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2008 Fritz Mueller Cedar double top
Top: Cedar double top
Back and sides: Cocobolo
Tuners: Graf hand built custom tuners
Case: Karura carbon fiber flight case
Origin: Canada
Price: $12,750

As usual these 'in demand' double top guitars find a new home quickly. If you are interested in acquiring one please contact me...

Fritz now has a waiting list that exceeds three years. He is a very consistent builder of fine double tops and this guitar, as usual, is responsive yet easily controlled, has superior volume with a rich tonal colors, excellent balance, and evenness across all registers.

The trebles are impressive: strong, sweet, brilliant, very beautiful, the basses sing and the Cedar double provides a warm, but not too dark Cedar essence that has spruce-like qualities as well in that has a bit more ‘presence’ and clarity than some Cedar guitars, yet more warmth than some Spruce guitars. Volume and projection are in line with the expectations of the finest double top instruments.

The rosette is Fritz' interpretation of the Torres rosette pictured on the Romanillos biography of Torres, beautiful and classic. The neck is elevated and the fingerboard is radiused. The neck features an adjustable truss rod. Tuners are the best, Graf of course! The saddle and nut are of 10,000 year old mammoth tusk from Siberia, and the back and sides are of stunning cocobolo with bindings of snakewood. An acoustic sound port is present on the side near the neck and offers what many players describe as a ‘stereophonic effect’ while playing. As I played this guitar I could note a distinct difference in the sense of openness and the feeling of being surrounded by the sound as I alternately played with the port open and closed. The tie block is of the 12 hole style. At the tailblock is a unique access panel that can be removed should repairs ever be required.

Fritz has succeeded in taking the double top concept in his own unique direction, and the results have been widely applauded.

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