- Year of construction: 1996
- Scale length: 650mm
- Nut width: 52mm
- Top: Cedar (9 strut fan bracing)
- Back/Sides: Indian Rosewood (laminated)
- Neck/Fingerboard: Mahogany with ebony fingerboard, 20th fret on string 1
- Sound: Balanced, good separation, good projection
- Condition: Cosmetically fair (lots of soundboard scratches); structurally sound: very slight dip in front of bridge; straight neck, no cracks
- Price: US $.1000 plus shipping
- Viewing: local viewing possible
- Location: Anchorage, Alaska US
For sale is a 1996 Conservatoire (N2-78) model from Gerard Audirac. I recently emailed Mr. Audirac for any relevant information about the guitar, and he replied that the N2-78 designation indicates what was at the time his Conservatoire model, that the back and sides are laminated Indian Rosewood and the top is solid Cedar. 9 strut fan bracing. The instrument is entirely French polished. There is one soundport. At some point, a previous owner converted the original 6-hole tie block to 12 holes.
Cosmetically, I would say the guitar is in fair condition, due to the fact that there are a lot of scratches all over the soundboard. Structurally, the only issue to speak of is a very slight dip in front of the bridge, which has remained stable over the 2 years I've owned the guitar and is not that unusual for a 21 year old instrument with a soundboard on the thinner side. The neck is straight and there are no cracks.
The guitar plays very easily. The gentleman from whom I bought it had the action set so low that I found it all but impossible to play without buzzing, so I installed a new TUSQ saddle. Action at fret 12 is currently just a hair over 3mm at string 1 and just a hair over 4mm at string 6, with lots of room left in the saddle if you want it lower. I also installed upgraded Rubner frictionless tuners. OHSC is included.
I am selling because I am no longer playing weddings and background music gigs, and those are what I have mainly used this instrument for. This is a good buy for a solid, if well-used, conservatory-type guitar handmade by an established and experienced builder.
Shipping to US only. Also willing to consider reasonable offers.
