Ribbecke Halfling: A blend between a flattop and an archtop. . . If you are looking for a true crossover instrument, you want the Halfling™ Jazz Guitar! It is the result of over 25 years of Tom’s unique understanding of carved top design and it combines the sensitivity of a steel string guitar, with its flatter soundboard on the bass side, and the articulate sound of a true jazz guitar. You will experience superior separation of chords; the ability to hear individual notes and complex chords in individual strings. And, of course, the Jazz Guitar has the outstanding multi-dimensional acoustic imaging common to all Halfling™ instruments. It has great feedback suppression with an enhanced bass response not found in any other archtop guitar. This versatile guitar may be strung with either phosphor bronze or electric strings, we suggest you try both! It has a floating Kent Armstrong, American made, pickup which is mounted in a unique platform on the neck, giving it the ability to perform like a Gibson L5 or a Gibson 175. It features volume and tone control, mounted under the pickguard as well as unique proprietary hex adjustable thumb wheels for the bridge. The Halfling™ Jazz Guitar has a nitro cellulose finish in the great tradition of fine guitar making, designed to age like an excellent wine. SPECIFICATIONS: BODY: BODY SIZE: Carved arched top: 17” lower bout with single Venetian cutaway, 3 3/16” deep BACK: Hand selected western bigleaf maple SIDES: Hand selected western bigleaf maple TOP: Hand selected Sitka spruce BRACING: X bracing SCALE: 25” BINDING: Black and white purfling FINISH: Light amber burst nitrocellulose lacquer NECK: Laminated MATERIAL: Birdseye maple FINGERBOARD: Ebony FRETS: 22 WIDTH AT NUT: 1 ¾” WIDTH AT 12TH FRET: 2.2” STRINGS: Jazz light gauge 12 – 52 D’Addario XL nickel electric HEELCAP: Ebony NUT MATERIAL: First quality bone N.B. what appear to be scratches on the top in some photos are NOT. They are either figure in the top or reflection, due to the carved top. This 1st Sound sample is purely acoustic, UNPLUGGED.