At Marcus Daniels Luthiery we strive for excellence and perfection. Every instrument is hand built by the owner/luthier Marcus Daniels. With his many years of building experience and both tone wood and bracing experimentation, Marc, is proud to be building some of the industries’ best sounding and playing instruments.
MD Steel String Acoustic Guitars are unique instruments. Starting with the modified “X / Fan” bracing utilizing the tone characteristics of both cedar and spruce all on the same sound board. All the lower ends of the braces stop shy of the sides so that the top can vibrate more, all the while keeping the structural integrity necessary to support the string tension.
Although I like to experiment and make these instruments unique to my building style I still feel there is something to say about tradition and tried and true building techniques. All steel string acoustics come with a hand cut dovetail neck joint. I believe this is structurally sound and integral in tone transfer.
The backs are all braced in either a single (on the Mini Acoustic) or a double (on the Jumbo and Super Jumbo) “X.” This design retains the domed shape of the back and allows the back to vibrate thus adding to the overall tone of the guitar. Most other steel string acoustics use several lateral braces of progressively thicker stock to make the back stiff and act like a mirror. While this design is tried and true, at Marcus Daniels Luthiery we are all about innovation and “thinking outside the (sound)box” as my friend Alan so puts it.
All Steel String Acoustics come standard with a 1 11/16″ nut and 2 1/4″ string spread at the bridge. 25″ Scale length. 12″ Radius on the fingerboard. 21 jumbo frets. Choice of Graphite nut and saddle or bone nut and saddle.
Upon request I can build with standard x-bracing on the soundboard and horizontal bracing on the back.
Super Jumbo Steel String
Jumbo Steel String
000 – NEW!
Mini Steel String – NEW!!!
While the steel strings use new bracing and building techniques to offer more tone and better playability, MD Classical and Flamenco Guitars are built using traditional methods mixed with new ideas for increased tone and playability.
Classical Nylon String – In progress. Click link for more details.
Flamenco Nylon String
Ukulele – NEW!