I have had the pleasure of working with Robert for many many years now. His instruments have earned him the reputation of one of the finest builders in the USA, and the world. His guitars are always exciting to receive, their tone and playability always impressive and the workmanship is perfection. But every once in a while he produces such an exquisite surprise that even I am caught off guard, and my expectations are already high. This is one such guitar. I feel it is perhaps the finest Ruck I have ever had the pleasure of playing. Not many folks are aware that Bob even builds double top guitars (he prefers the word 'composite top' himself), but that is about to change in my opinion. I had heard about them from a couple owners who loved them, one of whom had bought a solid top Ruck from me first. He raved about both but really was effusive in his praise of the double top. So, I asked Bob if he would consent to build one for Classic Guitars and he kindly agreed. It is not common for Bob to build in Brazilian, so he required me to provide a set for him, and this set that was used is very old, well aged Brazilian. The tuners are Graf and just liquid smooth and precise. Bob included an elevated fingerboard as well for ease of play. The rosette is the most unique and beautiful that he has provided to me so far, a gorgeous and extremely tasteful accent for an already beautiful guitar.

And what about the tone? Well here is an excerpt from my email to Robert about this guitar: "Bob, what a beauty. The trebles are warm but still glitter, the basses are smooth and creamy and cello like, volume is excellent, the balance is perfect, and what a beauty, that is the most beautiful rosette I have ever received from you. The Graf tuners are awesome, and the Brazilian is that nice dark, lightly figured kind like Matthias uses that is usually really stable. What an awesome guitar Bob. Thanks!"

An especially fortuitous circumstance arose when I received this guitar. I found that by sheer luck I had, all at the same time, five double top guitars all at once. New double tops had just arrived from Robert Ruck, Matthias Dammann, Jim Redgate, Fritz Mueller and Dieter Mueller! Talk about a kid in a candy shop. What a delight to see/feel and hear the subtleties that each builder brings to their own concept of the double top guitar. I hope my ability to enjoy these guitars side-by-side in this fashion enables me to provide ever more helpful advice and opinions to those clients, and there are so many these days, who favor double top guitars.

This Ruck is a stand out, and an absolutely world class concert level double top instrument (sorry Bob, "composite top" I mean!). A guitar with power, and clarity and warmth and an aliveness at levels that just make you say 'ahhhhhhh'. An awe inspiring guitar no matter what you compare it to.

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