Fans of jazz guitar have no doubt noticed more and more players moving towards smaller, easier to manage guitars, specifically the Fender Telecaster (the brilliant playing and tones of Bill Frisell and Julian Lage are certainly what’s behind this “movement”).

As much as we love our Telecasters and use/play them regularly, we have to admit there are times when the sound and feel of a great archtop are called for, either for the gig, session, or just purely for the enjoyment of making music on this classic style of guitar. But – and you could hear it coming – but…much like a great dreadnought, the physical stature and string tension of a traditional archtop can make these guitars quite difficult for new or even seasoned players to manage.

Enter Pasadena, MD-based luthier Tim Bram. We’ve been following Tim’s work for a few years and marveling at his concept, design, and execution – and let’s face it, these guitars aregorgeous. You’ve probably gathered what he’s up to just based on the pics – it’s a Tele shaped, and sized to some degree, archtop. Ie, a smaller, more manageable instrument that’s a breeze to play and delivers classic archtop sounds.

“Brilliant! I love the idea of a smaller archtop that captures the vibe and tones but is way easier to play!”

We said the same thing, reached out to Tim, and here we are – our third Bram Tribute Archtop. Simply put? We are thrilled to be representing Tim’s work.

The Tribute is exactly what we hoped it would be after looking at(drooling over)pics over the years. The build quality is very high, it’s lightweight, the neck is super comfortable, and most importantly for us…it’s incredibly musical, beautiful sounding, and really, really fun to play. That’s really the whole point, no?

These will be limited with regards to how many we’ll see per year so don’t wait if you’re responding to Tim’s concept – you won’t be disappointed! Priced with hardshell case.

• Hand carved ( and graduated ) Sitka spruce top, x braced
• Hand carved seasoned mahogany back (one piece), sides, and neck
• Macassar Ebony fretboard, bridge, tailpiece, finger rest and headstock face
• Nitrocellulose lacquer
• Silver nickel frets
• Black ABS binding
• Hand-wired Kent Armstrong pickup
• Hipshot classic open back tuners
• Custom made Cedar Creek hardshell case
• 25 scale
• 1 11/16″ nut
• 2″ sides
• 14 1/2 lower bout

• Martin Retro strings, 12-54

VIDEO OF PREVIOUSLY SOLD TRIBUTE THINLINE | FOR REFERENCE ONLY