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You are here: Home / Builds / The Monarch

The Monarch

Rosette and bridge 2 smallThe Monarch is a wonderful 14 fret guitar for anyone who appreciates great tone and a classic appearance. The Monarch body features a slimmer waist and curvier shoulders than a Dreadnought. It has a well-balanced tone and is a versatile instrument that would make an excellent choice for singer-songwriters, finger style players, or anyone who wants a great-sounding guitar that is a joy to play.

The Monarch features all solid wood construction. Sitka Spruce braces are hand carved to specific profiles for each individual Monarch, ensuring superior tonal response. You won’t find plastic bindings or computer generated parts here, and you will find that the Monarch outperforms factory made brands which are overbuilt and tend to be less responsive.

PegheadThe monarch is fully voiced using a combination of ear tuning and software analysis, and the top and back are tuned to specific fundamental resonances that work together to get the most from the guitar’s top and back woods. The tone is rich and clear and the body shape and size are very comfortable to play. The Monarch receives a complete fret level, crown, and polish as part of the final setup for the best in playability.

Purfling mitersStandard Monarch features include a highly rated Sitka Spruce top, verified by our static and dynamic testing procedure (see the Voicing and Tap Tuning article for details), figured Maple back and sides (other woods available), solid wood bindings, shell rosette, fretboard binding with black and white purfling, Ebony fretboard and bridge, and Ebony bridge pins with a pearl or Abalone dot. As with all Dogwood guitars, the nut and saddle are made from bone for the best tone and sustain.

Myrtle Monarch mediumThe Monarch can be customized for you with a variety of upgrades. These include Abalone shell body purfling, highly figured back and side woods, custom neck inlays and other custom inlay work including the player’s name, segmented rosettes, gold tuners, and cutaways.  The Monarch is also available in a 12 string version. Please contact Greg to discuss your ideas and for pricing.

Special note about tops: Dogwood Guitars tests every top set in stock for elements that are essential to great tone, such as stiffness, weight, speed of sound, and density per square inch. My software program assigns a numeric rating to each set based on these static and dynamic tests.  This allows me to work with you to select the perfect top for your needs and playing style. It is important to mention here that almost all wood sellers, guitar builders, and players use the “AAA” type grading system when discussing top woods. These are based on appearance and grains-per-inch. While nice looking tops are important, the tonal properties of the wood are paramount. Please see the Voicing article for more details.

heel smallStandard Monarch Features:

  • all solid wood construction
  • figured Maple back and sides (other species available at the same cost)
  • Abalone shell rosette with B&W outer rings
  • five-piece Mahogany neck with adjustable truss rod
  • bound Ebony fretboard with wood binding, B&W purfling
  • Ebony Dogwood-style bridge and pins with shell dots
  • solid wood binding with B&W purflings
  • Gotoh sealed chrome tuners
  • distinctive Dogwood peghead with hand-cut pearl logo
  • bone nut and compensated saddle
  • Ebony end pin and strap button
  • high gloss lacquer finish
  • hard shell case
  • Lifetime warranty to the original owner

The Monarch base price is $5000.00

Technical information

The Monarch is a 14 fret guitar with a 25.5 scale length. The bout is 15 3/4″ and the shoulder width is 11 1/2″. Body length is 2o 1/8″ and the overall length is 41 13/16″. 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.

Upgrades include highly figured nack and side woods of various species, Venetian cutaway, custom fretboard inlays, custom rosettes, gold tuning machines with Ebony buttons, shell body purflings, EVO Gold fret wire and back center strips/inlays. Contact me to discuss your ideas for a custom build.

The Monarch guitar in the photo gallery below includes all the standard appointments plus the following upgrades: Premium Indian Rosewood back and sides, venetian cutaway, spalted Maple and Abalone radial rosette, spalted Maple back and end panels, and gold tuning machines. Other Monarchs can be seen on the Guitar Gallery page.

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


[Show as slideshow]
October Morning Front
October Morning Back
October Morning Front Detail

October Morning Back Detail
October Morning Cutaway
October Morning End Detail

October Morning Peghead

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Building a Monarch: Top and Back

The building of any guitar begins with selecting the woods to be used. A bookmatched set of Spruce or Cedar is selected for the top, and a back and side set is chosen for the body. Standard woods for the latter are Rosewood, Mahogany, or Maple. Many … [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...]

The Importance of a Good Setup, Part Two

In the first part of this article, I discussed the elements of a basic setup. These include checking the neck relief and the action at the first and twelfth frets, as well as installing new strings and performing a few other basic adjustments. In … [Read More...]

1932 Martin 0-18 Parlor Guitar

It's not often that a luthier has the opportunity to work on a pre-war Martin. This little 1932 Parlor 0-18 came to the shop in very rough condition. It took a tumble down some stairs, resulting in a long crack in the treble side of the body and … [Read More...]

Fender Strat Tuneup

Fender Strat Tuneup and Setup The Fender Strat is a classic electric guitar that is justly famous for its role in the history of blues and rock music. The quality of individual Strats can vary from excellent to dismal depending on model, year, and … [Read More...]

Building a Monarch: Pearl Inlay

Shell inlays are a time-honored way of adding flair, beauty, and value to musical instruments. The two primary types of shell used in making guitar inlays are Mother of Pearl and Abalone. Each of these come in several color varieties. There are many … [Read More...]

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Technical Articles

Humidity, Temperature, and Your Guitar

Maintaining your wooden instruments at an appropriate level of humidity year round is vital to their health and well-being. It is surprising how many owners of expensive instruments are unaware of this. I suppose that the primary reason is a lack … [Read More...]

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Viewpoint Articles

Why Buy a Handmade Guitar?

There are a lot of choices out there for the prospective buyer of a fine guitar. It's no secret; a handmade instrument can cost a lot. For that matter, any of the better guitars purchased from a quality manufacturer is going to command what most … [Read More...]

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