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[Stock photo. I'll add one when my guitar arrives.]
She left Rigby, Idaho via FedEx on the25th. This morning, she is in Nebraska. By Tuesday, sheshould reach me in South Florida.
So why am I talking about it now?What's to say?
This.
Last night I got a link to view a 25-minute video of Conti playing 3 tunes on the guitar—the very onenow on its way to me---and then detailing its features and addingtips on care and maintenance.
He always does this: gives the guitars to his tech before shipping them out, then playing them himself to see if they are good to go and finally talks directly to the buyer about what he's getting and how to care for it.
I don't think anyone else does that.
The playing portion of the video runs just over 8 minutes. Conti plays three tunes: Ipanema, Sophisticated Swing, and Polka Dots and Moonbeams. Great playing and a demonstration of clear tones throughout the range of the instrument. He mixes chord melody with single line improv, emphasizing the latter. (That is the focus of lessons I have taken from him.)
For the next 17 minutes, he speaksdirectly to me about the specifics of the instrument. Bone nut,Imperial tuners with a 19:1 gear ratio, maple neck, ebonyfingerboard, pickguard, and tailpiece. (The Entrada is also availablewith a Gold Finger tail piece, but that adds 10 ounces of weight I can do without, so I opted for the ebony.)
Three features of this guitar areespecially appealing to me.
First, the Shallow Florentine cutaway. Mycurrent (and longtime) archtop is an Ibanez Artcore. AF85. (See stock photo below.) Comparethe cutaways---the Entrada allows easy access the higher frets. (Andit has 24 of them, not 22.) The neck joins the body at the 16thfret. The Ibanez jams me up by the 15th fret. (Your mileage may vary: I have a big hand.)
Second, the thinline width. A few years ago, Carol Kaye told me a day would come when my right shoulder tired of wrapping around a big archtop. For me, that day has come.
The Entrada is athinline, roughly half the width of my Ibanez. (44 mm vs theArtcore's 92mm. Think Gibson 335.)
Third, it's a single pickup model (Kent Armstrong Vintage '57 Humbucker). Only two knobs on the body. As much as I loved the variety of guitar tones that I heard from my heroes as a kid (Hendrix, Clapton, Beck, et al), I now play with a clean tone, adding no effects.
Another feature, which you cannot see in the photo above, is that Conti places the jack plate back near the endpin. This way, I can avoid knocking the jack loose while playing seated. (Wobbly Jack Syndrome.) I have that problem with my Artcore and also with my PRS solid body.
Note stark difference between the Artcore cutaway and the Conti cutaway.
You'll hear how it sounds once it arrives. Meanwhile, I should practice.
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02-28-2026 11:58 AM
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I'd get a nosebleed playing that high, Mark, but best wishes to you. The Conti looks great. Is it made by Peerless, Eastman? I've never known that level of service - Conti seems a great guy.
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These are fantastic guitars (especially for the price) - enjoy!
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Well, Rob, I'm not hanging out around the 24th fret much myself, but at the 12th fret, my palm contacts the body of my Ibanez. I would prefer the same (or near enough) freedom of access there as I have lower on the neck. My PRS has 24 frets and there is an advantage to that. (A disadvantage is that the first fret feels further away than one is used to.)
Originally Posted by Rob MacKillop
As for who makes Conti guitars, I don't think a single manufacturer is responsible for the finished product.
Yes, Conti's a great guy. He's 80 now, old school to the bone. He learned from records (Johnny Smith, Howard Roberts, and Wes were his heroes) and from other kids, one of whom was Pat Martino. Had a dozen lessons with Joe Sgro---not unusual for a Philly kid in those days--which is how he came to learn the Wohlfahrt etudes that are the backbone of his "Precision Technique" DVD. He told me once that after Sgro thought your technique could handle it, he would move you on to "The Four Brothers". Conti said that and the solos from "Honky Tonk" were rites of passage among his peers. They learned them and then played them faster and faster and faster. "Technique is the currency of jazz," is one of his pet sayings.
In a way, it's not surprising yet it still caught me up short when he told me that he never learned pentatonic box shapes. (The first thing I learned.) He stresses mastering the fingerboard, though his approach is always "lines now, theory later." He gave me no diagrams to memorize; rather, he gave me a series of two-measure lines that I am to learn in every position, in every key, all over the neck, so that I can connect them on the fly without hesitation. Are we there yet? No. But we are further down the road than before.
This is a video of Lucas Costner playing an Entrada. (I more often see Lucas with a fiddle in his hands these days.)
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Your reasoning is sound, Mark. I’m sure you’ll get along just dandy (I’m learning American as part of my jazz studies!) with your new guitar.
Loved the recordings. Woody Herman had some great musicians playing for him. My father, who played tenor sax, auditioned for a “Woody Herman” big band in England when he was in his early twenties, but failed. I don’t think the real Woody Herman was involved.
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Wait, those notes above the 15th actually work, a note will ring out?
Looks like it has everything you need and nothing you don't. Enjoy.
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Peerless makes these, IIRC.
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Your father took his shot. Respect. Originally Posted by Rob MacKillop
Those great swing bands had major players. The 'four brothers' were Stan Getz, Zoot Sims, Herbie Steward, and Serge Chaloff. (Three tenors and one baritone.) What a lineup!
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Peerless made an earlier generation of Entradas. Originally Posted by Hammertone
These days, I don't think any single maker is responsible for the whole guitar.
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But, most likely, the bodies are fabricated and finished by one of the Far East factories. If not Peerless, then who else? Sure looks like Peerless. Originally Posted by MarkRhodes
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I took Conti's virtual course years ago. I like his very direct and clear style of communication.
I'm eager to get a review of the guitar.
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Don't know. I'll see what I can find out. Originally Posted by Hammertone
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I'm eager to get hold of the guitar! Due tomorrow. Originally Posted by Marty Grass
Conti is direct. Never mean or abusive, he does not overlook mistakes. For older players like me---who started out playing rock and blues rather than jazz and then tried to swallow the whale of jazz theory while learning to play the music--he's a breath of fresh air. Some of it IS simple. This does not mean it is easy to execute, but most players' problems can be solved with, as pierre richard always said, 'time on the instrument.'
He absolutely floored me during a recent lesson. He was telling me about an afternoon when he went over to Pat Martino's house to listen to a Howard Roberts record. A particular lick fascinated them, and it took hours to lift it off the record and then get it down. "We were no better than you!"
He doesn't talk about musical gifts or talent. He talks about work. He gives you the tools; you do the work. No magic bullets, no secrets.
The hardest part of it is letting go of cock-eyed notions and bad habits I picked up along the way.
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Hey welcome to the Conti family!
I've had an Entrada for about a year and a half and absolutely love the thing. Always gets questions and compliments at jams and gigs. I'm kinda a tinkerer so I've swapped a couple little things on mine. Biggest was putting on my preferred strings and upgrading the tuners, otherwise it was fantastic right out of the box. I've had zero intonation or action issues here in dry, dusty Denver.
I was a SG guy mostly before the Entrada came in, so it took some mental reframing to think of it more as an acoustic instrument again, but I couldn't be happier with the process and product.
Congrats!
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Thanks! Glad to hear you are so happy with your Entrada. Originally Posted by pmurph
Dry and dusty Denver, eh? I'm in humid South Florida. Humidity is presently 52 % in my condo, and that's with the dehumidifier running.
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Yeah, it's 26% right now, but it dropped to 4% on Saturday. I've generally found that I like the way my guitars sound and feel much better when I take them to places that actually support life, so you'll probably like your Entrada even better than I like mine! ?
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The fit, finish and playability of my Entrada rivals my GB10, except it is so much lighter. Dealing with the Conti folks was unique and without problems. You will not be disappointed.
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Great to hear! Originally Posted by jeff from new england
A lighter guitar is more appealing to me as I age. (67 now.) And a shallower depth is something I look forward to.
Conti's crew is top notch across the board. A pleasure to deal with.
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Arrived late yesterday afternoon.
Plays great. The 24-fret neck takes getting used to.
Ever dove for a penny at the bottom of a swimming pool? It will be to one side of where you expected to find it. This is like that--I'm always further up the neck that I expect to be. That will pass in a day or so.
Great feel. Audio / video soon.
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Congratulations, Mark! It looks beautiful. I wish you both many happy hours together! Are you happy with the sound? I expect you will be.
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Thanks, Rob! Yes, I am happy with the sound. Also happy with the feel, especially with the neck. I knew what the specs were when I bought it, but I wasn't sure what some of the specs meant. The fingerboard radius is 15.75". I knew that, but I didn't know what to compare it to. (I have since done some searching.) Compared to Ibanez Artcore, this fingerboard feels flat (-which I like). Originally Posted by Rob MacKillop
I can't find online the fingerboard radius of my Ibanez Artcore AF85 VLS from 2003. (If anyone here knows, I would love to learn.) But it's rounder than this, though not as round as my old Strat. I think my Squier Tele is 9.5". My PRS is 10". 15.75" is a big difference. One that I'm happy with.
Still getting used to the 24-fret neck. It's not just that it has two more frets than a 22-fret neck but that ALL the frets are in a different place than my hands expect. That will pass in a day or so. (It's like adjusting to a new eyeglass prescription.) I am often "further on up the neck" than my brain thinks I am. Like pierre richard used to say, "...time on the instrument."
Spoke with Conti on the phone last night. He wanted to know if I was happy with the guitar. Of course I am. Said he designed this guitar to have all the things he wished he had had on the first guitars he played professionally.
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Don’t worry about playing further up the neck than you meant to be. You’ll be seen as a harmonically-sophisticated player! Very cool
You’ll get used to it. Have fun.
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