The "Rosetta au Naturel" is currently the treasure of my musical arsenal. Built by Joel Eckhaus of Earnest Instruments, it cost me a pretty penny. But it was worth it. Slightly shorter than a guitar, with four strings, a humbucking pickup, and a through-the-body bridge. It has a coil tap switch and a volume knob (no tone, as I specifically requested, since tone knobs are useless.) This instrument is perfect in every way. The neck is slim and comfortable, the frets are the right height and smoothly finished, the weight is ideal, the body is large and comfortable under my arm. And the tone .. oh my, the tone. I asked for the pickup to be right next to the neck for a mellow, jazzy sound, and the Earnest does not disappoint. In normal humbucking parallel mode, it sounds like a nice jazz guitar. Flip the switch to single-coil for a crisp, subtle sparkle. Flip to humbucking series mode and this thing BARKS! There is a significant volume boost, and the strings blend more richly in this mode. All in all, a masterpiece of electric luthiery and one which I hope to keep and play for the rest of my life.
Contents copyright 1994-2009 by JW Kennedy.