Just finished & for sale! This 14-fret parlor guitar has a reclaimed local old growth redwood top, Honduras rosewood sides & back, boxwood binding/heelcap, colorful marquetry purfling, ebony bridge/fretboard/peghead overlay, and a Honduras mahogany neck.

The redwood top has stunning medullary grain pattern & from a tree that was easily 1,000 years old – maybe much older – with 25 growth rings per inch over what we’re assuming was at least a four-foot radius. Any redwood experts want to weigh in on this?

This one is also David’s first guitar with a soundport, on the player’s side upper bout. The soundport acts as a monitor, directing sound waves towards the player’s ears as well as from the front aperture. This guitar sounds a lot bigger than its parlor size – available for demo at the Dart Instruments showroom.

FOR SALE – $7,500. Price includes hardshell case; tax and/or shipping extra. Contact us if you’re interested in this instrument.

• Old-growth Mendocino County redwood top
• Honduras rosewood back & sides
• Honduras mahogany neck
• Boxwood binding and heel cap
• Colorful marquetry edge purfling & soundhole inlay
• Ebony fingerboard, bridge, and peghead overlay
• Waverly tuners   
• Abalone Dart logo
• Modified X-braced top, carved and voiced by David Dart
• Player’s side sound port
• Mother-of-pearl side dots 
• Bone nut & saddle 
• Satin polyurethane finish
• 24-3/4” string length  
• 14 frets to the body
• 1-3/4” nut width 

This beautiful Dart 0-14 parlor guitar is all Honduras mahogany, a throwback to the classic pre-war Martin parlors. Voiced and braced by master luthier David Dart, it sings with phenomenal projection relative to its compact body size and has a well-balanced timbre. Its 24-3/4″ scale is light and pliable, with effortless low action for first-position open chords as well melodic runs all the way up the fretboard.

FOR SALE – $7,500. Price includes hardshell case; tax and/or shipping extra. Contact us if you’re interested in this instrument.

• Figured Honduras mahogany top, sides & back
• Honduras mahogany neck
• Honduras rosewood binding and heel cap
• Herringbone marquetry edge purfling & soundhole inlay
• Ebony fingerboard, bridge, and peghead overlay
• Waverly tuners   
• Abalone Dart logo
• Modified X-braced top, carved and voiced by David Dart
• Hand-cut abalone fingerboard diamonds
• Mother-of-pearl side dots 
• Bone nut & saddle 
• Satin polyurethane finish
• 24-3/4” string length  
• 14 frets to the body
• 1-3/4” nut width 

Here’s another custom one, for our friend Ryan. It’s a standard 14-fret dreadnought, with gorgeous Honduras mahogany and David’s usual old-growth Sitka spruce top. Ryan plans to be gigging regularly with this guitar, so we installed a K&K pickup and added some lightweight spruce braces along the inner sides for extra stiffness & crack prevention.

• Figured Honduras mahogany sides & back
• Master-grade Sitka spruce (Ketchikan, Alaska) top 
• Honduras mahogany neck
• Honduras rosewood binding and heel cap
• Ebony fingerboard, bridge, and peghead overlay
• Waverly tuners   
• Abalone Dart logo
• Modified X-braced top, carved and voiced by David Dart
• Custom abalone & mother-of-pearl fingerboard “Feather” inlay — designed, cut, and inlaid by David Dart
• Hand-cut abalone soundhole inlay
• Mother-of-pearl side dots 
• Bone nut & saddle 
• Satin polyurethane finish
• 25-3/8” string length  
• 14 frets to the body
• 1-11/16” nut width 
• Reinforced side braces (Sitka spruce)

SOLD – custom order

This sweet concert ukulele is pre-owned and looking for its second home. Features koa top, back, & sides, black acacia neck, Brazilian rosewood fingerboard & bridge, abalone rosette & peghead Dart inlay.

Please note that this instrument is pre-owned and has some strumming marks on its top and a bit of buckle rash on the back.

• Koa (Hawaii) top, back, & sides
• Black acacia (northern California) neck
• Brazilian rosewood fingerboard & bridge
• 15″ string length
• 1-1/2″ nut width
• French polished shellac finish
• Bone nut & saddle

“This is a guitar I made for my son Eli Dart. The size and style were made to his specs and the ornamentation for memories. The back and sides are made from wood my Grandfather (Eli’s great grandfather) harvested in Angola, Africa, in the early 1920’s. I do not know what kind of wood it is. It is heavy and a bit waxy like Rosewood and beautiful! The top wood is Sitka Spruce from Ketchikan Alaska. A big blow-down, not logged and shipped to me as split blocks to be sawed by me into top wood.

The ornamentation is from his memories of growing up on a ridge in Redwood country and a swing in a Maple tree. The Green Man is watching over it all. I like making things special!”

-David Dart

• Body size based on David’s 00 body (14-½” lower bout) 
• Dart legacy African hardwood sides, back, and peghead overlay
• Master-grade Sitka spruce (Ketchikan, Alaska) top 
• Honduras mahogany neck
• Ebony binding, bridge, and heel cap
• Ebony fingerboard
• Pointed cutaway
• Waverly tuners   
• Abalone Dart logo
• Abalone edge purfling & soundhole inlay 
• Custom abalone & mother-of-pearl peghead, fingerboard, & heel cap inlay — designed, cut, and inlaid by David Dart
• Mother-of-pearl side dots 
• Bone nut & saddle 
• Satin polyurethane finish
• 25-3/8” string length  
• 14 frets to the body
• 1-11/16” nut width 

Just completed: custom David Dart parlor guitar, with master-grade Sitka spruce top, Honduras rosewood sides & back, Honduras rosewood neck, fine herringbone purfling, ebony appointments, and celestial-themed inlay with a wolf howling at the moon on the peghead. This one has twelve frets to the body, for a slightly shorter overall length. That’s the Scorpio constellation on the upper frets ✨

• Honduras rosewood sides, back, and neck
• Master-grade Sitka spruce (Ketchikan, Alaska) top 
• Ebony binding, bridge, heelcap and peghead overlay
• Ebony fingerboard
• Waverly tuners
• Custom fingerboard & peghead inlay — designed, cut, and inlaid by David Dart   
• Mother-of-pearl Dart logo
• Fine herringbone purfling appointments 
• Mother-of-pearl side dots 
• Bone nut & saddle 
• Satin polyurethane finish
• 24-3/4” string length  
• 12 frets to the body
• 1-13/16” nut width 

This one was custom-ordered, but please contact us if you’re interested in something similar.

We’ve been busy all summer working on a stunning batch of new guitars: three parlor guitars, two dreadnoughts, another fretless bass, and a OO (double-oh). All of these guitars have Honduras mahogany necks and ebony fingerboards/bridges, but the other trim & appointments vary. These should be strung up and ready to play within the next month or so:

• All-Honduras mahogany (top/back/sides) parlor guitar, featuring 14 frets to the body, a 24-3/4″ scale, 1-3/4″ nut width, rosewood binding, and rope marquetry purfling. Styled like a classic cowboy guitar, this one is already David’s favorite from the batch.

• Old-growth redwood top & Honduras rosewood sides/back parlor guitar, featuring 14 frets to the body, a 24-3/4″ scale, 1-3/4″ nut width, boxwood binding, colorful marquetry purfling, as well as a soundport on the player’s side upper bout. We built a redwood/rosewood parlor guitar with a huge voice a few years ago & somebody snagged it right away, so get in touch if you’re interested in this one.

• Sitka spruce top & Honduras rosewood sides/back parlor guitar, featuring 12 frets to the body, a 24-3/4″ scale, 1-13/16″ nut width, ebony binding, herringbone marquetry purfling, and an astronomy-themed fingerboard & peghead inlay (custom order).

• Sitka spruce top & Honduras mahogany sides/back dreadnought, featuring 14 frets to the body, a 25-3/8″ scale, 1-11/16″ nut width, rosewood binding, abalone soundhole ring inlay, and a feather inlaid on the fingerboard (custom order).

• Sitka spruce top & Honduras rosewood sides/back dreadnought, featuring 14 frets to the body, a 25-3/8″ scale, 1-11/16″ nut width, boxwood binding, herringbone marquetry purfling, and a feather inlaid on the fingerboard.

• Old-growth redwood top & Honduras rosewood sides/back fretless acoustic bass guitar, featuring 14 “frets” to the body, a 31″ scale, curly maple binding, and a soundport on the player’s side upper bout. This body is based on David’s OO-12 guitar design, only with some extra depth. Its boxwood frets have been flush-sanded, so you’ll be able to slide around the fretboard and still know exactly where you are. This is a larger version of the parlor bass from last year.

• Sitka spruce top & mystery African hardwood sides/back OO, custom-built for David’s son. This highly figured wood was cut down by David’s grandfather in Angola about a hundred years ago, and David has been waiting for the perfect moment to make a guitar that’ll stay in the family. This one has a 25-3/8″ scale, 14 frets to the body, ebony binding, 1-23/32″ nut width, and stunning inlay with a redwood tree motif on the fingerboard as well as a “green man” inlaid on the peghead (custom order).

Please contact us if you’re interested in trying out or purchasing one of the spec instruments — we’ll have two brand-new parlor guitars, a dreadnought, and a medium-body fretless bass ready for the 2022 holiday gift-giving season, as well as several other amazing guitars and ukuleles in our current inventory.

Please note that although the festival runs from Friday, September 16th until Sunday, September 18th, the luthier marketplace will only be open on Saturday & Sunday.

From the CIGF website:

“After a 5 year hiatus, California International Guitar Festival (CIGF) will be held September 16-18, 2022 at the Performing Arts Center on Cal Poly’s campus in San Luis Obispo, CA.

The festival is a sweeping three-day celebration, showcasing the beauty and history of the guitar as an artistic tool through the performances of a cadre of international guitar masters. The CIGF will also feature numerous master classes for young and up-and-coming performers conducted by giants in the field. The popular luthier marketplace will also return.”

For more information & advance ticket purchase, visit www.californiainternationalguitarfestival.com.

This baritone growls on the bass end and still sings through the treble notes. We built this one based on David’s SJ (Small Jumbo) body. Its 28.5″ string length holds all the way down to a low A and feels great tuned to B as well. There are sixteen frets to the body & it’s a breeze to play your first position phrasings all the way up around the 12th fret octave. Nimble & dynamic response for fingerpickers and powerful projection when flat-picked.

$8,000 plus tax and/or shipping – price includes hard-shell case

• Honduras mahogany sides, back, and neck
• Master-grade Sitka spruce (Ketchikan, Alaska) top 
• Honduras rosewood binding, bridge, heelcap and peghead overlay
• Indian ebony fingerboard
• Waverly tuners   
• Hand-cut abalone Dart logo
• Rope purfling soundhole inlay 
• Unique epoxy resin pickguard, made in-house
• Mother-of-pearl fret markers & side dots 
• Bone nut & saddle 
• Satin polyurethane finish
• 28.5” string length  
• 16 frets to the body; 24 total frets
• 1-3/4” nut width 

If you’re in the Pacific Northwest, come check out several new Dart guitars at the La Conner Guitar Festival, between Friday, May 13th and Sunday, May 15th. Although David won’t be attending, shop assistant Geoffrey Yenson will be holding down the Dart Instruments booth — stop by and say hi!

The show runs from 11 AM until 6 PM on Friday and Saturday, and from 11 AM until 4PM on Sunday. Tickets are $20 at the door ($15 in advance / online) for a single day, or $50 for a weekend pass ($40 in advance / online).

In addition to the luthiers’ exhibition, there will be assorted workshops, concerts, performances, and lots of other vendors as well.

More information & tickets at laconnerguitarfestival.com