Jimmy Foster Basin Street Thinline Archtop completed by BurkeGuitar.com

[SBurke]

We have just finished this beautiful Jimmy Foster Basin Street Edition Archtop. When we saw the unfinished body, neck and other items available for sale from Mr. Foster’s estate, we immediately did some research and discovered how Mr. Foster made beautiful looking and sounding instruments that were treasured by their owners. His website is still available to see his work and read about his superior playing talents and guitar building skills. (www.fosterguitars.com)
We purchased these parts with the goal of completing Jimmy’s work and finishing his creation. We have done that, and this great guitar is available. It is likely the last “New” Jimmy Foster Archtop to ever be on the market.
The guitar has great volume unplugged, plays very smooth and has significant sustain. It produces a full acoustic sound while offering the comfort given by its’ compact design.
Here are some specifications for this instrument. For more pictures, specifications, and video, go to www.BurkeGuitar.com. $2,950. For a short sound clip video, go to

Standard Features: Hand Split Carved Cedar Top with X bracing, 17? lower bout, 13” upper bout,2” depth at heel and tail, 25.5” scale length, 1.75” nut width, 20” body length
Select One Piece Mahogany back and sides, One Piece Mahogany neck joined at the 15th fret. Venetian Cutaway, Body Bound in Black Plastic Binding
Adjustable Steel Truss Rod, with inlaid Truss Rod Cover
Solid Ebony Tailpiece, Pickguard, Bridge, Fingerboard, Headstock, Truss Rod Cover and Heel Cap
Delicate Abalone Inlay on the 12th fret, headstock, and tailpiece
Custom Kent Armstrong Built In Pickup with Volume, Tone. Gotoh mini locking Rotomatic tuners, Fishman Jack
High Gloss Nitrocellulose Lacquer Finish
Custom Hardshell Case

For those interested in the building of this guitar, we received the beginnings of the build as shown in the pictures. Basically, the body construction was done but the neck fittings, pickup fittings and other such items were not finished. We also received the neck with the fretboard attached but no frets. Included loose items were the truss rod cover, bridge and the metal part of the tail piece. We sourced and obtained from other sources the rest of the items needed to finish the guitar.
Our project consisted of doing all these items:

NECK
Drill Correct Size Tuner and screw Holes, Install Gotoh Mini Locking Rotomatics, Finish and Install Truss Rod Cover, Square Nut Pocket, Radius and sand Fretboard, Install Frets, Med #148
Add Heel Cap, Fit Neck to Body, Sand and Finish, Attach to body, Detail. Install Strap Button to Heel
BODY
Reshape Neck Pocket, Reshape Pickup Hole, Fit Body to Neck, Sand and Finish, Attach Neck, Drill Hole for Tail Piece and Jack, Drill Holes for Pickguard in Top and on sides


OTHER
Made and Installed Ebony Pickguard, mounting holes, hardware, Re-aligned Tail Piece Hole in Body and Brass Mount, Reshape Tailpiece Hinge to fit, Added Grounding for each string in Ebony Tailpiece
Shape Bottom of Bridge to Top of Guitar, Lower the Saddle to allow for up and down adjustment
Installed Armstrong 12 Pole PAF Pickup. Installed Fishman Endpin Jack, Installed Pickup Rings, Installed Wood Control Knobs
Carve, Slot and Polish Bone Nut
Recheck and Detail Finish entire guitar
Assemble
Polish Frets
Install Tomastik-Infeld Jazz Flatwound 12-50 Strings
Setup
Attachment 107627
So, it is ready to go!
$2950 with free shipping USA

[Hammertone]

Ah, $2,950 ... found it buried in the ad.
It strikes me as having a very useful but hard to find combination of features, at a very approachable price.
Can you describe the neck profile and size?
Slim, chunky, fat, rounded C, D - that sort of thing?
Neck depth at the 1st fret (or wherever it is thinnest, given the volute) and at the 9th or 10th fret (before the neck starts to deepen for the heel).

[marcwhy]

Beautiful work! GLWTS!

[Woody Sound]

Neck depth at the 1st fret (or wherever it is thinnest, given the volute) and at the 9th or 10th fret (before the neck starts to deepen for the heel).

BTW, I always wondered, when you measure neck depth, do you measure from the top of the fret, or from the top of the fingerboard wood? I would think from the top of the fret would be more accurate.

[SBurke]

I would describe it as a slim D. From the fretboard to the back of the neck just behind the 1st fret is .75", between the 9th and 10th, .86"

[Jim Soloway]

A few comments ...

First congratulations on doing a lovely job of completing this guitar. There's a lot to like here and I really appreciate the spirit of openness with which you've presented the whole thing. Like Hammertone I find it to have a very useful and unusual combination of features at a price that is about half (or less) of what it would have been from Jimmy.

I also wanted to talk about my experienced with Jimmy Foster and how it relates to this guitar. Many years ago when I was falling deeply into the 7-string rabbit hole, I had Jimmy build me a guitar. He was a 7-string player himself and he was one of the real pioneers exploring the modern 7-string archtop. I had a lot of conversations with Jimmy while we spec'ed out the guitar and he convinced me to go with mahogany back and side. He said that while most customers preferred the bling of figured maple, he much preferred the sound of mahogany for it's warmth and balance.

When I look at all of the features and configuration of this guitar, I suspect that Jimmy was looking at it as a labor of love and passion rather than as just another guitar to sell. I hope it goes to the right player who will give it the same level of passion that it deserves.

[SBurke]

Thanks. It felt a little like he was watching me finish his work!

[arnie65]

By any chance, any videos or audio of this instrument being played? I'm not just kicking tires here...



Thanks,
Arnold.

[SBurke]

Jazz Archtops

Here is a very low quality video. I will be doing a better one soon

[kevmoga]

I’ve always wondered why cedar tops are so rare in the archtop world, they sound amazing on classical guitars. I recently played one of George Gruhn’s new Versatar acoustics, which are steel string instruments, with a mahogany back and cedar top and it was amazing - were I not on a short leash of late because of other instrumental indulgences, I would have bought it. GLWTS.

[GuyBoden]

I had the 15inch version of the Jimmy Foster Basin Street Archtop.

A really nice guitar, the sound projection for a small body was incredible.

With a great sounding pickup.

My version had a slim neck depth, which I liked.

[Forensbro]

I own a Jimmy Foster 2010 Basin St. Edition 15" body and I would subjectively describe the neck profile as a shallow C. I also own a Jimmy Foster 2005 Crescent City archtop and both necks are comparable. The 1 3/4" nut width is very comfortable for me and makes the neck grip seem a bit larger than it really is. I have it strung with TI GBs and the guitar sounds great. Although it has a decent acoustic sound it does not project as well as a full bodied 17" archtop. I paid $3500 brand new for mine in 2010 so the $2950 asking price is a great deal for a quality built archtop. GLWTS!

[Hammertone]

BTW, I always wondered, when you measure neck depth, do you measure from the top of the fret, or from the top of the fingerboard wood? I would think from the top of the fret would be more accurate.

SOP is from the top of the fingerboard wood.

I would describe it as a slim D. From the fretboard to the back of the neck just behind the 1st fret is .75", between the 9th and 10th, .86"

Gracias!

[SBurke]

This guitar is a great deal. Do your research!
Here is a new short sound video I posted