Golden Era Lutherie
B&G Private Build guitars are hand-built using the traditional techniques from the ‘Golden Era' of electric lutherie, delivering a vintage feel, look, and sound, straight out of the case.
THE LITTLE SISTER®
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The story of the Little Sister® began from the puzzling question of how the early delta bluesmen were able to fascinate a listener with only one guitar and their simple, yet soulful vocal lines. Understanding that these players' fat and throaty guitar tones often came from playing small-body parlor guitars, we decided to uncover the secret of these instruments and embark on a journey back to the crossroads. While obsessively collecting all sorts of original guitars from the 1920s and ‘30s, many of which were in poor condition and needed complete restoration, we began to create the special design that would best serve the guitar sound we had become hooked on. |
We wanted to create an instrument that would be versatile enough for players who use a pick, and for players who are fingerstylists. It needed to be superior in terms of playability, and it had to be gimmick free. It had to be lightweight, comfortable and unique. Ultimately, we decided that it should be a small-body parlor guitar because these were the instruments that we kept going back to again and again. And if she looks like a jewel, it's because she was designed by jewelry artist David Weizmann. | The B&G Private Build production is limited to 16 guitars per month, to ensure we don't compromise on our ability to provide the best wood material, careful attention to detail and accuracy in every guitar. |
Finish
HIGHLIGHTS
Custom Shop
You get to pick your preferred, individual maple top, and the finish that best suits it, plus every other aspect of the guitar. Since the number of custom options can be overwhelming, B&G will gladly support you in choosing the right building specifications.
Pre War Mythology
The Little Sister design is a reinterpretation of the Pre-War acoustics. B&G's goal was to create a classic yet fresh, unique instrument, as easy and cozy to play as those almost mythical guitars. Hence the neck joint at the 14th fret, the slotted headstock, and the classic non-cutaway body shape.
Chambered Lightweight Body
The carved, chambered body, in African mahogany, delivers unique acoustic features. It achieves a delicate balance between body resonance and resistance to feedback, that results in an organic, vocal quality to the sound, and a tactile, responsive playing feel. The guitar is by consequence featherlight, but without any compromise on her stability and strength.
Traditional Glues
Glue is one of the critical elements in the building of a guitar. Traditional hide glue for the neck joint, fish glue for the frets, and urea formaldehyde for the top, all crystalize like glass when dry, creating a substantially thinner layer between the different parts, which allows for optimal string energy transfer -- significantly better than modern synthetic glues.
ONE-WAY TRUSS-ROD
Single, one-way truss rods are lighter, and require a smaller channel in the neck. This building technique also demands neck woods that are perfectly aged, plus accurate installation of the truss rod. Private Build B&G Guitars only use this specific truss rod design, for improved tone transfer and sustain.
Non-Cutaway vs. Cutaway
The Little Sister Non-Cutaway has a thicker body (2") to project a warmer, more acoustic tone. The Cutaway version is thinner (1 ¾") and has a slightly more direct, focused, somehow more electric tone.
Nitrocellulose Finish
The vintage recipe for creating the best looking, thinnest and most resonant finish, remains the best. Nothing compares to a perfectly sprayed and buffed traditional nitrocellulose lacquer. It is the only finish that ages together with the wood, becoming thinner with time, merging into the wood molecules, and allowing them to vibrate freely.
B&G Pickups
Private Build pickups are developed and hand-wound in-house, to ensure that specific nuance of vintage tone we wanted for our guitars. P90s, Kikbuckers, or Humbuckers, either potted or unpotted, based on AlNiCo magnets and 42AWG Lacquered enamel copper wire, are voiced to perfection. The brass cover is also integral to the tone equation, resulting in the unparalleled, airy, warm and organic tone of a B&G Guitar.
Brass Bridge
Brass is a beautiful metal for guitar hardware. It brilliantly transfers the entire frequency spectrum, without sounding too ‘metallic'. This is the reason why B&G manufactures the bridge by milling a solid block of brass -- yet another B&G exclusive feature.
Brass Tailpiece
The B&G solid brass tailpiece is built to resonate, delivering a world of overtones and harmonics, like natural reverb. A piece of jewelry conceived to look just as good as it sounds.
Rule of 18
The vintage-sized frets are precisely installed on the fingerboard, using the historic "Rule of 18" (24 ¾" scale), to ensure the comfortable playability that only a vintage instrument can deliver.
Lead Time
Quite simply, every B&G Private Build instrument takes time. The guitar will need weeks to evolve from the assembly of different wooden pieces, to a unique, vibrant, resonant entity. B&G instruments are built to last more than a lifetime --- the 3 to 4 months needed to complete each one becomes insignificant in the guitar's history.
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