Thorn Grantura

The Thorn Grantura is the latest model in the Thorn line-up. The semi-hollow body features a curly maple laminated construction with an arch top, arch back, and bent sides with a maple and spruce full-length center block. The rosewood or ebony fretboard and mahogany or korina set neck is coupled to the body via Thorn's unique dovetail joint providing unmatched resonance across the entire instrument.

The body is 14.75" at the lower bout, 1.625" thickness along the edge, and 2.375" thick at the center for a more manageable "electric Spanish" style guitar while retaining the classic vocal tones only found in a laminated semi-hollow body.

There’s a 10% difference between excellent and sublime. I just gave that an arbitrary number (since you can’t really measure it), but bear with me while I explain.

Think of Phil Wood’s famous solo on Billy Joel’s “Just the way you are.” Any number of excellent musicians could’ve been called for the session. And they all would’ve laid down an excellent solo. But Phil’s solo killed it. It was the producer’s pushing for that extra 10% that made all the difference, right? It’s sublime.

I think Ron Thorn has done just that with his newest creation: The Thorn Grantura. He stood back and looked at one of the iconic guitar forms (the thinline semi-hollow) and asked himself: What if I did everything possible to add the 10% that would make this a sublime instrument? What if I took the same fanatical attention to every detail that makers have done with ’59 LPs, S- and T- models, and created something truly amazing?

So he did. Starting (this is truly extraordinary) with the laminate itself.

Consider this: Unable to find a laminate to his liking, Ron actually concocted his own: Selected the woods for great tone, created a special recipe for the glue, and formed it into the perfect shape and look. It’s relatively simple for a large factory to create guitars with laminates, but takes a great deal of work on the part of an individual luthier.

You’ll probably never see the joint connecting the neck to the body. But Ron uses a unique dovetail joint providing incredible resonance across the entire instrument. That incredible dedication to his craft is everywhere in the instrument. The Brazilian Burst nitro finish is beautiful and thinly applied.

There’s open access in the cutaway for high fretting.

The shape of the neck, the fretting, the inlays – all have that extra 10% of goodness. Down to the custom shape of the case, and the envelope the spec sheet comes in, every nuance of Ron’s dedication shines through.

The sound is brilliantly even - yet has that grease, that special sauce, that buttery goodness that I’ve only found in exceptional vintage instruments. Waffles and syrup for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

The classic Electric Spanish thinline semi-hollow is known for its wide versatility. This is a guitar that can man any ship. From smooth jazz to searing rock and blues, the Grantura will be there for you.

And every time you hold it at arm’s length, when you just sit back and admire it, you’ll feel that 10%. And appreciate it over and over again when you play it. Kudos to Ron for dedicating himself to this example of otherworldly guitar greatness.

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.

ABOUT THORN CUSTOM GUITARS
Raised in a family of carpenters, Ron Thorn had access to a home wood shop for as long as he can remember. Repairing, modifying and building guitars since age 13, his specialty became precision inlay work and by the mid '90s he became the sole inlay artist for the Fender Custom Shop, a position he is still proud to retain today. In 2000 Ron began putting the Thorn name on the headstocks of some of the many guitars he was building and today, with his father and the rest of “team Thorn” - John Gaudesi, Nick Viglienzoni, Tony Ramirez, Glenn Matejzel and Martin Bravo, Thorn’s Glendale, CA operation builds approximately 50 custom guitars a year. Those who know, know Ron as one of the most brilliantly talented luthiers and inlay artists of the 21st century. It is a reputation that has earned him a following that is best described as "near fanatical."

Various audio clips of the Grantura model in use: