1988 Thomas Humphrey Millenium "Violin Guitar"

Thomas Humphrey Millenium “Violin Guitar” 1988 This is an early example of Humphrey’s Millennium classical guitars, fusing features of traditional classical guitars and design elements from bowed instruments. The label, visible from the bass side f-hole, is signed and dated to 1988. The violin theme starts with the choice of tone woods. The top is European spruce and the back and sides are Bosnian maple. The top and back are bound in pearwood with a simple black-white-black purfling in ebony and boxwood. A single ebony strip frames the sides under the pearwood binding. Two “C” shaped sound holes adorn the top, along with a semicircular rosewood bridge. The forward shifted Spanish cedar neck features a stacked heel. The fan style bracing, commonly associated with conventional classical guitars, is shaped to the pronounced arch of the top. The absence of a central sound hole allows for 24 frets on the ebony fingerboard and the forward pitch of the neck makes them easy to access. The scal