The Beardsell 7E is a true archtop semi acoustic guitar. As a true semi-acoustic electric guitar it responds in your hands like an acoustic archtop, but you can crank it up loud like the best of electric guitars. The guitar is designed for players, and has a shoulder appeal that would shame a Les Paul.
Acoustic archtops have advantages that fixed-bridge electrics do not have...the bridge is free to move with the top, creating complex tonal characteristics and sustain from sitting on a vibrating surface, sympathetically vibrating with the strings (by comparison electric guitars are rather neutral). Beardsell effectively, and beautifully, bridges this divide.
"Awesome guitar! Brilliant body shape. It fits perfectly. Thanks. I may have to follow Jackson Browne's advice and need 2." - recent customer
On the 7E, the bridge is the only thing that sits on top of the hand-carved, parallel-braced, big leaf curly maple top. The back is a flat plate stretched over a light-weight, arched, center block and a bent wood rim. The pickups mount from the rear, and The tailpiece is seated upon two posts mounted to the center-block which broach the top so that it doesn't mute the top with its down-bearing pressure. The top plate is free to move, keeping the guitar lively and responsive to touch like an acoustic. The acoustical chamber creates sound, but the back resists low-end feedback with laminations that raise its resonant frequency, making it more acoustically neutral, which works to prevent feedback. Because this is a guitar you plug in.
The two PAF style hand-wound pickups are overwound to achieve overdrive at the highest volume setting. With a volume control fitted with a treble bleed circuit you can control the amount of drive to the amplifier from the guitar without loss of bass end. The shades of tone are up to you. The old-fashioned way.
The asymmetrical neck shaft, ergonomically built to fit your hand, is double-reinforced with carbon fiber for extra stability. The tailpiece, in this case is a Bigsby B-11 tremolo system without a front-roller, puts minimal break-angle over the bridge saddles to minimize tension build-up on either side of the and freer movement of the strings across the saddles -- in other words, it stays in tune.
With its tonal range, attention to ergonomics and remarkable aesthetic appeal, the 7E, like all Beardsell guitars, is made for players who are ahead of the curve, and have a discerning eye as well as a discerning ear.
Venetian or Florentine cutaways, unconventional fingerboard extensions, wacky amplification solutions, sideports (with or without sliding covers), whimsical logo styles, personalized inlays, motorized, remote-controlled attachments of dubious form and function... it's all to play for. Whatever you have in mind, Al Beardsell will be happy to discuss various options and possibilities with you.