Check here for updates, but please call... I occasionally have something special in stock that hasn't been posted.
Update Summer 2011. Wingert Guitars got Players Choice Silver! Listed below is a partial list of guitars that are available now. I have spent some time with my EIR/sitka dread (koa binding and body bevel) and have pronounced it good. I will post pictures soon for a buy-it-now kind of price of $11,500. Anyone who steps up and saves me from having to post carefully done pictures can take another $1k off that price.
On backburner, but soon to be completed, a gorgeous little parlor guitar. If you have seen the teaser about there being four, all but one is spoken for now. As always, nagging is the best way to get pictures to happen. 310-522-9596
Classical Guitars: There are only a few people who know how deep my commitment to classical guitar is, but it's always been there and I am finally taking time to pursue classical building as a more mature guitar maker. I will not be adding a page to my models yet. PLEASE INQUIRE! There will be some prototypes available.
I am proud to be a member of ProfessionalLuthier.com, a new tool to help guitar buyers. Initially, most of the Luthiers accepted on the site have previously been vetted by one of the 3 major North American Lutherie Festivals – Healdsburg, Montreal, or Miami. In addition to well focused search criteria, the list of luthiers stands out because of the unique backing of the sites creator, LMI (Luthiers Mercantile International, Inc.). To demonstrate its faith in the professionalism of the participants, LMI will cover the cost of repairs necessary due to defects in materials or workmanship should any of the Luthiers listed go out of business – retirement, medical issue, whatever and therefore not be in a position to back the instrument themselves. Admittedly a subjective decision, LMI uses its network of professional associations with luthiers, instructors, buyers and dealers, in addition to information from the luthier, to determine which luthiers will participate. Check it out.
click on any image for a closer view
(New) Sinker Redwood Model F
2011 Jimmi's Rosette in Paua Sinker Redwood top Madagascar Rosewood back and sides Cutaway Ebony binding with paua top purfling Wingert double wide binding inset (like a mini bevel, cool and comfy) 2nd Generation Hoffee Case (Pewter color, light weight) 25.4" scale length Nut: 1 25/32" String Spacing: 2 1/4" Gold Gotoh 510s with ebony buttons Pictures anticipated October 10th or so (but asking helps) Price: $18,500
(New) Sonic Sitka Model E
2010 "Maggie" inspired by Margaret McDonald Sitka spruce top Cocobolo back and sides Cutaway Ebony binding with black mother of pearl top purfling Special black and black mop rosette that is part of the inlay design Calton Case 25.4" scale length Nut: 1 25/32" String Spacing: 2 1/4" Cosmo black Gotoh 510s
This guitar "Sonic Sitka #2 out of 111" is part of a community project with 110 other participating luthiers. When I was asked to participate in the Sonic Sitka project, skeptic that I am, I looked askance at anyone choosing my top wood for me, but I soon decided that it would be fun to be part of a group project. My legendary finickiness landed me a fine quality top for the project (thank you Denis). The top has an amazing combination of what we like best about sitka - punch and fundamental, but it's wrapped in a nice amount of overtone more after the fashion of Euro spruce. The characteristic sitka attack sound is there, but shows itself more when you really hit it, so it's a guitar with a lot of dynamic variation and personality. Those aren't code words for something else, it's smooth and it's consistent and predictable, completely controllable, but the sonic variations are really cool. Read here for a wonderful breakdown of the project by Acoustic Guitar Magazine - Sonic Sitka Project explained.
Price: $15,500.
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Harp Guitar Mini
22" scale length Italian spruce top Cocobolo back and sides Cutaway Six sub basses Ebony binding with black/white/black/red purfling Rounded wide comfort bindings for right arm, chest, and support leg
This is the first Kathy Wingert Harp Requinto. Gregg Miner put out the word that he was rounding up the "what's what" on current builders of smaller harp instruments. That gave me the shove I needed to use some too-small-for-harp guitar woods that I had saved. As he has in the past, Gregg kindly offered examples of historic instruments to examine.
The 22 inch scale length is like a normal guitar capoed at the third fret. The short scale and compact body make it a very accessible instrument. Because of the harp arm and some other tricks, the instrument has a tremendous capacity for it's lower registers. The trebles are happily smoothing out at an unexpected rate. Though my initial idea was to use it in requinto tuning, I have changed my mind about how I would personally use it. Terz tuning, or perhaps tuned to F#, like a guitar capoed on the 2nd fret works really well. In that tuning, the sub basses would play easily in concert D and A, common keys for a lot of traditional music. For solo? Who cares what key it's really playing in! This is shaping up to be a very versatile instrument. Gregg commented that the tone and sustain of the notes north of the 12th fret were impossibly good. Thank God I apprenticed with a violin maker.
Price: $Inquire More pictures available
(New)Klimt Model E
2009 Amazing German bearclaw spruce top African blackwood back and sides Cutaway Cocobolo binding with black and white top purfling Cocobolo bevel Klimt inspired inlay Calton Case Nut: 1 25/32" String Spacing: 2 1/4" Gold/Ebonoid Gotoh 510s
I kept looking at the sapwood on this piece of African blackwood and it kept nagging at me. It haunted me for many months. It's not really a special sapwood strip, I was just in that state of mind when I first picked it out, in the wee small hours when my muse shows up, so I patiently set it aside. One day as Jimmi and I were browsing through her library, I saw what had been haunting me, and the plan was born. Jimmi artfully captured what I wanted, the rich textile qualities of Klimt's designs, and she worked various elements into the back and the rosette. I opted for cocobolo to set off the African blackwood. I love the rich reds and oranges that make the whole design feel so warm. This guitar is my personal player.
Price: No Longer For Sale
Click On Any Image. Click on image that opens up for really close views. It's worth the wait.
Cocobolo Model E
2007 Cutaway Italian top Beautiful floral inlay by Jimmi Paua purfling Koa binding Nut: 1 25/32" String Spacing: 2 1/4" Price: $SOLD! Under Warranty! Click On Any Image
This used to be my personal E, but I fell in love with the Klimt and can't keep both. I left the pictures up because I loved the coocobolo in it, and I loved the guitar.
Stephen Bennett's Harp Guitar
2007 Amazing German spruce top Sycamore back and sides Cutaway Ebony binding with black and white top purfling Ebony bevel Custom carbon case Nut: 1 25/32" String Spacing: 2 1/4"
Stephen commissioned a harp guitar with his specs for string spacing to perfectly match his grandfather's Dyer. I've left the pictures up to enjoy.
Price: $SOLD.
Click On Any Image. Click on image that opens up for really close views. It's worth the wait.
Harp Guitar
Italian spruce top Sycamore back and sides Cutaway Seven sub basses Ebony binding with black/white/black purfling Cool Mackintosh inspired design
This is the fourth Kathy Wingert Harp Guitar. I was greatly inspired by my experience building my first two instruments and wanted to try my hand at playing one. Stephen Bennett offered the best advice saying to just play and don't think too much about the subs. I'm still too unfamiliar to have much success just ignoring all those beautiful extra strings, but I'm having a lot of fun arranging very simple melodies with basses, simple exercises to get acquainted with the spacing, and finding ways to adapt what I already know to the beautiful instrument.
The amazing design (trust me, pictures don't do it justice) was a continuation of our fascination with the work of Margaret McDonald and Charles Rennie Mackintosh. Jimmi drew up the design and created the overlays for the harp head and headstock. I did the inlay in the spruce of the harp arm itself, and Jimmi created and cut the rose for the harp arm soundhole.Price: $SOLD
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One of the great pleasures of being an independent luthier is to have the chance to make custom guitars for discriminating customers looking for the guitar of their dreams. I love the creative part of being a guitar maker. Helping a guitarist design a guitar to fit his or her body, hands, and style of play is what custom luthiers do, and that is only a small part of what sets the hand-made guitar apart from high-end factory guitars.
Custom hand-made, high-quality guitars, whether a steel-string guitar or classical guitar, should reflect the heart of the luthier and the desires of the player. Acoustic guitars are such a versatile and beautiful way to express musical ideas, that it is no wonder they are so popular, and it is the rare musical genre or soloist or group that does not include a guitar.
With so many beautiful guitars available, it is no wonder that we are in what has been referred to as the "Golden Age of Lutherie." It seems to me that it is really the "Golden Age of Information" where a player, with the desire to find just the right fit in a guitar, is able to find a guitar across the country or across the world; and the luthiers who build them are able to find parts, tools, and materials that were almost unobtainable to our independent guitar making pioneers.
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