2017 catalog
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18<br />
THE<br />
FRANK<br />
VIGNOLA<br />
+<br />
R Y A N<br />
THORELL<br />
SIGNATURE<br />
FV680CE-SB<br />
SERIES<br />
By now, jazz guitarist Frank Vignola’s<br />
resume reads like a Hall of Fame plaque.<br />
There are the gigs at major venues<br />
around the world; the collaborations<br />
with everyone from Wynton Marsalis to<br />
Ringo Starr to Madonna; the countless<br />
books and NPR appearances. It should<br />
go without saying, then, that luthiers<br />
have long chased his endorsement<br />
of their instruments — and that the<br />
51-year-old master has felt no great<br />
urgency to give it. “I wasn’t interested<br />
unless I truly believed in the guitar,”<br />
Vignola now recalls of a process that<br />
played out multiple times over the<br />
years.<br />
Top:<br />
Back/Sides:<br />
Neck:<br />
Fingerboard:<br />
Nut:<br />
Bridge/Saddle:<br />
Binding:<br />
Scale Length:<br />
Neck Pickup:<br />
Bridge Pickup:<br />
Finish:<br />
Case:<br />
Available Finishes:<br />
Solid Hand Carved Spruce<br />
Hand Carved Mahogany<br />
Mahogany<br />
Ebony<br />
Bone<br />
Ebony Compensated<br />
2-3/32” Spacing<br />
Ivroid 4 ply top and back<br />
25.4”<br />
Kent Armstrong<br />
N/A<br />
Nitrocellulose Lacquer<br />
Hardshell Case<br />
Sunburst<br />
That’s when Ryan Thorell stepped in.<br />
The revered Utah-based luthier had<br />
a “wild concept” — a hybrid design<br />
that would accommodate the virtuoso’s<br />
distinct mix of gypsy and archtop<br />
playing styles. “I wanted to approach<br />
the gypsy sound from a very Americana<br />
perspective, from a carved-top guitar<br />
perspective,” Thorell explains. “I wanted<br />
the drive of a gypsy guitar to come from