Guitar being reviewed is a "Nueva" model archtop, hand-made by George Gorodnitski under his label, Master Guitars. The top is 67 year old German Spruce & the back & sides are master-grade flamed maple.

It has a single pick-up in the neck position, handwound by George using Alnico 5 magnets. Pickup cover is ebony wood. Fingerboard, bridge & tailpiece are ebony. Body style is single cutaway. The bridge is constructed using one of his "trade-secrets" & it contributes greatly to sustain not usually found in archtops.

Neck inlay is very well done & is very restrained & tasteful; George used New Zealand Paua Abalone. Tuners are Schaller.

I have been playing off & on for 35 years & have had many, many guitars, both factory-made & hand-made. My styles of playing are varied, from jazz, to fingerstyle, rock, blues, etc. My primary amp is a silverface Fender tube Super-Reverb.

"Nueva" sounds beautiful! I don't know what George does when he hand-winds his pick-ups, but I can get any sound I want from "Nueva" depending on amp settings. Mellow jazz to piercing blues, the sound is consistently full.

The neck fills my hand perfectly; body size is great for either stand-up playing or sit-down picking sessions with friends.

Sunburst finish & neck inlays are among the best that I have seen. I get the opportunity to play at least 2dozen hand-made guitars per year & "Nueva" ranks with the best of them.

"Nueva" was set-up perfectly when I picked it up. Fit & finish were excellent. I used a dental mirror & flashlight to examine the inside. Workmanship was excellent with no "glue-drips". Sunburst finish was likewise perfect with no distortions anywhere on the body.

"Nueva" is more than ample to handle the rigors of live playing. It is a very well-made guitar without carrying an undue amount of weight. "Sunburst" finish is solidly applied & appears to be quite long-lasting. Considering that George has made violins, which are quite sensitive to finishes, I am quite confident that finish will be long-lasting. Of course, any fine, hand-made instrument must be cleaned & polished regularly to obtain optium results!

Strap buttons were solid & I have no worries that they will come loose. As this is my only archtop, I have found it very reliable & have been using it without back-up.

I have personally found George to be a man of integrity who genuinely loves to build guitars by hand. He certainly put a lot of time & effort into "Nueva" and it shows. Whenever I am in LA, George asks me to drop by so that he can give "Nueva" a personal check-up & make sure that I am happy with his guitar.

At this level of guitar, "customer support" is clearly a one-on-one type of thing. I am certain that if I ever need him, George is just a phone-call away. I have read the other review that comes to the opposite conclusion & my personal experiences with George have been overwhelmingly postive; so much so, that I have ordered 2 steel-string guitars from him!

I have been playing off & on for 35 years. I own several other handmade guitars made by individual, high-quality luthiers. George's guitars are every bit as good as the best handmade guitars available; I get to play about 2dozen handmade guitars per year.

If it were lost or stolen, I would gladly go through whatever waiting period was necessary to get another. Every handbuilder puts their little "something-special" into their guitars & George has done that & then some with "Nueva".

I love the way the neck feels in my left hand & the body size & shape George has developed. I am very "jazzed" about "Nueva" & have yet to find anything negative about it.

Handmade guitars may be great, lousy or anything in between; "Nueva" is as nice an archtop as I have found. Buying a handmade guitar usually involves buying a little bit of the builder as well; there is no factory to stand behind a product, only the builder, his word & his reputation.

I have enjoyed doing business with George & enjoy the personal relationship that owning a handmade guitar brings. I have ordered 2 steel-string guitars from George, &, since actions speak louder that words, I trust that this says it all!