Troy Chapman

As many of you know I revere Jim Hall. For a while I owned a D'Aquisto (Japan) Jim Hall model but after years of playing ultra-long-scale Selmers I wanted a longer scale length. Enter the LS-17.

I've worked in guitar stores and played guitar for (many) decades. I have never experienced a more more perfectly setup guitar than this Sadowsky. Tone, playability, craftsmanship are all 10/10.

This LS-17 has an 1 11/16th" nut width vs std 1 3/4".

The inlays and pickguard were NOT Bob's doing. The inlays are stick-ons for my own amusement. That said-

Bob was at my house one Djangofest a few years back and showed me this guitar. I was not in the market for a guitar. At all. I played this guitar and it has not left my side since.

That is an Ischell pickup behind the bridge. HIGHLY recommended.

In the early 1980's I was working at Guitar Center in Chicago. During the Summer NAMM show a guy walked into the store and asked if wanted to see the guitar he had designed. That man was Avraham Bar Rashi (Allan Gittler) and the guitar was one of his original stainless steel versions of this guitar. It was, without a doubt, the coolest, most unique guitar I have ever seen or played. There were 60 original Gittler Guitars made by Allan Gittler.

Cut to 2012. Metallurgist and guitarist Russ Rubman, along with Allan's son Yonatan Bar Rashi are now building titanium Gittler Guitars in New York. 

Not shown: the cool blue LED fret markers.

This is, by far, the most expressive electric guitar I have ever played. It responds to the most subtle touch or movement and every note rings like a bell. There is nothing else remotely like a Gittler Guitar.

My friend, and former bandmate, Ted Gottsegen is responsible for this beautiful JP Favino. Ted owned the guitar that this guitar was copied from. I also owned the original for a while but then it reverted back to Ted. It's complicated...

But this JP Favino has a sound that is strictly it's own. And that sound is beautiful!! Check out some of Jean-Phillipe Watremez recordings to hear some more of Jean-Pierre Favino's work.

I use this Baroque guitar with The Island (early music) Consort here on Whidbey Island. For some reason baroque instruments are hard to find in the US!

Imagine , if you will, having a discussion with one of the finest luthiers in the world. Imagine you were discussing how a true electric Selmer might look and sound. Imagine that person was Shelley Park. Now do you see?

What an extraordinary instrument! Maple top, back and sides. P-90 pickup plus a bigtone pickup. The guitar has a stereo output jack so I can send each pickup to a separate amp (if wanted).

This (like all of Shelley's work) is ART.

This is a Rabob from Uzbekistan. It was a gift my friends Fred and Sharon Lundahl at Music for the Eyes here in Langley, WA. Fred Sharon Lundahl are two of the most traveled, knowledgable people I have ever met. You think you've been places? Talk to Fred and Sharon!

Anyways, imagine you sitting under a tree with your herd of goats in the wilds of Uzhbekistan. There yet? Now you start playing this rabob. And the sound of even one note just fills everything around you. And everything is okay.

That's what this rabob sounds like. I love this instrument.

Shelley Park creates instruments that stand on their own as works of art. And, of course, the instruments sound as beautiful as they look.

This Montmartre has a cedar top with maple back and sides. Check out the ebony tailpiece Shelley designed.

This guitar also has a hidden secret, that can only be seen in person, that makes it incredibly special to me.

Thank you so much Shelley!!

If you've looked through the collection you know I'm a sucker for cool guitar designs.

I thought the Parker Fly was, next to a Gittler guitar, the coolest thing I'd ever seen. If you have never played a Fly you missing out!

I bought this Fly as soon as it was available and also got to meet Ken Parker himself! This has been my main electric guitar ever since.

It has no flaws (other than the ones I've dinged into it).

THIS GUITAR HAS NOT NEEDED A NECK ADJUSTMENT IN 22 YEARS. Nor have the stainless steel frets shown any evidence of wear!

This guitar was gift from my dear friends Stacey Bakula, Rebecca Cleary, and Andy Grenier. 

The thing with this guitar is, even though it has a plywood top, it sounds EXACTLY like every Jobim recording I've ever heard. With a bit of Luiz Bonfa thrown in for good measure!