Huss and Dalton OO Custom (2011)

The world of the steel-string may still be dominated by the dreadnaught, but Virginia's Huss & Dalton Guitar Company have found sustained and enduring success with their OO options, like this outstanding custom shop model from 2011. A spruce and mahogany body combines with a 12-fret neck in a thick modified V contour for an outstanding, fingerstyle-forward playing experience perfectly suited for blues, ragtime, and folk. In addition to the hand-selected mahogany back and sides, custom shop appointments include picturesque koa binding on the body and neck, but it's the rich, open, and surprisingly loud sound that makes the OO Custom a must-have above any aesthetic concerns.

This instrument arrived in our store on the lower end of very good condition relative to its age. The most notable damage to the guitar is a cracked bridge, which could not be easily reglued or repaired. As such, the current bridge is a replacement ebony option built to spec for this instrument. The original bridge is included in the price for interested collectors. Mild bellying has begun to occur faster than might be expected on a 15-year-old instrument, but this guitar has just been freshly set up and plays very well in all positions, with medium action suitable for fingerpickers, and does not suffer from any fret buzz. Other damage includes a few small finish cracks on the sides of the lower bout, likely from impact. One of these cracks was poorly finished over and some mild, non-intrusive finish work has been performed to prevent the crack from reopening. None of the damage to the lower bout should pose a long-term structural issue for the guitar's condition, provided it's properly humidified by its next owner. Included in the price is the original hard-shell case.

Specifications

Top Wood: Sitka spruce
Back and Sides Wood: Honduran mahogany 
Width at Nut: 1.75"
Bracing Pattern: Scalloped X-bracing
Scale Length: 24.88" 
Frets to Body: 12
Fingerboard and Bridge Wood: Ebony
Body Binding: Koa with multi-layer hardwood purfling
Rosette: Hardwood multi-ring
Headplate Material: Mahogany
Headstock Inlay / Logo: Huss & Dalton logotype in mother-of-pearl
Neck Binding: Koa
Neck Shape: Modified V
Fingerboard Side Dots: 5th, 7th, 9th, and 12th frets 
Fingerboard Inlay: Mother-of-pearl dots at 5th, 7th, 9th, 12th, and 15th frets
Pickguard: Tortoise celluloid
Tuners: Waverly nickel open-gear with grained ivoroid buttons
Electronics: None
Case: Original hard-shell case