1988 Thomas Humphrey Millenium "Violin Guitar"

Thomas Humphrey Millenium “Violin Guitar” 1988

This is an early example of Humphrey’s Millennium classical guitars, fusing features of traditional classical guitars and design elements from bowed instruments. The label, visible from the bass side f-hole, is signed and dated to 1988.

The violin theme starts with the choice of tone woods. The top is European spruce and the back and sides are Bosnian maple. The top and back are bound in pearwood with a simple black-white-black purfling in ebony and boxwood. A single ebony strip frames the sides under the pearwood binding. Two “C” shaped sound holes adorn the top, along with a semicircular rosewood bridge. The forward shifted Spanish cedar neck features a stacked heel. The fan style bracing, commonly associated with conventional classical guitars, is shaped to the pronounced arch of the top. The absence of a central sound hole allows for 24 frets on the ebony fingerboard and the forward pitch of the neck makes them easy to access. The scale length is 650 mm and the nut width is 50.8 mm.

The violin theme continues to the headstock, a slot head is crowned with a finely carved scroll. The headstock itself has a maple headplate and a maple back ending in a volute just above the neck. The whole guitar is finished in an amber varnish beautifully complementing this guitar's unique look. 

The neck has a carefully repaired headstock break, presumably fixed by Humphrey, which shows no signs of instability. Cosmetically, it is hard to detect unless you are looking for it. As a whole this guitar is in excellent condition and has received a professional setup by our master luthiers.