I am pleased to introduce the new Ascent guitar series. These guitars encompass a number of ideas that I have formulated over the past several years. The main concept is to effectively couple the strings to a flat top guitar with significantly reduced stress on the soundboard. This allows the soundboard to vibrate more freely and accommodates a great deal of freedom in shaping the sound profile of the guitar to suit the player's needs.
This is accomplished using a special bridge/saddle system designed by Ned Steinberger and Steve Grimes along with a tailpiece. The tailpiece I chose to use for these guitars was designed by Erich Solomon. The key important element in my approach is that I incorporate an appropriate break angle in the strings to apply the optimal amount of force to the soundboard, effectively coupling the strings with the soundboard. In contrast, zero force was exerted by the strings on the soundboard in the design originally developed by Ned and Steve.
Please note, this design is very different than the old tailpiece Stella guitars, as well as traditional gypsy jazz guitars. The force experienced by the soundboard is much less than with those designs, allowing for a fuller, richer, and more resonant sound.
The result is a highly dynamic and responsive guitar. The tonal character can be varied greatly with the choice of bracing patterns, wood species, and variations in soundboard thickness. All this can be accomplished with absolute long term structural integrity.
A couple of bonus features of this design are the exceptionally broad color range that can be achieved
when playing up and down the strings and the significantly reduced feel in tension experienced when fretting.
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