Roger Borys 18” B420 Archtop
1998 Roger Borys 18” B420 Archtop
A fully carved archtop from the great Roger Borys. This one is uniquely configured, and in addition to its 18” lower bout it has walnut back and sides. There’s a nice striped ebony theme going on as well. You’ll notice also the volume and tone controls for the pickup are imbedded into the tailpiece. There is also a 1/8” output jack from the pick guard. Both nice touches.
Specs / Measurements
1998
Vermont Adirondack Spruce / Walnut
Striped ebony tailpiece, knobs, bridge, pick guard, fingerboard
~1.75” nut
~25.5” string length
~2” string spacing at saddle
Floating KA Pickup
Volume / Tone controls imbedded into tailpiece
Output jack 1/8” on pickguard assembly
Grover Imperial tuners
Original hard case
Condition / Setup Notes
The guitar shows only the lightest wear, especially considering its age, with the exception of the headstock hanger area as pictured. There’s a small section in the bass side waist with a small spruce inlay; this was made from the same piece of spruce from the rest of the top, and done during construction when an imperfection manifested before carving was complete. String height is currently about 6/64”-4/64” from bass to treble, with just a touch of relief. Not too much room to adjust from here, but it’s playing great.
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There are not all that many Borys in total out there, and less so of these fully carved and acoustic models. In addition to its larger 18” size, this one is unique in that the back and sides are of walnut. The striped ebony theme throughout is also striking, along with the tailpiece controls. I like that the output jack is also on the pickguard, so no additional holes needed to be made, nor cabling needed to go into the body. Just a beautifully carved acoustic archtop.
$7500
Thanks for looking, any questions please feel free to get in touch.
This instrument ships for free via UPS Ground to the continental US.