Aluminum Deluxe
$18,000
Each aluminum Specimen body is individually handcrafted from 6061-T6 alloy. This material machines well, takes a lovely finish, and just so happens to have rather magical sonic properties. I use a bandsaw, drill press, hand tapping machine, and metal files to assemble and sculpt each body. Much of the accompanying hardware is carved out of solid aluminum billet stock, then polished by hand.
It is a labor of love.
Each Specimen is guaranteed to sing, hand made in Chicago.
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Neck
Flame maple with 5/16" thick Madagascar rosewood fingerboard with aluminum fret-markers and side dots
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Scale length
25-1/2" or to order
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Fretboard
Rosewood
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Truss Rod
Non adjustable steel reinforcement
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Frets
Dunlop 6105
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Body
6061 T6 Aluminum top and and back, milled aluminum frame
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Pickups
Lindy Fralin High Output humbuckers with coil taps activated by the push-pull tone pots
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Controls
Volume and tone for each pickup, three position pickup selector switch
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Bridge
Hipshot hardtail
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Shipping
Free Shipping within the continental U.S.
The satin finish is an ephemeral patina imposed by hand upon a slab of aluminum. I try to soothe it. I am not a machine but I am close to one. I get out every scratch that I can, with a guarantee of imperfection.
Within a relatively short time these instruments tend to develop an interesting patina, the result of time and effort on the musician’s part – inadvertent, and an apparent trail of tribulation.
The alignment of the neck on the body of an aluminum Specimen is different from a typical guitar. There is an even more distinct marrying of the two. This neck and body are fit together with closer tolerances than are possible with two wooden lacquered parts. This sublime juxtaposition yields a guitar that transcends standard fare. One that plays so enthusiastically that music will undoubtedly be written upon it.
This Specimen aluminum guitar comes either with a custom Specimen neck (pictured here) that features a non-adjustable steel reinforcement and my special 6-on-a-side headstock design, or with a stock Fender-style neck that I finish in nitrocellulose lacquer for about one thousand dollars less.
