Official Luthiers Forum!

Surfing recently led me to a Batson Guitar Company. They have an odd bracing system that I've not seen before. I was wondering if anybody on the forum had any more info on it, as the particulars are kind of sparce on their site.





Here's a shot of the back bracing - a little difference in the separator.



Here's some general shots of the guitar - They all seem to have a port/no soundhole.



A cool bridge ...IMHO!



Cantilevered fretboard and some nice binding work.



The base line model seems to go for 5K. Looks like nice gtar to me. Anybody got any more info?

I think the owner of the company is a guy named Dick Grayson, probably were the Batson comes from!

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Billy Dean Thomas
Covina, CA

"Multi famam, conscientiam, pauci verentur."
(Many fear their reputation, few their conscience)

What does the guitar sound like?

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Ken Franklin
clumsy yet persistent
https://www.kenfranklinukulele.com

Here's an MP3! Tim Thompson - Danza

I think it sounds good, but, it's hard to tell from a recording! A little muted/mellow perhaps, but the guitar is set up like a quasi-gypsy/archtop so it may be the style of the instrument rather than the bracing.

_________________
Billy Dean Thomas
Covina, CA

"Multi famam, conscientiam, pauci verentur."
(Many fear their reputation, few their conscience)

As Don Adams might say on the old TV series "Ah - the old truss bracing trick...." I thought that agent 99 was hot.....

The sound clip sounds good!

Thanks Billy bro!!!

Well, Tim Thompson is a monster player. That was some mighty fine playing!

It appears that Batson offers two different bridge types: a typical archtop configuration (typical in terms of the string break angle at the saddle, not the look of the bridge), and a variation of the 1850's Tilton Improvement bridge (holes in the bridge serve as tunnels, providing break angle and channeling the strings back to a tailpiece.) I could not see which bridge type the guitar in the video used, even looking carefully at the last few frames of the video clip. However, I'll bet it is the tunnel bridge, because (in spite of the jazzy composition and playing) I hear more of a steelstring sound than an archtop/gypsy type sound.

That soundboard bracing appears to me to be a way to handle the strings' sheer force.

Note the mic placement in the video, taking advantage of the side soundhole placement. When played without amplification, it probably does not project as much forward into a venue as a guitar with a hole in the soundboard, but hey, how many times have you seen a pro on stage completely unplugged in any modern concerts?

To my eyes and ears, a very, very cool instrument. Two thumbs way up!

Dennis

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Dennis Leahy
Duluth, MN, USA
7th Sense Multimedia