2015 Michael Thames "Tornavoz" SP/IN

This guitar was built by veteran US luthier Michael Thames, who has been building for over 40 years and over 900 instruments. It is made with an elegant aesthetic (including a lovely maple strip down the center of the back) and understated but beautifully executed detailing in the purfling and rosette. It's most notable feature is the use inside the soundhole of a carbon fiber tornavoz, which adds a noticeable boom on the bottom end of each note and a sparkle to the trebles. Thames has experimented quite a bit with the tornavoz, originally using brass as the material. More recently however he has switched (mostly to carbon fiber) because he feels it sounds better and it doesn't tend to get dirty and discolored like the brass ones do. The tornavoz in this guitar is floating with no support from the back. Installed in this manner, the weight of the tornavoz is crucial since too much weight from a brass tube will make the top less responsive. The carbon fiber weighs much less than a brass or even wood tube. The resulting sound is rich and layered with a great amount of color. Overall a very fine concert instrument.