simply took some stunning, vintage woods and set myself the simple task of turning them in to an immaculate, hand made, modern guitar, with a nod to more vintage styling of the likes of boutique archtop type guitars.

The bridges are individually carved to give perfect intonation, and set at a low string height. They add a slightly warmer, resonant bass response as well as providing a very smooth, ergonomic feel under the picking hand.

This guitar has been made from a selection of older woods, both reclaimed and found at some of my favourite wood yards. The Ebony top comes from a thick slab I have been holding on to for some years. It is a gorgeous, knotty, imperfect slab with a vein of the lighter sap wood running down the center. Dense, hard to work, and so very beautiful!

Specification

25" scale, 24 fret

20" fretboard radius

10mm bridge spacing,

42mm Corian nut

Two-way trussrod, carbon fibre reinforced

Set neck construction

Jumbo Dunlop frets

ERS Custom wound 14k bridge and 7.5k Montys Pickup in neck, aged covers.

Gotoh Machines

SBC Direct mount corian bridge and prototype string anchor, made from copper and ebony

500k CTS volume and tone pots

Reclaimed African mahogany 1 part quarter sawn neck with ebony feature woods

Old stock (estimated at about 40 years old), iroko 2 part body

Ebony slab top

Hornbeam, bookmatched fretboard

Polished Osmo oil finish.

Condition

At the point of writing, this instrument is in immaculate condition but this is a stock/demo guitar and will be used regularly at shows and in stores. Any listed price given is reflective of the condition of the guitar.

This guitar was originally built to have a wrap around bridge, but I decided to change to the current fitted bridge as this felt more fitting with the guitar. The post holes for the original bridge have been filled and are hidden by the string anchor. Although this is only an aesthetic defect, visible only when the bridge anchor is removed, it would feel dishonest not to mention it here. The price given is reflective of this defect.

Updated 01/08/24

Guitar has had a slight refinish and fret dress. Pictures updated.

Custom guitars

I am happy to modify stock guitars with pickups and hardware, please do feel free to message me to discuss options.

All of my core guitar and bass models can be ordered completely custom spec, if you are looking for something more particular. Please feel free to get in touch with me directly if you would like to discuss possible options and see what I could do for you.

Shipping

All instruments shipped worldwide. Price includes gigbag but for additional cost, can be sent in a flight case. Price on request.