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Ribbecke Archtop: Halfing Model

Submitted by guitargal on Sun, 10/24/2010 - 19:33

 


Description: Ribbecke Halfling:

A blend between a flattop and an archtop. . . Made in the U.S.A. !


If you are looking for a true crossover instrument, you want the Halfling™ Jazz Guitar! It is the result of over 25 years of Tom’s unique understanding of carved top design and it combines the sensitivity of a steel string guitar, with its flatter soundboard on the bass side, and the articulate sound of a true jazz guitar. You will experience superior separation of chords; the ability to hear individual notes and complex chords in individual strings. And, of course, the Jazz Guitar has the outstanding multi-dimensional acoustic imaging common to all Halfling™ instruments. It has great feedback suppression with an enhanced bass response not found in any other archtop guitar.


This versatile guitar may be strung with either phosphor bronze or electric strings, we suggest you try both!

It has a floating Kent Armstrong, American made, pickup which is mounted in a unique platform on the neck, giving it the ability to perform like a Gibson
L5 or a Gibson 175.

It features volume and tone control, mounted under the pickguard as well as unique proprietary hex adjustable thumb wheels for the bridge.

The Halfling™ Jazz Guitar has a nitro cellulose finish in the great tradition of fine guitar making,
designed to age like an excellent wine.


SPECIFICATIONS:
BODY SIZE: Carved arched top: 17” lower bout with single Venetian cutaway, 3 3/16” deep
BACK: Hand selected western bigleaf maple
SIDES: Hand selected western bigleaf maple
TOP: Hand selected Sitka spruce
BRACING: X bracing
SCALE: 25”
BINDING: Black and white purfling
FINISH: Light amber burst nitrocellulose lacquer
NECK: Laminated
MATERIAL: Birdseye maple
FINGERBOARD: Ebony
FRETS: 22
WIDTH AT NUT: 1 ¾”
WIDTH AT 12TH FRET: 2.2”
STRINGS: Jazz light gauge 12 – 52 D’Addario XL nickel electric
HEELCAP: Ebony
NUT MATERIAL: First quality bone

N.B. what appear to be scratches on the top in some photos are NOT. They are either figure in the top or reflection, due to the carved top.

This 1st Sound sample is purely acoustic, UNPLUGGED.

 

Details
Make: 
Ribbecke
Model: 
Halfling
Condition: 
SOLD
Price: 
SOLD
Stock: 
SOLD
Options
Cutaway: 
Venetian
Nut Width: 
1 3/4"
Saddle Spacing: 
2 3/16"
Scale Length: 
25"
Frets to Body: 
14
Audio
Sample: 

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Sample: 

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Photos
Extras
Additional Info: 

Additional Info: 

Tom Ribbecke has spent his long career perfecting his craft and pushing the limits of design. He developed the HalflingTMdesign in 2003 with the help of renowned bass player (and good friend) Bobby Vega. It’s a unique blend of the Steel String/Classical guitar and the Archtop guitar that offers versatility, enhanced bass response and more feedback suppression. He has combined the best of both worlds for the contemporary guitarist whose literature now crosses over into both worlds. The HalflingsTMdesign soundboards are a combination of the flat bass side of a Steel String and the arched treble side of an Archtop. They are capable of large full fundamental bass response with the ability to hear and distinguish all the notes of a complex chord when ringing together. “It’s almost as if makers are trending toward more flat top characteristics in their archtops. Ribbecke has taken this trend and twisted it into the Halfling, which uses an odd bracing system that gives an archtop-like bottom end, and flat-top-like uppers... The lower strings are more resonant sounding than any archtop I’ve played, yet never sound flabby or uncontrolled. The uppers have a little flat top ‘shimmer’”. - Mark Guest With the creation of the first HalflingTMdesign an opportunity emerged to create a new company, Ribbecke Guitar Corporation (RGC), based on this design. This new company was founded to build high quality, made-in-the-USA guitars and basses. “I’ve always wanted to get my high end archtop guitars into the hands of more players, and RGC allows me to do this because they're more affordable. I've found a way to make a superior production guitar with the same artistic design and discriminating sound quality people expect from my high end Ribbecke guitars.” -Tom Ribbecke

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The photos contained herein are solely the property of Guitar Gallery.
All recordings contained herein are copyrighted and provided by Guitar Gallery. Instruments are played by Markham Brown, Tim Thompson, Danny Combs, Deanie Richardson, Melissa Dupuy, Lance Allen, Robin Weber or Margaret Becker.
Any transmission, duplication or re-publication is prohibited without the express written consent of Guitar Gallery.
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