The Monarch is a wonderful 14 fret guitar for anyone who appreciates great tone and a classic appearance. The Monarch body was designed by Bryan Galloup of Galloup Guitars and 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 comes with features that you won’t find on very many handmade guitars in its price range. All solid wood construction using hot hide glue, the traditional choice of master luthiers for decades, is the foundation for a this classic guitar. 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 heavy.
The 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 leveling, crown, and polish as part of the final setup for the best in playability.
Standard 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.
The 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, this is not what is referred to here as a quality top. Please see the Voicing article for more details.
Standard 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 bridge and pins with shell dots
- solid wood binding with B&W purflings (no plastic!)
- 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 Monarch base price is $4500.00
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.
The Monarch guitar in the photo gallery below includes all the standard appointments plus the following upgrades: Flamed Myrtle back and sides, Ebony binding, segmented spalted Maple rosette, and gold tuners with Ebony buttons. Other Monarchs can be seen on the Guitar Gallery page.
Scroll down to watch a video of the Monarch being played. Hearing is believing!
