gnome guitars
Hand made guitars
Kelowna, BC
About me
The head and only Gnome, works tirelessly between the lines, making music out of wood.
Each instrument is born in a small studio from the finest available woods. All construction materials which include spruce, cedar, maple, rosewood, mahogany and several exotic woods are individually matched, creating the tonal qualities of a one-of-a-kind guitar.
It takes time to produce a quality Gnome Guitar. Countless hours blended with extreme care and attention is applied to every detail, producing the sound, tone and characteristics desired by the musician who will own the instrument. Any sound preference can be realized by using different styles of wood and features unique to Gnome Guitars.
They can withstand most climatic changes having been crafted in a climate controlled environment.
Notwithstanding, there are limitations to what any solid wood guitar can handle. Take care to ensure that your new instrument is protected from hazardous extremes.
Instruments
Jumbo
The largest guitar we make. A powerful guitar with amazing projection. It's large sound chamber produces a distinct tone with pronounced mid-range and treble clarity.
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Dreadnought
This is the most popular style guitar sold. It is a true workhorse that loves to be played hard. It produces a strong but not over powering bass with ringing trebles. A great guitar for flat picking.
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13 Fret Blues Guitar
She may look small but the volume and tone surprises everyone who plays it. Amazing bass and ringing trebles. A great blues guitar
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UKE
The Ukulele has become a very popular choice if instrument in recent years. We make all sizes and all with top grade solid wood.
Features
Pinless Bridge
One of the more obvious features is the pinless bridge. This bridge weighs 45% less than the traditional type. Reducing weight on the soundboard increases vibrations which in turn increases volume, projection and sustain. Changing strings is a simple task without pins that often tend to jam or break. The 30 degrees break angle over the saddle will transmit vibrations to the soundboard much more effectively than the typical angle of 15 degrees or often less
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Soundboard
Two top bracings used. The 90 degree x braces are not unique, several builders use them, but ours do not extend to the sides. They are carved to airy thinness 2 inches from the sides to free the soundboards vibrations. The outside perimeter of the soundboard is the main source of generated vibrations. The top is also thinner around the entire perimeter of the guitar top to further increase vibrations to a maximum level. The second type of top brace we use is more of an H shape often called X and O. The tricky part of bracing is to increase volume you lose sustain and vise versa. This shape will increase both. The entire perrimiter of the top is free of braces. It also uses much less brace wood and therefore less weight. This shape was designed to go with the pinless bridge. In addition to a one piece mahogany neck an upgrade to a 3 or 5 ply laminated neck is available. The laminated necks are made of various woods.The laminated neck is a stiffer neck that transmits a brighter tone to the body. Because the plys are glued in a book matched style the neck will not twist or warp. Various colored woods can be used to beautifully match the body woods.
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Radius Top
Some of our soundboards are built with a 30 foot radius. It is cylindrical and built into the top with the braces. It adds strength and stiffness to the the top that also increases volume and projection.
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Surface Finish
Depending on the type of instrument we can finish the guitar with several options. Steel string will usually have a lacquer top with a natural oil finish back and sides or entirely lacquer. Classical will usually be finished with a french polish top. The choice is ultimately left up to the purchaser. All necks are finished with Tung Oil that can easily be re-applied any time. Natural oil finishes make for a very smooth, non sticky feel. The type of finish will affect the durability and the sound and most often one choice takes from the other.
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Wood Types
We only use top grade solid woods. They are all seasoned and air dried for no less than 10 years. Every piece of wood has it's own tonal characteristics and any tone desired can be accomplished with different wood typesand different construction methods.
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CONTACT and PRICES
2020 Prices
The base price for all guitars is $1950.00 That includes a Walnut, Maple, or Mahogany body.
With a 2 piece Sitka Spruce top, and a Mahogany neck.
The base price for a ukulele is $750.00.
There are numerous options that can be included at an up charge. Any combination of
tone woods to achieve the desired tone you want. Unfortunately we are unable to ship
Rosewood guitars into USA. Contact us and we can build your instrument with the
wood and specific sound you want. Waiting time for a custom build is 4-5 months.
We require a $500.00 dollar deposit to start a custom build. We also have up to
40 built instruments ready for immediate delivery.
To contact us click the email or phone tab, upper right.
Gallery
