This is a prototype guitar built for a distributor here in the US by the company in India that makes Gibtone guitars (with cosmetic enhancements by yours truly). It is a mid-level jazz instrument. As this close-up of the face shows it is a beautiful guitar to look at, though the finish is not without it's flaws. The tailpiece is a Benedetto ebony model which I have overlaid with rosewood. The pick-up is an EMG Select blade "Strats-style" transducer, I adapted to mount on the pick guard (also rosewood overlaid by me) so as not to touch the guitar face, and create minimum obstruction of the sound hole. None the less, this is not really a very good acoustic guitar. It suffers from the typical problem of round hole arch tops, the sound is thin and doesn't have quite the punch of it's f-hole cousins. When plugged into an amp, however, this guitar really sings. The EMG pick-up seems to have microphonic qualities which not only picks up the string vibration magnetically, but also has an acoustic "color" that is really quite pleasing. The back is laminated mahogany as is the neck. The most striking feature of this guitar, and the reason I call it "Aphrodite", is the gorgeous mother-of-pearl inlay of the goddess on the headstock. This exquisite inlay was created by an artist in Taiwan named Tony Tsai. Mr. Tsai sells his work on eBay and I have purchased several pieces from him. This one came on a rosewood veneer, which I cut and laminated onto the peg head.
