Victor Baker Archtop Model 16F

-Finished Nov. 2000, Philadelphia, PA
-16" lower bout F-hole archtop, 3" body depth, venetian cutaway
-neck shape: medium round
-fingerboard radius 12"
-fingerboard, heal cap, truss rod cover,bridge: ebony
-fingerboard inlay: neoclassic (side dots only)
-tailpiece: carved ebony with Sacconi nylon fastener
-no. frets 20
-fret size: medium jumbo
-scale: 25 1/2
-nut width: 1 3/4"
-Solid carved woods:Top-Engelmann Spruce (X-braced); back/side: quarterswn figured Maple (AAAAA Premium Wood option-$300)
-finish: Natural lacquer
-pickguard: slim shape, black ebony, WBWBW binding
-tuning gears: Schaller M6 with ebony knobs
-single floating pickup: Benedetto S-6
-hardware: Volume only on pickguard, output jack on endpin, no strap pin
-full binding option ($250)
-hard shell case ($100)

-My style (sound)is traditional jazz (Pass, Montgomery, Ellis, etc.)
-I use several different size amps: small Crate, medium Carvin, large fender acoustic amp.
-Guitar is not noisy at all
-Electric sound is beautiful and full across any amp I have used. No effects are used or are necessary. Playing solo, I might use a little reverb. In a group situation, I have found that reverb is not needed since guitar responds great to room ambiance and cuts through other instruments better. I have several other guitars including: two Gibson L5 (a 1997 and a non-cutaway 1936), Gibson ES 175, Gibson ES 125, Samick Johnny Smith copy. The Baker has a more "acoustic" sound with no eq but can also get dark L5 sound by amp adjustments. I prefer individual sound of the guitar with pretty flat eq.

Acoustically the guitar is also great. In fact, at home playing by myself and practicing with other guitar player, I usually don't use an amp at all. Much louder that my other jazz boxes. Very surprising since it is only a 16" archtop. It must be the combination of wood, bracing, and floating pickup that helps project great unamplified sound.

There is nothing that I do not like about the sound. It is great both amplified and acoustic.

Action, fit and finished were all fine. A special note on the finish. The guitar is stunningly beautiful-especially the highly flamed back, sides, and neck. I have received many compliments. The natual finish coupled with all black (ebony) appointments exudes elegant understatement. At the recommendation of Victor Baker the Benedetto pick-up was mounted at bottom of neck as opposed to on the pickguard. I agree that this creates more stability for the pickup.

The only "flaw" was that the frets on the high E side of the fretboard were not smooth enough for me. Of course, Victor was willing to make any free adjustments desired but I live in Los Angeles and did not want risk shipping. I took guitar to local guitar shop and they did the work for $30. Also, the guitar playing employees all admired the guitar and remarked on the beautiful appearence and great acoustic sound

I have now been playing my Baker guitar for one year. It is my main guitar for practice and gigging. I have used 3 different sets of strings (13s, 12s, and 11s) with no tuning, neck, or buzzing problems. All I do is adjust the bridge and all has been fine.

This is the highest rated category (10+). Victor is great. Constant email update info. All responses to inquiries were done within 24 hours and many within a couple of hours. We also talked by long distence phone twice--the second time he called me!!!!!

Victor took time to explain to me many technical issues like: neck radius, tone woods, pickups, neck scale, neck radius, finish, etc., etc. I am a "problem" customer and was very worried about paying a lot of money to a relatively new luthier. I have many guitars and have been playing for 30+ years so I knew what I wanted but was not sure how to communicate by desires long distence. Basically what I wanted was a Gibson L5 with a 16" body, 1 3/4 neck and floating pickup! Victor was very patient with me, answered all questions and made me feel like a valued customer at all times. My biggest concern was the "feel" of the neck. My L5 is fantastic. Victor took the time to try to quantify what I liked about the L5. He then shipped his neck to me before it was finished to get actual feedback. The neck was great. I sent it back and my concern level went way down.

Overall, Victor was fantastic to work with.

Overall rating is excellent Value/price is fantastic. The price of $3,075 included a custom guitar with all the options, case and shipping. By the way--don't skimp on shipping. Go overnight. The extra few dollars are worth it.

As mentioned earlier, I have many jazz boxes. I like this one the best (I still love the other ones too).

Since I gave much thought to what I wanted, there is nothing additional I would add to the guitar.

If it were stolen/lost, I would definitely ask Victor to make me another exact replica.

Overall, I can give Victor Baker and my Model 16 the highest rating. If you would like to see my guitar, Victor shows it on his website (www.victorbaker.com) under the model 16 category.