Neck：Cedro
Fingerboard：Ebony
Finish：Shellac
Tuning:GOTOH
String height：1string　3.2mm／6string　4.2mm


Thomas Humphrey (1993)

[Profile]
Thomas Humphrey (1948-2008) was born in Minnesota, USA. He learned to play the cello seriously from a young age, which he says was a major background in guitar making. In 1970, he visited New York City and apprenticed himself to Michael Gurian, who had a guitar store there, where he worked and learned the craft for 11 years.
During a visit to Los Angeles in 1981, he attended a master class with Andres Segovia and was exposed to many Spanish-made guitars owned by a prominent local collector, which convinced him of the path he should follow. He spent a year in 1982 fully acquainting himself with traditional Spanish guitar construction methods, and at the same time began work on the truly revolutionary Millennium model, the first prototype of which was produced in 1985.
The most significant feature of the Millennium model is the Raised Fingerboard, which raises the fingerboard after the 12th fret by tilting the sound board, improving playability at high frets and increasing the efficiency of string vibration on the sound board, resulting in high playability and increased volume. This is the point where the 'weak point' of the classical guitar is overcome.
The historical significance of this model in guitar making was so great that many guitar makers followed it and it became one of the standards of the modern guitar as a model that could meet the high demands of virtuosos such as Elliott Fisk and the Assad brothers.
He was regarded as one of the greatest American masters of the modern guitar, along with Robert Ruck and John Gilbert, the leading American guitar makers of his time, but he passed away suddenly in April 2008.

[Description]
This is a Millennium model made by Thomas Humphrey in 1993 (Patent No. 4873909).
This is one of Humphrey's masterpieces, a rare model that created a standard for modern guitars along with G. Smallman's Lattice construction and M. Damann's double-top construction, and a relatively early model with an extremely high degree of perfection. Although its distinctive looks (the height of the surface board from the fingerboard at the 12th fret is 2.7 cm, and 1.5 cm at the 20th fret) are often the focus of attention, Humphrey's creativity can be said to lie rather in its acoustics.
The upper portion of the Sound board is boldly sloped to create a thinner body, which takes advantage of the reduced internal volume to enhance the responsiveness of the sound. On the other hand, the internal structure adopts a simple fan-shaped arrangement of the bars, which is truly innovative in its exquisite fusion with the volume of the body. This model was born at the point where functionality and design reached their extremes, and it is a model that is still full of novelty.
The tone is surprisingly warm, bright, gentle, and pleasant to the ear. Synchronization with the touch of the finger is only possible with modern guitars, and a full sound is instantaneously released. The back and sides are made of fine quarter-sawn Jacaranda. It has 20 frets.


Performance video