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How to Order Custom Pros:The Valley Arts Custom Pro ordering system

is really quite simple. Excluding colors andoptional ML2'and lnterlock', the basic modelnumber is made up of 7 positions (or squares)which represent the Íollowing categories:

Duncan or EMG pickups

Fill in the squares with the following choices:

"C" always designates "Custom Pro"

I Body size (8/8 or 718)I I Your choice of body woodI I I "S" or "T" body styler+ t+1. 2. 3. 4, 5. 6. 7.

1.

2.

This space never changesC...Designates "Custom Pro"

Body Size8...8/8 Size (full size)7...718 Size

Body WoodQ...Quilted MapleF...Flame MapleG...Figured MapleH...Lightweight Maple

Color Codes:NL: NaturalBK: BlackWH: White

AB:Antique BurstVB: Violet BurstVBB: Violet Blue BurstGB: Green BurstBB: Blue BurstFB: Fire BurstKB: Black BurstGKB: Green BlackbstRKF: Red w/BlackbstBKB: Blue w/BlackbstWB: Watermelon BurstAMB:Aquamarine Burst

TB: Trans BlueTK: Trans BlackTR:Trans RedTC:Trans CremeTP:Trans PurpleTG:Trans Green

MB: Midnight BlueOB: Oriental BlueCR: Candy RedEG: Emerald GreenKG: Kelly GreenSG: Sunset Gold

MG: Marteen GoldOT-Orange TeenPï Purple TeenGï Green Teen

3.

S...Swamp AshA...AlderM...MahoganyB...Bent Top Quilt or FlameC...Carved Top Alder

4. Body StyleS...Conventional "S" ShapeT...Conventional "T" Shape

Pickup ConÍiguration0...H/H (2 Humbuckers)1 ...H/S/H (Hum/Single/Hum)2. . . S/S/H (Single/Single/Hum)3...S/S/S (3 Single Coil)

Tai lpiece ConÍi guration1...Floyd, Rear Route2...Floyd, Pickguard3...Stop-tail, Rear Route4...Stop-tail, Pickguard5...Vintage Trem, Rear Route6.. .Vintage Trem, Pickguard

5.

6.

Your choice of tailpiece

Page 12

LUTHIER'S CHOICE SERIES

From its inception, this gui-tar was a classic beautypossessing all the charmand elegance of a master-piece. The selection oÍ woodis the very heart of itsincredible tone. The one-piece, carved Hondurasmahogany body and head-stock are, all hand-trimmedwith white binding. The baseof the rosewood fingerboardis hand-carved to a finepoint. Abalone positionmarkers add to the sleekdesign of the birds-eyemaple neck. We installed astop-tailpiece with aNashville Tu ne-o-maticbridge for that good old toneand "sustain for days"sound. We topped it off byadding 2 Duncan P-90 stylepickups that scream withvintage tone.

GTLC

AnticlyeBursr

SPECIFICATIONS. CTLC

Neck:Fingerboard:Markers: . . .Frets, Scale:PickupsSelector: . . .Controls:Pickguard:Bridge:Tuners: ....Hardware:

.1 -Piece CarvedMahogany.Bolt-on :.Birds-eye Maple.Rosewood.Abalone dot.24,24 314".Duncan Pg0s.3-way Switch.1 Volume, 1 Tone.None.Stop-Tailpiece.Die-cast 6-in-line.Gold

Same as the C7-LCwith EMG SA/SA/85pickups, S-Way bElectorand herringbone binding.

Colors: . . . . .Trans Blue

These instruments are soindividually unique, wechoose to name each oneaccording to its own charac-teristics. Hence the name"Tono de Unica Personalidad"Each model comes with itsown Certificate of Authenticity.These models are extremelylimited.

LccA

Features include:AAA solid sprucetop; rosewood backand sides; herring-bone binding; pearlinlay; ebony bridge;bone nut andsaddle.

Page 1 3

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The Inspiration- By John Maher, Director of Marketing

It was the 14th Annual KLON Long Beach BluesFestival. Headliners included Little Milton, John LeeHooker, Charlie Musselwhite and James Cotton,with a special tribute to the music oÍ Robert johnsonÍeaturing Robert Lockwood, John Hammond, RoryBlock and Kevin Moore (AKA "Keb Mo").

The stranger next to me was sipping a cool,dark, Negra Modelo. As I looked upon my wimpy"Lites", I decided to strike up a conversation in thehopes oÍ weaseling away one oÍ his prize brewskis.

As it turns out, the stranger was Mr. SteveLaVere, Blues historian and agent Íor the Estate ofRobert Johnson. Steve got to talking about how hisdream was to help orchestrate the creation of theultimate acoustic guitar for the serious Blues musi-cian, and how he wanted to dedicate the instrumentto the memory oÍ the "King oÍ the Delta Blues".

At this point, the last thing on my mind was theguy's beer. As he raged on about how he wished hecould get someone, anyone in the guitar business tolisten, I was already picturing the guys in theCustom Shop finishing up on the Íirst prototypes.

To make a long story short, we struck a deal. Adeal that gives a portion oÍ the sales proceeds rightback to the Robert Johnson Estate, and gives everyguitar player access to what has been hailed as theÍinest Blues acoustic ever made.

But it didn't come easy. ln Íact, as the agent Íorthe Johnson Estate, Steve LaVere had the weight ofthe entire Blues community on his shoulders. Notonly was his own personal reputation at stake, butthe integrity of the Robert Johnson name also hUngin the balance. These things had to be perted.

Philosophy- By Steve LaVere, Agent for the

Estate oí Robeft Johnson

We began by researching old,vintage instruments and "dimestore" guitars from the 1930s;anything that remotely resembledthe many different brands andstyles oÍ guitars Robert Johnsonhad access to back then. Duringthis research, we found thatevery one of these old guitarshad one characteristic in com-mon;they all sounded like bathtubs. Kinda "nasally". With skinnylittle frets and weak, rough-cutinternaltop bracing. None ofthese old guitars measured up tothe tone quality and projectionpower oÍ today's advancedacoustic guitar designs.

This posed a whole new prob-lem Íor the Estate because, whilepreserving the "look" oÍ the 30's,we also wanted musicians tohave a great sounding instrumentfor today's more demandingstage and studio applications. Wedecided to ofÍer the best oÍ bothworlds by preserving the old, vin-tage "look" while incorporatingtoday's more advanced acousticguitar designs.

The ProcessThe Íirst six prototype models were made with six difÍerent inter-

nal top bracing patterns, each possessing its own unique volume,balance and tone characteristics. Then, Mr. LaVere and "Keb Mo"met with our Valley Arts Custom Shop luthiers. They spent theentire day analyzing the sound oÍ each instrument under every typeoÍ acoustic and "ampliÍied" application.

After choosing the best sounding bracing pattern, four more pro-totypes were built, this time with different neck and head stockshapes, different fret sizes, and four unique top and soundholeinlay patterns. The vote was unanimous when it came to the Íinger-board; solid ebony with mother-oÍ-pearl abalone inlays and, mostimportantly; big, Íat, German silver frets for precise string intonationand easy, easy string bending.

After receiving final approval on all of the above, we then builtfour more prototypes (that's 14 so Íar in case you lost count) andsprayed the bodies with contrasting finishes. We outfitted these gui-tars with different hardware, and were asked to come up with varia-tions on the types oÍ decal applications for the Íront of the head-piece. The Estate had to approve everything including the studioportrait on the inside label, the 14K gold plated headpiece logo decaland, yes, Robert Johnson's signature which was reproduced fromhis marriage license Íound in Hazelhurst, Mississippi.

The end result is the world's best looking, best playing, bestsounding acoustic for the Blues musician (which also happens tobe on of the most collectable instruments in recent history). TheÍinal prototypes were introduced at the 1Sth Annual KLON BluesFestival with the help of our Íriend, Jeff Healey, who pulled the win-ning ticket Íor a guitar drawing to highlight this historic event.

The MotivationFinally (because we know it'll come up), it's important to mention

here that, as the agent Íor the Johnson Estate, Steve LaVere is the"Blues Policeman" (as Keb puts it). Steve makes sure that a portionoÍ the proceeds Írom the sale of every guitar goes right back to theRobert Johnson Estate. We at Valley Arts want you to know thatthis whole, long, drawn-out, tedious project is the result oÍ a loveand respect for the music and community that make up the Blues.While, of course, we have to make a proÍit to stay in business, it isnot our intention to exploit this rich musical treasure in ourAmerican heritage. Our goal is only to earn the right to represent it.

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