In Feb of 2006, Pierre Bensusan asked me to build him an archtop guitar which would address his specific musical needs. He had an old Gibson Super 400 and had owned and played L-5’s, ES-175’s and other great archtop guitars of the past. But none of them worked for his specific playing style, tunings, or musical preference. So he rarely played them.

The challenge was to craft an instrument which would be sensitive and responsive enough to support Pierre’s incredibly precise technique, speak with a rich, acoustic voice and yet would amplify well for live performance. It needed to have a very “acoustic” presentation with full, round trebles and a focused, articulate bass to support the melody while adding depth and complexity to the overall voice of the guitar without sounding “tubby”, or overpowering. Pierre’s complex use of melody, counterpoint, harmony and syncopation presented other challenges not readily addressed by the contemporary archtop guitar. The bass had to support the melody voice of the guitar….not dominate it. The guitar was to be strung with Pierre’s signature set of Wyres phosphor bronze acoustic guitar strings and accommodate his very specific scale length, neck width, taper, profile and string spacing. It was to be tuned exclusively to DADGAD, which would alter the total down-force driving the top plate. I also had to create a new magnetic pickup (with the help of pickup winding legend Kent Armstrong) which would work well with the Phosphor Bronze strings and Pierre’s string spacing (no other humbucking pickup’s pole piece spread would work).

I had very little guidance or input from Pierre, other than the parameters for his very specific neck preferences and that he thought he would like a “blue” guitar. I was at total liberty to go wherever the guitar took me (which, as a guitarmaker, I love!). Delivering any guitar to an artist of Pierre’s caliber and musical genius is at best a daunting experience. But with nothing other than Pierre’s confidence in my ability as guidance…well….presenting the guitar to him that first day was an extremely terrifying moment. Watching the joy on his face as he opened the case and saw the guitar for the first time, noting his reaction to the comfort of the neck and then witnessing his losing himself in the music was emotionally overwhelming.

The Altiplanos is the “anti-archtop”. My vision was to craft a modern, unconventional, cross-over guitar which would address all of the above criteria, present with a contemporary, non-traditional archtop voice and to challenge Pierre to take his music to a new, unexplored place. The word “Altiplanos” means a high plateau; which is exactly what this guitar is. The result has surpassed all of my expectations. Knowing that an artist of Pierre’s exceptional ability has found a new muse, through something I have given birth to with a few sticks of wood, some glue and my two hands, is a blessing and a tremendous gift. I am both humbled and honored to have Pierre Bensusan as a friend and making music with this wonderful instrument.

The Altiplanos is a truly unique instrument, which I hope will create a new direction and musical inspiration for fingerstyle guitarists everywhere (and even some “jazzers”).
I will be selling the Altiplanos direct to you and not through my regular list of agents. Please contact me and I will reply to you with info about pricing, deposit and delivery time.

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