Here's a cool new piece that just came off the bench, and we're really pleased with how it came out!

This is a custom Flyer 13" with a distinctly "jazzy" personality -

Custom features include:

-Dual soundholes

-Dimarzio PAF magnetic pickup

-Tune-o-matic height-adjustable bridge (with interchangeable wooden upper bridge for a more acoustic-like tone).

The client specified an instrument with good feedback resistance and sustain, so we designed a thicker-than-usual top and some special bracing.

The result is a perky, responsive, and authentic "jazz box" tone in an extremely comfy and portable package, with none of the clunkiness, fragility or feedback of a typical "L"-style guitar.

Most amazing of all, this instrument fits in our "baby"-sized Gryphon case, making it the largest-seeming small guitar we've ever come across!

Videos coming in a few days of this super-cool axe!

One of our favorite guitar magazines, Premier Guitar, has a great article this month on the "tragically underused" baritone guitar.

We couldn't agree more - baritones have always been among our favorite 'specialty' instruments.

Joe in the shop                                              Kaki King and her Veillette electric baritone

What's more, the nice folks at Premier Guitar have included a special feature on our very own Joe Veillette, and his long history with baritone instruments, going back to the original long-scale instruments he built for John Sebastian back at Veillette-Citron.

Thanks to Premier Guitar for the special attention, and for rallying around the baritone guitar concept - if you've never played a baritone yourself, go out and try one sometime!  They're an awful lot of fun, and you might discover a vocal range you never knew about!

Here's a beautifully filmed short film of the incomparable Kaki King, rehearsing with progressive string quartet ETHEL in NYC this January. The music is "Great Round Burn", from her most recent album.

Kaki King & ETHEL - Great Round Burn from Moving Box Studios on Vimeo.

Kaki is playing her custom Gryphon 12 in Deep Red finish, which goes with her whenever she's on the road.

Enjoy!

It's nearly NAMM time, so we've decided to officially let the big cat out of the bag...

After months of planning, development, and prototyping, we are very excited to introduce Avante by Veillette, a new line of production instruments that offers our signature tone and design in a more affordable package!

The original Veillette Gryphon has been our best-selling instrument for close to a decade, and has brought many, many wonderful players and performers into the Veillette family.  It never fails to charm, inspire, and excite.

The new Avante Gryphon delivers the same exciting personality: mandolin-like punch, with shimmering, naturally chorused top end character.  Intriguing textures and tones, with no learning curve, make it an immediately useful tool for any guitarist.

This doesn't just look like a Veillette Gryphon - it really performs like one.  We took care to make sure all the important features were done right, from the bracing, frets, and neck shape to the control locations and pickup type.  We are thrilled with the results!  These are serious guitars - professional quality, priced for the working musician.

Handcrafted under exclusive license, and to our exacting standards, Avante by Veillette instruments feature solid spruce tops, solid mahogany backs, sides, and necks, solid rosewood fingerboards and bridges, and real bone nuts and saddles.  Equipped with a piezo transducer and active preamp, the Avante instruments are equally at home on stage, in the studio, or in the most intimate acoustic setting.  They also make ideal companions for travel, with an overhead-friendly small case and road-tested ruggedness.

Contact your local Veillette dealer for more info. on pricing and availability!

No matter how many times we see it, we still get a thrill from nice Macassar Ebony.  Here's a rare meeting of three Macassar Ebony Veillettes - a Terz, Merlin, and Gryphon (left-to-right):

The colors and patterns are unique from piece to piece, and give the guitar a real personality and visual identity.

Tonally, this wood has a clarity and articulation that especially shines with complicated flatpicking and fingerstyle.

We have a limited stash of this wood hidden away for that special guitar - and it's getting harder to find every day!

Contact us if you'd like to know more about using this gorgeous wood for your next Veillette guitar...

One of the great joys of guitarmaking is the constant evolution of the result - each change leads us in new directions,

which in turn suggest new options and possibilities.

Alongside that, we are fortunate to have open-minded and adventurous clients, who continue to push us towards intriguing new combinations,

or approach us to fill a need that just can't be accommodated by a conventional guitar.

Now, as a result of this constant experimentation and development, we are happy to announce our latest model - the Flyer 13/13!

The name refers to the body size (13 inches) and the neck-to-body joint (13th fret) - and the combination has exceeded our expectations.

With a full-scale neck, and the surprising power and volume of our Flyer series, this may be the most powerful and satisfying small guitars we've ever come across...

all the punch and 'chop' of our original Flyer models, in an astoundingly compact platform.

"Baby" size with grownup power and scale - a great combination for the perfect travel companion.