Dogwood Guitars

  • Home
  • About
  • Guitars
    • Dogwood Models
    • Guitar Galleries
    • Ordering your Dogwood Guitar
    • FAQ’s
  • Services
  • Lutherie Classes
  • Pictorials
    • Repairs
    • How to Correctly String a Guitar
    • Building A Monarch
    • Making a Spalted Maple Rosette
    • Pearl and Abalone Inlay
  • Articles
    • Technical
    • Viewpoint
  • Testimonials
  • YouTube
  • Contact
You are here: Home / Dogwood Acoustic Guitars / The Eminence

The Eminence

Quilted Maple Eminence with custom spalted rosette and Cocobolo fretboard and bindings

The Eminence is a Grand Auditorium sized guitar that I designed to provide a slight boost to the treble response, along with the clear and balanced tone that all Dogwood models are known for. A slightly smaller body depth and a more narrow waist result in bell-like clarity that is especially suited to finger style playing. The top is tuned to a specific fundamental that brings out just the right amount of bass response and warmth, without sounding boomy or inarticulate. This is a very responsive guitar!

Gorgeous flamed Koa back and sides with fiddleback Mahogany and Maple neck.

 

 

The Eminence has a 16″ bout and comes standard with your choice of Maple or Rosewood back and sides. Other available woods include Myrtle, Mahogany, and Koa. Matching wood bindings with black and white fine line purflings make an elegant, refined statement. The top and back are hand-tuned to specific fundamental resonances to bring out the full voice of the tonewoods while avoiding wolf notes. Be sure to listen to the video below using good monitor speakers or studio quality headphones, and be prepared to be impressed!

Koa Eminence with cutaway and custom fretboard inlays and matching rosette.

Standard Eminence Features:

  • all solid wood construction
  • figured Maple or Indian Rosewood back and sides
  • Abalone shell rosette with B&W outer rings
  • five-piece Mahogany neck with adjustable truss rod
  • bound Ebony fretboard
  • Ebony Dogwood-style bridge and pins with shell dots
  • solid wood binding with B&W purflings
  • Gotoh sealed chrome tuners
  • classic Dogwood peghead with hand-cut pearl logo
  • bone nut and saddle with B-string compensation
  • Ebony end pin and strap button
  • high gloss lacquer finish
  • hard shell case
  • Lifetime warranty to the original owner

The Eminence base price is $7000.00

Options are available, such as custom inlay work, custom rosettes, cutaways, and special back and side woods.

Technical information

The Eminence is a 14 fret guitar with a 25.5 scale length. The bout is 16″ and the shoulder width is 11 3/8″. Body length is 2o 1/8″, depth at the shoulder is 3 1/2″. Width at the nut is 1 3/4″ and the string spacing is 2 1/4″. Fretboard radius is 16″ and the neck is a comfortable oval shape. Alterations to some of these dimensions are available at no cost.

The Eminence guitar in the photo gallery below includes all the standard appointments plus the following upgrades: Premium flamed Koa back and sides with cutaway, Koa binding, blue purflings throughout, moon phase Abalone shell neck inlays with turquoise stone dots, custom spalted maple rosette with turquoise and Abalone highlights, custom peghead inlay, and Waverly tuners with Koa buttons.

Hand cut shell logo- no CNC machines in my shop

“Several years ago when I found out that Greg was starting to make hand made guitars, I knew that I wanted one. This past January my wife out of the blue said I should contact Greg and order a guitar. I spoke with Greg and we talked about sound, neck size, custom inlays, even the type of strings to use. I thought at one point he would get tired of my questions as I tried to understand and comprehend everything he was telling me, and teaching me at the same time. But he was patient and very understanding. I wish to thank Greg for what I believe is the finest guitar I have heard or played.  Some of you Kansas City musicians have seen it and even played it while Greg recorded you doing so. My thanks to you as well. The guitar was and is the Eminence!” Les Yost, Columbus, Ohio

 

Scroll down to watch a video of the Eminence being played. Hearing is believing!

[Show as slideshow]
Marterials
Front
Back

Rosette
Heel
Fretboard

End
Peghead-3

[Show as slideshow]
front
back
front angle

back-close-2
front close
back close

side angle
side close
side

inlay
mitre
tongue

wedge full
wedge

Maple Eminence with custom fretboard script inlay.

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • YouTube

About Our Name

Many people ask about our name. One of my wife's friends even asked her if I made guitars from any other wood besides Dogwood! For those familiar with the Dogwood tree, this brings a chuckle since this flowering beauty attains only a small size… … [Read More...]

About Greg Maxwell

I've lived in central Ohio my entire life, and I've built things for as long as I can remember. I cut my teeth as a woodworker doing fancy interior wood trim for a custom home builder in the early 80's after deciding that performing music for a … [Read More...]

Pearl and Abalone Inlay

One of the most beautiful customizations to a musical instrument is the addition of shell inlay. Typically this might include peghead decorations, fretboard position markers or more elaborate motifs such as vines and flowers, and body purflings. … [Read More...]

Customer Testimonial: Les Paul Setup

"The work you did on the fretboard, frets and bridge of my Les Paul fixed the problem I was having and it plays better than ever. Dogwood Guitars has become my #1 choice for guitar repairs and I'll be sure to recommend you to my musician friends. … [Read More...]

The Science and Theory of Tonewoods

Search out any discussion about tone and tonewoods on the internet and you will quickly find a wide variation of opinions among players and builders alike. However, the majority will almost always list "tonewoods" and/or specific species of Spruce … [Read More...]

The Mazzaroth Guitar

The Mazzaroth Guitar, Special Edition of the Eminence Model This fine instrument is the culmination of an idea I had in the 1970's after seeing a guitar that luthier Steve Klein made for Dan Peek, founding member of the group America. Inspired … [Read More...]

Visit us on YouTube…

Follow Dogwood Guitars

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • YouTube

Technical Articles

Voicing and Tap Tuning of Acoustic Guitars

Voicing and tuning are important elements of great tone. A great guitar has great tone, great playability, and great appearance, in that order. Fancy wood, a high gloss finish, and lots of Abalone inlay are visually beautiful but have … [Read More...]

More Technical Articles

Viewpoint Articles

The Three Elements of a Great Guitar

Guitar players and collectors have so many choices available to them. New, used, factory brands, custom hand built...how do you narrow down the choices to the best option for you? In my opinion, any guitar should be measured by three … [Read More...]

More Viewpoint Articles

Copyright © 2025 Dogwood Guitars