1985 OM Cutaway
German Spruce / Brazilian Rosewood
This is the Soloist prototype that Dana built for Eric Schoenberg. T.J. Thomson, who was Dana's apprentice at the time, made the pyramid bridge and assisted with the bar frets. It has the most fragrantly aromatic smell of any Brazilian I've ever sniffed! Eric once told me that he wishes he still had this guitar. Interestingly, it now resides with its sixth owner. T.J. theorizes that, in hindsight, nobody has bonded with it because the German Spruce somehow doesn't quite coax the fullest sound out of this particular box. I bought it from Jim Baggett and Tim Nelson at Mass Street Music in Lawrence, Kansas, in 1999, and later traded it to Paul Asbell for #670, below. Paul still has it. If anybody can make it sing, he's the man!
1988 OM Cutaway Schoenberg Soloist Custom
C.F. Martin & Co. Serial #476,464
Bearclaw Sitka Spruce / Flamed Maple
This is the only Maple Schoenberg Soloist ever made, built and voiced by Dana with final assembly at the Martin plant in Nazareth. Again, the pyramid bridge was made by T.J. Thompson. It was ordered by a Travis-style picker in the Pacific Northwest who enjoyed it for 15 years before going electric. I got it from the original owner, documented it for my Soloist research pages, and sold it on eBay to a collector of Martin Maple guitars who lives in Massachusetts. To my ear the tone was thin, the voice weak, and the overall sound entirely unconvincing. The owners before and after me, however, loved it. Beauty is, truly and indeed, in the ears of the beholder!
1988 000 Schoenberg Soloist Custom
C.F. Martin & Co. Serial #490,681
Bearclaw Engelmann Spruce / Brazilian Rosewood
This is one of only five 000's made by Dana under the Schoenberg label. It's original owner was the late Dan DeVries, an instructor out of the Front Porch Music shop in Valparaiso, Indiana. He cherished it for 15 years, but had to let it go near the end. I bought it from Dan and traded it to Eric Schoenberg straight-up for a 1927 Martin 0-28K which I later sold to the Martin Museum in Nazareth. The Brazilian was called the "spotted pony" or the "painted pony", depending upon whom you ask. Again, T.J. Thompson made the pyramid bridge on this one. It has a long scale and, consequently, a lovely, ringing tone.
1994 Jumbo OM Cutaway
Serial #183
Flamed Engelmann Spruce / Birdseye Maple
This guitar went to one of Dana's first dealers, Sheppard Instruments in Greensboro, North Carolina. (David Sheppard is himself a fine luthier and repairman). It was purchased by singer/songwriter and shop regular BeJae Fleming, who recorded her first album, Red Cross Woman, with it. She then traded it back to David, and I got it from him in 1999. I still have it. It's the best sounding Maple guitar I've ever heard. It's also my wife's favorite guitar. I originally bought it as a fingerstyle instrument exclusively (while I was flatpicking D's and Slope D's). Now I use it exclusively for flatpicking, and it's the biggest box I own. Further proof of its versatility!
1996 Jumbo OM
Serial #368
Redwood / Flamed Mahogany
This was an "employee" guitar, which was the personal instrument of Ms. Jo Maxner. (She voiced tops for Bourgeois Guitars for a few years). The underside of the top is signed by everybody who worked in the shop at the time. There's also a poem written under there. The bindings are Purpleheart or Vermilion, again depending upon whom you ask. Patrick Theimer of Pantheon Guitars ended up with it, and he traded it to a dealer in Florida from whom I purchased it. The sound was to my ear, sadly, as dead as a doorknob (once again proving that not all great looking guitars sound great too!). I sold it on eBay to somebody who complained that it had a blemish in the Redwood. I told him it was a "birthmark", and that imperfections do in fact occur in nature.
1997 000 Cutaway
Serial #670
German Spruce / Brazilian Rosewood
This is the first 000 cutaway guitar that Dana ever made, commissioned by Larry Pattis (who recorded his first CD with it). It was shown at NAMM in 1997. Dana calls these "OMs", since they have the long scale length. Larry sold it to Paul Asbell, and I traded Paul the Schoenberg Soloist Prototype (above) for it. I then sold it to Brian Wolfe at Serious Strings (AcousticMusic.org) in Connecticut when he was stocking up before opening his business. It's the only guitar I've ever owned twice, as Brian had it come back to him a couple of years later, and I thought I might have made a mistake in letting it go. I then sold it to a collector in Connecticut who consigned it with Brian, who sold it to somebody else, who has since consigned it back to Brian. So, I've had it twice, but Brian's had it 4 times! Nice, memorable guitar, that just keeps coming back.
1998 000
Serial #1442
Flamed Koa / Flamed Koa
This was a NAMM show centerpiece in 1999, when Dana's guitars were being distributed by that unmentionable Japanese firm whose relationship with him led to his bankruptcy shortly thereafter. It was snapped up by one of Dana's first dealers, East Coast Music Mall in Connecticut, from whom I purchased it. I later sold it to John Thigpen who, until recently, managed daily operations at Pantheon Guitars. It's the most dazzling Koa I've ever seen. Sweet sound, too.
2001 OM Cutaway
Serial #2028
Claro Walnut / Black Walnut
This was one of the Luthier's Choice III Series guitars Dana offered when Pantheon first got up and running. It's the only guitar Dana has ever built with a Walnut top and, as he told me, he was disappointed with the sound. Patrick Theimer kept it for a while, then it went back to the shop to have the bridge reglued. Dana sent it to me to sell as "New Old Stock", essentially, on eBay. I ended up keeping it for a while because the sound was extraordinary and intriguing. Dana suspects that regluing the bridge might have brought it to life. Regardless, I ended up selling it on eBay to a collector in Connecticut, Paul Goulekas. John Mayes had a hand in making this guitar, and remembers it as one of his favorites.
2001 OM Cutaway
Serial #2040
Bearclaw German Spruce / Brazilian Rosewood
I commissioned Dana to make this back in 2000 after Bourgeois Guitars had to declare bankruptcy. So it was one of the first instruments completed by the Pantheon Guitars shop. It's got the wildest bearclaw I've ever seen. It arrived labeled as the "David Gansz Signature Model"! I let it go after a couple of years when it finally struck me that I'm better suited to smaller bodied, short-scale, 12-fret instruments. Paul Goulekas now owns it.