The Preston Thompson Guitars company in Sisters, OR, known for their high-quality, professional-grade, handmade acoustic guitars, has introduced a new model which they call DMC, for Deep Modified Classical hybrid.
Though not specifically designed around Willie Nelson’s signature guitar, aka “Trigger,” a Martin N-20 classical model converted to steel strings, that is the basic concept behind the Thompson DMC guitars. Their goal was to create a smaller-body instrument that would be comfortable to play, but with the projection and balance people expect from their guitars.
You might think of the DMC models, available with either rosewood or mahogany back and sides, as a classical body guitar for steel string players, but with a deeper body. Thompson uses its standard nut width of 1 11/16”, and common fingerboard radius, so they play like the other instruments in their line. In fact, buyers can choose from any of the nut widths they make for a custom order.
To handle steel strings, the DMC guitars are built with scalloped, forward shifted, advance X-bracing, leaving players with a smaller body that feels much like a 00-sized guitar, with the response you associate with a slope-shoulder dreadnaught.
Other appointments include a solid Adirondack spruce top, soft v-shaped mahogany neck, ebony fingerboard and bridge, 25.4” scale, and nickel Waverly tuners.
The Thompson DMC in mahogany carries a price of $7,000, and slightly more in rosewood.
More details can be obtained by contacting the company directly.
