Model 4

Deep body, wide waist, and laminated "platform" sides

When I was playing acoustic guitars in clubs and auditoriums I would be playing behind singers, and sometimes with larger bands, going between fingerstyles and flatpicking. I was having a hell of a time hearing the guitar as a dynamic voice. When I was hearing only the electronic foldback in the monitor I would end up playing as hard as possible all the time just to feel present in the mix on top of the compressed character of the pick up. It meant my playing suffered and I broke a lot of strings. This got me thinking about projection and volume, resonance and how these things define the way we interact with, respond and use a musical instrument, especially these days when amplification is virtually a given. I wanted to figure out how to create a situation where the instrument speaks to the player first, with all the dynamic of an acoustic performance –- that’s where the side ports come in.

-- Allan Beardsell

Beardsell guitars come in several body shapes and styles: large, medium, and small bodied steel-string acoustic, solid-body electric, semi-acoustic arch top electric, nylon string, manouche-style, and harp guitar (we even make a pretty sweet mandolin and a killer electric banjo).

Get an eyeful of the photos in the various galleries strewn throughout the site. See something you like that's almost-but-not-quite what you're looking for? Feel free to order "off the menu," as many already have. Truth be told, we've created many "hybrid" instruments over the years, with most features available on one model transferrable (within reason) to just about anything else (like an archtop-style custom brass tailpiece on a steel-string flattop, or a multi-scale classical guitar, or a cutaway banjolectric, or... well, you get the idea).

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 will be happy to discuss various options and possibilities with you.