Jazz guitar giant Kenny Burrell plays a distinctive blend of elegance and funk; that's been his calling card for six solid decades now.
When this living legend needed an acoustic guitar to deliver his signature sound, he turned to Kari Nieminen to bring his vision to life. Together, they designed a guitar with world-class playability and a sound to match Kenny's impeccable touch. Mr. Burrell had very specific goals for this instrument; in order to easily access the fingerboard's highest frets, he wanted a dramatically sharp cutaway. He also sought a body size that optimizes comfort and playability. With those fundamentals covered, he wanted his guitar to deliver a signature look as striking as its sound. The instrument's rich blue sunburst spruce top makes a visual statement with cool aplomb, just as Kenny made a musical one on his classic Blue Note label album Midnight Blue. Here's the complete package, with the flat wound strings Kenny prefers delivering mellow fluidity that never sounds mushy, thanks to the instrument's spruce top and East Indian rosewood back and sides. This terrific-sounding acoustic guitar also offers the option of clean, natural-sounding amplification, thanks to a Schertler Lydia transducer and preamp. This is Versoul at its most soulful.
- Top: fine quality European spruce
- Bracing: maple & spruce scalloped
- Back & sides: selected East Indian rosewood
- Bindings: all wood, rosewood/maple/black and natural purfling
- Bridge: East Indian rosewood
- Bridge pins: East Indian rosewood with green abalone shell dots
- Saddle/nut: moose shinbone
- Neck: aspen/curly maple/aspen, two-way adjustable truss rod
- Neck joint: Versoul bolt-on, 13 frets to body
- Fingerboard: East Indian rosewood (16" radius)
- Frets: 20 / Dunlop 6130
- Tuners: Gotoh SE700 gold plated
- Pickguard: clear plastic
- Electronics: Schertler Lydia transducer + preamp, volume control on sound hole
- Colors: natural back/sides, special blue sunburst top, dark brown sunburst neck
- Finish: nitrocellulose lacquer
- Rosette: gold leaf with wood mosaic purfling
- Label: 23 carat gold leaf
- Peghead veneer: visa birch
- Dot inlays: green abalone shell
- Plate: white mother of pearl with "Kenny Burrell Jazz Model" engraved
- Cutaway: florentine (sharp)
- Neck width at nut: 43 mm
- Scale length: 25 3/4" (654 mm)
- Lower bout: 413 mm
- Upper bout: 302 mm
- Overall length: 1070 mm