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Jim has been building some of the best double tops around for years now and they are now as in demand as his famous lattice guitars are. For the past few years he has been quietly working on another model of double top, not a 'better' model but a very different model, he calls it the 'WAVE' double top. He brought a prototype up from Australia a couple of years ago when he was visiting me and I was blown away. In fact Slava Grigoryan also played an early example of a WAVE and was so impressed that he simply insisted on acquiring the guitar from Jim and he has been recording and playing concerts with it ever since, while his brother Leonard plays the traditional Redgate double top. They sound superb together and you can hear a clip by clicking on the photo to the left on this page.

Jim noticed over the years that many older guitars, and some newer guitars, actually sounded better when there developed a slight collapse of the soundboard in front of the bridge and a slight bowing upward of the soundboard below the bridge. While he did not particularly like the appearance of this 'collapse' phenomena, he could not ignore that the guitar in fact often sounded better when this occurred. In studying this he arrived at the conclusion that the effect of this was to create a functional 'corrugation' in the top ( not unlike what you see in the corrugated layer in between the layers of a cardboard box for example which adds great strength). This corrugation actually strengthens the soundboard across the grain without adding any weight or additional braces which makes the vibrational response of the soundboard very even across a wide range of frequencies. Some excellent builders actually design this 'collapse' effect into their new guitars in a very subtle way to achieve this result. Jim wanted to incorporate the benefits of this corrugation effect into this model but he reversed the curve so that he creates two supporting arches or a convex curve in front of the bridge and a concave curve behind the bridge. He noted another builder in France, Pappalado, was experimenting with this design as well on solid top guitars, but nobody had yet to apply this particular concept to a double top.

The other benefit was this allowed him to create a compensating curve on the back, if you click on the icon to the left of this text you can better understand this by looking at the actual photos. You'll notice both the back and the top are curved in a beautiful symmetrical manner that is reminiscent of a wave, hence the name. These guitars are extremely difficult to build with all the curves, but the results have been stunning.

There are several noticeable attributes to this new design. The projection is enhanced, and the basses have perhaps a bit more 'punch' in them than the traditional style double tops, very powerful, while the trebles remain thick, round and creamy yet with a bright attack. Overall these instruments are extraordinarily well balanced as noted above across a wide range of frequencies. The Ergonomics of the guitar are unsurpassed, Slava says he actually feels uncomfortable playing a traditional body style now that he is so used to his WAVE. The subtle arch of the back and the highly elevated fingerboard created by the curve of the top mean that the guitar almost 'cocoons' in your arms, and access to the upper registers is unlike any other double top I have played. All the models Jim has built thus far have been snapped up by professional players in Australia, but after much pleading on my part, here is the first one in the USA! Definitely cutting edge at the very highest level.

To learn more click here to visit the Jim Redgate homepage, and feel free to contact me directly for the answers to any questions you have or to discuss placing an order.