DeTemple Modern Jazz, Brazilian Top, 2012

From DeTemple's website:
To design the DeTemple '52 Modern Jazz™ Michael enlisted the help of the truly great, pure archtop player, jazz guitarist Tommy Kay. Tommy has played the same L5 for many, many years. The DeTemple '52 Modern Jazz™ couldn't have been developed without his insight into the nuances of archtop guitars. Michael's eternal thanks go out to Tommy.

The DeTemple Modern Jazz Guitar™ is the jazz-style version of the DeTemple '52™ with the new SweetSpot™ CC* (Charlie Christian) Alnico II pickup set. This guitar is fresh out of development and available only by special order.

It's truly the Modern Jazz™ guitar; from the Charlie Christian pickup to the standard-equipped flat wound strings, true archtop tone is in your hands, but with vastly more control. And don't forget, you still have that Tele® bridge sound at the flip of the switch!

Michael DeTemple has been known as an über bespoke builder for many years, applying his perfectionism to a number of well-known classic designs. He's known for selecting the lightest woods for his instruments and specifying his own, custom-made pickups and titanium parts.

That perfectionism is part of the reason why I am truly delighted to have one of Michael DeTemple's fine guitars in the shop, particularly this custom build. Like the guitars he's famous for, it's lightweight - just 6.7 pounds. It's designed and meticulously crafted to have all the goodness of DeTemple's famed '52 tele, but with elements that take the player one step deeper into archtop jazz sensibilities.

As we all know, Teles are not a unique sight in the jazz world. Players like Ed Bickert, Ted Greene, Julian Lage, and Mike Stern have built their sound on their Tele's backs. Every session player has had a Tele come through their collections. They're fantastically versatile instruments. But what DeTemple did with this thoughtfully realized model was to take the Tele platform to new heights. This beast was designed to handle jazz gauge flat wounds as well as your typical light gauge round wounds. With Michael's Sweet Spot pickup pair in addition to his proprietary hardware, the Jazz model travels deep into the archtop world as well as covering all the music you would expect from Leo's namesake. This is a guitar that Jim Hall or Wes would kill on, as much as the legendary Steve Cropper or Roy Buchanan.

The other reason I'm happy to have this instrument in the shop is that it's just great to play, with an artfully carved neck that feels like it was made for your hand.

To add to all this model's specialness, this very special guitar was built with a stunning Brazilian rosewood top. Simply put, it's the mighty working man's guitar suited up with the elegance of the fine boutique acoustic wood. Built by one of the early adopters of the high end boutique bolt on design, I feel that DeTemple really outdid himself with this Modern Jazz '52 model guitar.

If you'd like to find out more about this item, just call or e-mail me. It would be my pleasure to talk to you about it.