Matt Artinger “Summer Breeze”

CONDITION: brand new

The first thing that got me about Summer Breeze is that Matt used premium woods throughout, including a one-piece solid ebony neck, and still landed the guitar at just under 7 lbs. Ebony is dense stuff, and my first thought was that this thing would want to dive. It doesn't. It sits balanced and easy, which tells you how carefully Matt thought through the whole build before he ever started carving.

The tone is sweet and focused. The Porter pickups give you everything you'd hope for from an S-style guitar, but without the wobbly harmonics some vintage Strats get on the low strings up around the 12th fret. Notes stay put. That kind of clarity is what happens when the woods and the pickups are chosen to work together rather than assembled and hoped for.

What Matt built here is a purposeful luxury super Strat. It reminds me of a Rolex: more than just a timepiece, but something you admire while it does exactly what it's supposed to do. That's a hard balance to strike, and Matt struck it.

In Matt's Words:
The idea for Summer Breeze came from a stint of listening to Mark Knopfler. I've always admired his Pensa-Suhrs, and up until this point I had never made a carved-top super "ahem, ahem" before, so I decided it was time to pay homage to a guitar I'd admired since childhood.

One of the most unique and amazing aspects of this guitar is the solid ebony neck. You'd think it could be neck-heavy, but it's absolutely well-balanced. I'm extremely proud of this one, and it led to me making three more versions of the concept, one of which is the other new arrival at CR.

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.