45th Anniversary Cremona

45th Anniversary Cremona 1968-2013 by Robert Benedetto & Benedetto Guitars

Serial #S2129GP

To celebrate 45 years of archtop excellence, Bob Benedetto opted to create a traditional 17″ pure acoustic archtop carved from his finest European tone woods and featuring stunningly detailed hand-relief carvings and inlays on the headstock, heel, fingerboard, bridge and tailpiece.

Famous for minimalism but always with a firm grasp of tradition, this Cremona model has a lovely burled headstock front and back, a Cremona scroll inlay on the faceplate, delicate floral petals on the fingerboard, fingerrest, bridge feet, and tailpiece. The ebony tailpiece has a lovely intricate pattern of floral petals and the Roman numeral XLV to celebrate 45 years of artistry. The European spruce top and highly flamed European maple back and sides are framed with fine-lined purfling and highly flamed European maple, finished in our popular Autumnburst.

Most extraordinary are the relief floral carvings on the back of the headstock and heel, which harken back to Bob’s first few guitars made in his family home (and from his family’s furniture) in Lake Hopatcong NJ. This Cremona speaks with the voice of countless hours of experience, endless sharpened chisels and saw blades, hundreds of board feet of seasoned woods, and the wisdom conveyed by many of the greatest musicians ever to grace the stage.

The 45th Anniversary Cremona promises to be a spectacular once-in-a-lifetime purchase for a very lucky guitarist/collector. (It will be on display at the Healdsburg Guitar Festival 2013)

Includes Deluxe Hardshell Case

Body: Archtop: 17″ lower bout, 3″ body depth Venetian cutaway

Top: Carved, hand–graduated and tuned, master grade European spruce

Back: Carved, hand–graduated master grade European flamed maple

Sides: Master grade European flamed maple

Bracing: X-braced European spruce

Binding: Fine-lined purfling with flamed European maple

Neck: Select, European flamed maple. Redwood burl headstock face plate

Detailed hand-relief carvings on rear of headstock and heel

Fingerboard: Ebony, 12″ radius, with delicate abalone floral petal cluster

Width at Nut: 1 11/16″, bone

Scale: 25″

Frets: 24

Bridge: Ebony, adjustable with black wheels and posts with delicate abalone inlays

Tailpiece: Solid ebony with Benedetto tail adjuster; intricate pattern of abalone and mother-of-pearl floral petals and the Roman numeral XLV

Tuners: Gotoh Delta gold with snakewood buttons

Fingerrest: Ebony with abalone inlay

Finish: Gloss nitrocellulose lacquer in Autumnburst

Strings: Round-wound pure nickel

Founded in 1968 by American luthier Robert Benedetto, Benedetto Guitars is celebrating 2013 as their 45th Anniversary of making archtop jazz guitars. The internationally renowned company builds some of the world’s most collectable jazz guitars that appear in countless recordings, film soundtracks, books, magazines and museums (including the permanent collection of The Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History), and featured on concert stages and jazz festivals around the world. Since 2006, the company has been located in Savannah, Georgia.