Stephen Marchione Uni-Body Carve Top, 2018

Condition: This stunning Stephen Marchione Uni-Body came straight out of a collection. It's in excellent-plus condition. There are light pick scratches and fingernail marks around the neck and middle pickup. Apart from that, the rest of the guitar shows virtually no signs of playing wear.

CRAIG'S POV
Stephen's Uni-body guitar model is an extraordinary piece of guitar craftsmanship. It is not something that can be custom-ordered. The reason is that Marchione only builds this rare model when he finds a perfect piece of wood. And I mean perfect in every way. It is rare to find a single piece of wood perfect enough to be carved into a complete guitar.

Moreover, there is no room for error when crafting a uni-body. Even a tiny mistake can ruin the entire build project. As Bill Evans writes about a particular kind of Japanese calligraphy in the liner notes to "Kind of Blue," there is no room for erasures, no room for error, no going back." This guitar is exactly like that. As Stephens says, it takes his 30 years of luthier skills to birth one of these beauties. In the last ten years, he has only made six of them.

It's a stunning piece of work. Poplar is an excellent tonewood, particularly when torrefied, giving it additional stability and a sweet vintage tone. There is no compromise to its resonance because of any glue joints. Why? Because it doesn't have any. Other than the ebony fingerboard, this exceptional guitar is crafted from one beautiful, superbly carved, and finished singular piece of wood.

In Stephen's words, "There is no energy loss. Every note you play rings true, like when you play baseball, and the bat hits the ball perfectly. You know it's a homer on impact. It's a beautiful thing."

From the custom electronics to the finely carved vintage feeling neck, this guitar is rare, beautiful, tone-full, and alive. If you are into fine boutique S-style electrics, this Uni-Body is next-level; there are no fancy inlays here, no crazy colors, just outstanding wood and superb craftsmanship. Extraordinary indeed!

BODY WOOD torrefied poplar
BODY OPTION uni-body
NECK WOOD torrefied poplar with ebony fretboard
RADIUS 12"
FRETS stainless steel
NUT WIDTH 1 11/16" (42.9mm)
BRIDGE Wilkinson VSVG vintage tremolo
NECK PICKUP Tone Specific 65 custom single coil
MIDDLE PICKUP Tone Specific 65 custom single coil
BRIDGE PICKUP Tone Specific Virtuoso custom humbucker
CONTROLS volume, tone, 5-way
COLOR tinted lacquer with reds and browns
WEIGHT 6.9 lbs
CASE custom Calton case