✨NEW✨ Duke GA-MC-Cut-Solid-Air~ All Solid Electro Acoustic Guitar~ Ebony + Cedar

Duke GA-MC-Cut-Solid-Air Grand Auditorium Electro Acoustic

Brand New | All Solid Wood | MiSi Trio Air | PLEK’d in Germany | Deluxe Gig Bag

 

Chordplay Guitars are delighted to welcome Duke Guitars to the family.

 

Based in Germany, Duke specialise in beautifully built acoustic guitars that combine traditional tonewoods and craftsmanship with modern playability and exceptionally high specifications. We have been hugely impressed by the instruments we have seen so far, and this GA-MC-Cut-Solid-Air sits right at the top end of what Duke do.

 

This is an all-solid Grand Auditorium cutaway electro acoustic, built around a solid Canadian cedar top with solid mahogany back and sides. It is an exceptionally responsive combination, with the warmth and richness you would expect from cedar and mahogany, but with considerably more dynamic range and depth than a laminate or semi-solid construction.

 

The first thing that struck us, though, was simply how accomplished this guitar feels. It has the refinement, response and build quality of an instrument from a much higher price bracket. The high-gloss finish is beautifully executed, the mahogany binding is superb, and details including the abalone decoration, ebony fingerboard and bridge, bone nut and saddle and gold hardware give the guitar a genuinely premium feel.

 

It sounds every bit as impressive acoustically. The cedar top responds beautifully to a light touch, while the solid mahogany body adds warmth, body and balance. There is plenty of power when pushed, but it retains clarity and definition across the strings. It is equally convincing for fingerstyle, accompaniment or more powerful strumming.

 

Electronics are handled by the MiSi Trio Air system, an extremely clever active system designed around an L.R. Baggs Element pickup together with a MEMS microphone.

 

Unlike a conventional active acoustic preamp, there is no disposable battery to worry about. The system is rechargeable and requires approximately 60 seconds of charging for up to eight hours of playing time. MiSi’s piezo linearisation circuitry is designed to reproduce the character of the pickup naturally rather than heavily colouring the acoustic sound.

 

A major part of the Duke story happens after the guitars arrive in Germany.

 

Each instrument is finalised at Duke in Tübingen, where it is individually inspected and prepared by their guitar builders. The frets are dressed and polished, the action is set for immediate playability, and Duke instruments are PLEK processed in Germany as part of their final preparation.

 

It means these are not simply guitars arriving in boxes and being sent straight back out again. Considerable attention is given to the final playing condition of each instrument before it reaches the customer, and it shows.

 

Specification

 

• Model: Duke GA-MC-Cut-Solid-Air

• Body shape: Grand Auditorium with cutaway

• Construction: All solid wood

• Top: Solid Canadian cedar

• Back: Solid mahogany

• Sides: Solid mahogany

• Neck: Cedro with dual-action truss rod

• Fingerboard: Ebony

• Bridge: Ebony

• Nut: Bone

• Saddle: Bone

• Scale length: 650mm

• Nut width: 45mm

• Finish: High gloss

• Binding: Mahogany

• Machine heads: Closed gold tuners with ebony buttons

• Decorative detailing: Abalone inlays

• Pickup system: MiSi Trio Air

• Pickup: L.R. Baggs Element with MEMS microphone

• Preamp: Active rechargeable MiSi system

• Approximate charging time: 60 seconds

• Approximate playing time per charge: Up to 8 hours

• Strings: Elixir Nanoweb

• Final preparation: Completed in Tübingen, Germany

• PLEK processed and individually set up in Germany

 

£1,195 including deluxe gig bag.

 

A hard case can also be supplied if preferred. Please speak to us and we can arrange the most suitable option.

 

At this price point, this is an extraordinary amount of guitar. Anyone currently considering a premium Taylor, Martin or similarly positioned acoustic should absolutely put one of these on their shortlist and come and play it before deciding. The specification is exceptional, but it is the way the guitar actually feels and sounds that has impressed us most.