Born on 30th July 1980,Timothy Seth Avett is one quarter of the folk-rock band The Avett Brothers. Seth has played a Martin D-35 for over a decade, his first being a 1977 model which he would play and wear down, needing refretting on numerous occasions due to the copius amount of play. Having such love for his D35’s, CF Martin approached Seth about designing his own version of the ‘perfect guitar’. The aim being to create an exceptional stage/studio Dreadnought which can go from a solo recording to a live band playing large venues.
Like all D35’s this guitar has a 3 piece back with solid East Indian rosewood sides, and a solid spruce top with a genuine mahogany neck and solid ebony fingerboard. However, this being a Seth Avett custom it has some unique touches. The top of the guitar is made out of high altitude Swiss spruce. Underneath this tight grained tonewood top sits an ‘X’ brace of Adirondack 1/4 inch spruce braces, accompanied by scalloped 1/4 inch Adirondack spruce tone bars to provide extraordinary clarity, balance and dynamic range. The 3 piece back is made up of East Indian rosewood wings with a Flamed Hawaiian Koa centre wedge, a combination that enhances overall balance with the koa adding to the rosewood’s rich bass and full treble.
Sporting a genuine Mahogany neck with a Performing Artist profile, which meets the body with the aid of a dovetail neck joint, and a 1 & 3/4 nut, making play comfortable and fast. Placed on the ebony fingerboard are large copper inlays of snowflakes at the 3rd, 7th and 12th fret. Aesthetically the guitar has a herringbone rosette and purfling, a Golden Era Style logo on the rosewood head plate. The guitar also comes with a Fishman Gold+ Plus pickup installed out of the factory, Grover open geared butter bean nickel tuners and a compensated TUSQ saddle.
Accompanied by a Custom Shop hard shell case this guitar is definitely worth a try.