Northern California luthier Bruce Sexauer offers flattop guitars in a large range of body sizes. He recently brought three guitars into the Peghead Nation video studio, and we’ve already taken a look at the smaller FT-L00-JB/2 and JB-CN. In this video, Bruce and I discuss his largest model, the JB-16, and I demonstrate it by playing it solo and in a duet with Peghead Nation instructor Doug Young, who played the JB-CN.
The JB-16 has a width of 16 inches across the lower bout, and like Bruce’s other JB models, it features an asymmetrical design, with an off-set waist, a multi-scale fingerboard with fanned frets, and a slanted bridge. As a custom maker, Bruce offers many wood combinations, but this JB-16 is built with gorgeously figured Brazilian rosewood back and sides and a wide-grained Adirondack spruce top. The guitar’s relatively subtle appointments include small dot position markers in the ebony fingerboard, flamed maple purfling, and a multi-ring rosette. Like the other two guitars we’ve featured, this JB-16 includes a sound port in the upper bout, as well as Schertler open-gear tuning machines.
The JB-16 is the boldest guitar of the trio of instruments Bruce brought along. As a rule, I like responsive, powerful guitars with a large dynamic range, and this JB-16 didn’t disappoint. It is a superb fingerstyle instrument, able to respond to a soft touch, deliver the complexities of low tunings, and provide enough volume for unamplified performances in intimate settings. Even though I don’t typically play multi-scale guitars, the fingerboard on the JB-16 didn’t take much getting used to, and I enjoyed the slightly looser tension of the treble strings. Simply put, the guitar had a huge sound, both in terms of volume and its large frequency spectrum.
Although Bruce continues to take the occasional custom order, most of his output is now found in “spec” guitars such as this one. Considering the success of this JB-16, it’s clear that Bruce’s 50-plus years of guitar making have resulted in an ability to build spectacular instruments that will delight many guitarists without the need for individual modifications.
SPECS: 13-fret mini-jumbo body. Adirondack spruce top with X-bracing. Brazilian rosewood back and sides. Honduran mahogany neck. Ebony fingerboard and bridge. Multi-scale fingerboard measuring 25.4 inches on the bass side and 24.9 inches on the treble side. 1¹³/₁₆-inch nut width. 2⁵/₁₆-inch string spacing at the saddle. Schertler tuning machines. Made in the USA. $22,000. sexauerguitars.com
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2005 Schoenberg 000 CutawayPeghead Nation instructor Doug Young demonstrates his Bruce Sexauer-built 12-fret 000. Read More |
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Sexauer JB-CNA small-body, multi-scale guitar built with Brazilian rosewood. Read More |
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Sexauer FT-L00-JB/2A great flattop guitar built with olive wood back and sides. Read More |
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Sexauer FT-00-CNLuthier Bruce Sexauer shows his “Couch Noodler” flattop. Read More |
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Bruce Sexauer DreadnoughtsA trio of custom flattops based on Martin’s classic blueprint. Read More |
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Bruce Sexauer Interview and DemoLuthier Bruce Sexauer in the Peghead Nation studio with two of his steel-string flattops, an FT-15 and an FT-000-C. Read More |
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Bruce Sexauer FT-00-WRX SBAICA walnut and spruce flattop built to be given away at the 2017 Santa Barbara Acoustic Instrument Celebration. Read More |
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Bruce Sexauer Shop VisitAcclaimed Northern California luthier discusses his career, instrument designs, and current projects. Read More |
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Preston Thompson PKTA limited edition re-creation of a special Thompson dreadnought. Read More |
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2012 Collings SJ Indian CustomA slightly modified example of Collings’ popular small jumbo model. Read More |
