Stingray

Stingray is a powerful, modern concert guitar built around the idea that an instrument can be more than an auditory and visual experience. It can be tactile as well. From its voice and response to the materials beneath your fingertips, Stingray is intended to engage the player and inspire interaction.

The instrument features a Max R-rated soundboard with Brazilian rosewood back, sides, and appointments, a 25.5" scale length, 1.75" nut width, and 2.25" bridge spacing. The result is an exceptionally powerful and responsive guitar with the clarity, projection, and dynamic range expected from my modern instruments.

Stingray also introduces a new finish option to my guitars: Rubio Monocoat hard wax oil. Unlike conventional film finishes, the Rubio adds virtually no measurable thickness and leaves the instrument feeling remarkably close to unfinished wood. At the same time, it creates a surprisingly hard and resilient surface that resists the small scratches and handling marks that can make more delicate finishes, particularly French polish, intimidating to live with. I think of it as a player finish, intended for someone who wants an exceptional instrument that is meant to be handled and played.

The name Stingray comes from one of the guitar’s most unusual features. Nearly ten years ago, while visiting Mexico, I wandered into a leather shop and discovered a material unlike anything I had seen before. Among the ostrich and alligator hides was a leather covered in tiny, irregular spherical bumps. I had no idea what it was, but the pattern and texture stayed with me for years.

It was stingray.

When I later began thinking about expanding the decorative vocabulary of my guitars beyond traditional purfling and inlay, I remembered that material. I had been looking for a way to introduce texture as another element of the instrument, something that could be experienced not only visually, but through touch.

Stingray skin also has an interesting historical connection to another material I have incorporated into my work. It was traditionally used as a grip material on Japanese swords, while Mokume Gane, which has become part of the decorative language of my guitars, also has its roots in Japanese sword making. Bringing the two materials together felt natural.

The stingray appointments are intentionally organic. Their surface is irregular, tactile, and unmistakably natural. Rather than attempting to make that irregularity disappear, the design celebrates it. The texture becomes part of the experience of holding the guitar and gives Stingray a character that could not be achieved with conventional decorative materials.

Stingray is not intended to be mistaken for a traditional guitar, either visually or sonically. It represents my continuing exploration of what a modern guitar can be when tradition is treated as a foundation rather than a boundary.

Specifications

Top: Max R-rated soundboardBack & Sides: Brazilian rosewoodAppointments: Brazilian rosewood, stingray leather, and Mokume GaneScale Length: 25.5"Nut Width: 1.75"Bridge Spacing: 2.25"Finish: Rubio Monocoat hard wax oil

Stingray is built to be experienced, not simply observed.