The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #1

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    Elferink 14”-d6214833-78ec-4c6c-80d1-7ab31bd1390e-jpg
    Here is a fantastic guitar:
    I received this guitar earlier in the week after a short six month wait. It’s my second Elferink. I wanted a smaller bodied instrument in the style of an Ibanez George Benson. I gave Frans my specs and took his suggestions on the rest. The result is a balanced tone, a light, wonderful playing instrument. It’s very lively with a sparkle in the tone. Other than the size it’s completely different than the GB: light vs. heavy, lively vs. dull, detailed vs. mass produced. I look forward to breaking it in and hearing it’s tone as it ages. Frans instruments are reasonably priced and highly recommended.
    Attached Images Attached Images Elferink 14”-f52bad80-0068-4b9a-b0a6-c0df3b7e7b73-jpeg 

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    The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
     
  3. #2

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    another beauty from frans!!

    you can see that its lightweight!! it looks airy!! beautiful


    congrats and enjoy!!

  4. #3

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    Another beauty, indeed. I can see why you bought another one, they are wonderful guitars.

    What's that second image for? Looks interesting!

  5. #4

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    Wow, I love the whole package. Neato! (OK, so the f-holes are not to my taste as I like the slender ones.)

  6. #5

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    any sound mp3?

  7. #6

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    That's a lovely instrument. Congratulations, and play it in good health!

  8. #7

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    Be interesting to hear how it sounds.

  9. #8

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    That looks like a sweet playing guitar. Looks like body joins at 17th fret!!
    Very playable. I also recently purchased (after exposure to Rob's masterpiece)
    a Blonde Excalibur 17, and it is unbelievably playable, and roars like a beast.

    Mr. Elferink makes spectacular playing guitars...

    And that 2nd image looks to me like the 1st mall in America, an outdoor mall
    in downtown Fresno circa 1968??

  10. #9

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    Congrats, Papawooly! Good to know you have an Elferink too. We should start a club!

  11. #10

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    Looks great

  12. #11

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    Guitars... Looks like yours also has a volute ... my 1st volute!!

  13. #12

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    Fresno, Franz, and 1968. There's a great 3sum right there! Beautiful Elferink!

  14. #13

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    As an owner of a 16.5" Elferink Tonemaster, I concur with everything the OP has posted! Get em while they're still reasonable!

  15. #14

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    having a 16' Tonemaster model of his with a 25' scale, a know a second, smaller body with a 24 3/4 scale is in my future!

  16. #15

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    Quote Originally Posted by Papawooly
    That looks like a sweet playing guitar. Looks like body joins at 17th fret!!
    Very playable.
    Congrats, lovely guitar!

    Btw, I would call this one 16 frets to the body, not 17. It's 2 frets more than a "normal" archtop which I consider 14 frets to the body.

    I'm of two minds when it comes to non-14th frets-to-body archtops. Yes, the higher fret access is nice, but on the other hand the lower frets end up being farther away. Sure us jazzers don't play open strings much, but I also feel that many of us don't play in the lower frets as much as we could...and having those frets farther away would not help. But I suppose we all have our biases, and one of mine is avoiding a bent wrist; for that, I find that the farther the nut, the higher the chance of having to bend the wrist.

    Steve Andersen's Little Archie is 14 frets to the body, whereas his Electric Archie is 16 frets. Campellone's EP was 15 to the body. Collings seem to be equivalent to 14 but with their nifty design one gets easy fret access to about the 15 at least.

    Just thinking out loud.

  17. #16

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    Quote Originally Posted by Papawooly
    Guitars... Looks like yours also has a volute ... my 1st volute!!
    looks like the headstock is angled back quite a bit, making the volute a good idea

    cheers

  18. #17

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    Mine has a volute. Took me a full week to notice it was there! I think it's an excellent idea.

  19. #18

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    The volute doesn't bother me or intrude on any playability issues at all. Can't say enough good things about my Elferink's tone and beauty as well! I didn't pay extra for woods and he sent me spectacular flamed maple back and sides, european spruce top. And for a mere $80-$100 more I got a flamed 5 peice neck

    URL=http://s263.photobucket.com/user/jads57/media/GetAttachment.aspx_4.jpeg.html][/URL]

  20. #19

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    The volutes on both of mine are really nice, quite pronounced and curved in such a way that if you did put your hand there (I never do) it would fit right into the web.

  21. #20

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    Elferink 14”-img_0198-jpgElferink 14”-img_0200-jpgElferink 14”-img_0202-jpgElferink 14”-img_0203-jpg

  22. #21

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    My 17' Excalibur!!
    Attached Images Attached Images Elferink 14”-elferink-top-jpg Elferink 14”-elferink-volute-jpg Elferink 14”-elferink-body-jpg 

  23. #22

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    Awesome. For those interested in the volute... the second photo shows it clearly.

  24. #23

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    We're all very lucky that great builders like Fanz Elferink guitars are still so affordable to many of us. Mark Campellone is anothe builder who charges very fair prices for such great builds!

  25. #24

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    Best part about getting a new guitar, especially one so playable as the Elferink
    is extended playing time!!

    Here is what my fingers looked like after ~4 hours of straight playing with a new
    set of Phillipe Bosset soft brass 80/20's 5613...

    I believe I reduced the string diameters by a few microns
    Attached Images Attached Images Elferink 14”-elferink-fingers-jpg