Scharpach Vienna Joe, 2018

CONDITION: excellent; artfully repaired top crack along the grain from shipping, running from the middle of the treble f-hole to the tone control, now reads as a thin, slightly darker grain line; stable, with no effect on playability or tone, plus a few finish marks and scrapes.

The Scharpach Vienna Joe is back in the shop, and I'm glad to have it here again.

Theo Scharpach builds with an old-world approach, and it starts with his wood. The back and sides are 75-year-old European flame maple, paired with a European spruce top of the same age. He's just as careful with the rest of the build. The tailpiece was custom made by ABM in Germany and the humbucker by Benedetti in France, both chosen for this particular guitar.

For me, the mark of a very fine instrument is when it stops feeling like a separate object. Once you're playing, the guitar becomes the conduit for the music and you stop thinking about it. Only a handful of builders get there, and Theo is one of them.

The neck reminds me of a well-carved '50s Gibson. Plugged in, the Joe does something I don't hear often. Most electric archtops get a bit one-dimensional through an amp, and what you mostly hear is the pickup. Here the snap of the wood comes through. You feel the wood in the tone as much as you hear it.

On its way back to us, the Joe picked up a crack along the grain in shipping, running from the middle of the treble f-hole to the tone control. It's been artfully repaired and now reads as a thin, slightly darker grain line. It's stable and doesn't affect how the guitar plays or sounds. That, along with a few finish marks and scrapes, is reflected in the price, which puts one of Theo's guitars within reach at a level you don't often see.

If I were making a short list of electric archtops to take to a desert island, the Vienna Joe would still be on it.

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.

ABOUT SCHARPACH GUITARS
Theo Scharpach is a legendary Austrian guitar maker who has been crafting some of the most wonderful archtop guitars for decades. He was one of the fortunate luthiers who was chosen to build a presentation guitar for Scott Chinery's Blue Guitar Collection. His work has been coveted by collectors worldwide with prices of his exquisite collector guitars going for well over $50,000. Many world renowned professionals — Al Dimeola and Steve Howe for instance, are inspired by Theo's high level of craftsmanship and his guitars' exquisite tone and playability. Besides his renowned craftsmanship, one of the distinguishing elements of Theo's guitars is his extraordinary aged wood selection. Most of his woods are over 70 years old with some pieces over 500 years old.