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You are here: Home / Models / The Mazzaroth Guitar

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 by the beautiful astronomical motiffs inlaid into Peek’s guitar, I wanted to design my own version. Along the way, I discovered the Mazzaroth – the ancient term for the parade of constellations that make an annual orbit around our planet. The ancient Hebrews believed these constellations told the story of God’s dealings with man, from dawn of time through the glorious Messianic age to come.

Some of the materials used for the various inlays

I gathered special materials for the construction of the guitar, including beautifully colored gold mother of pearl, reconstituted stone, engraved Waverly tuning machines, and a stunning Cocobolo back and side set. Work on the guitar took over a year to complete.

The completed fretboard along with the plan using real star charts for the constellation inlays.

 

 

The fretboard is inlaid with most of the major constellations of the northern hemisphere, using real star charts as patterns. A comet, and a spiral galaxy cut from Abalone shell, are included. The planets of our solar system are inlaid as fret position markers. The soundhole rosette is an Ebony field inlaid with gold pearl sun flames and the constellations of The Mazzaroth.

Special peghead inlays, shown during construction

A miniature representation of the sun, Earth, and the Mazzaroth constellations are inlaid into the peghead, and the back of the peghead is veneered with rich Walnut burl wood. Gold pearl purflings border the top, back, and sides of the body as well as the sides of the neck and around the border of the peghead.

No expense was spared in the design and construction of this museum-quality guitar. As my customers know, tone always comes first and this guitar is no exception. A high-scoring top was used for this special build, and the instrument was voiced and tuned to specific target resonances for clear, pure tone with great projection. I have decided to make this design a special limited edition of the Eminence model. You will never see anything quite like it!

A shop photo of the completed guitar.

For a complete pictorial of the building process and more details about the design and planning of this guitar, please visit my Facebook Photo Gallery, The Mazzaroth Guitar.

This special Edition guitar may be ordered by contacting me via the Contact page. I have several back and side sets reserved for this special edition. Several colors of shell purflings are available to make your Mazzaroth a one-of-a-kind masterpiece. Please expect 12+ months lead time for delivery. A hard shell case is included in the price.

Stunning Cocobolo back, bordered by gold mother of pearl shell purflings, and flamed Mahogany neck

Special Features:

  • Presentation Grade back and side set
  • Cutaway body
  • Shell purflings – body, neck, peghead
  • Planet Inlays
  • Constellation inlays
  • Mazzaroth rosette with shell flames
  • Custom Mazzaroth peghead inlays
  • Custom label
  • Flamed Mahogany and Maple neck
  • Engraved gold Waverly tuning machines
  • Evo Gold fretwire
  • Walnut burl rear peghead veneer
  • Special high-scoring select Sitka top

Price: $12,000

Check out this video demo of the Mazzaroth guitar being played by Brian Oman. Brian wrote this song, “Long Way Home”, for the demo.

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Customer Testimonials: European Maple Eminence

"Several years ago when I found out that Greg was starting to make hand made guitars, I knew that I wanted one. Did I need one? No, but that didn't mean I wanted it any less! This past January my wife out of the blue said I should contact Greg and … [Read More...]

Blog: 1932 Martin Repair

Its not often that a luthier has the opportunity to work on a pre-war Martin. This 1932 0-18 parlor guitar needs a crack repair and a neck reset. Great care must be taken when working on such an old and fragile guitar. Get out the hot hide glue. … [Read More...]

Customer Testimonial:

"In thirty years of playing and actively gigging in and around Ohio, I’ve had my fair share of guitar maintenance issues. Greg is by far the most customer-service oriented luthier I’ve dealt with.  Not to mention the top notch quality of his work.  … [Read More...]

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Most guitar players want instruments with a high gloss finish. Nitrocellulose lacquer is the traditional finish for the best guitars. It is durable and unlike some other finishes, it can be repaired later. Oil, poly, and water-based finishes are also … [Read More...]

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