Over time Alan has created two personal designs that he feels work well in developing the sound, resonance, and tone that he is seeking. While traditional body styles can always be created and certainly provide wonderful instruments, current emphasis is on these two personal designs.

Serenade

ser·e·nade (sµr”…-n³d“, sµr“…-n³d”) n. 1. Music. A complimentary performance given to honor or express love for someone.

The Serenade is truly a "love affair". This small body instrument has great note separation and wonderful balance that makes it the perfect choice for the fingerstylist. Yet it has the depth and richness of tone that lets it be a grand accompaniment to voice. This model is usually done in double top, with the option of a double back, which give it incredible projection. This beautiful little guitar can easily fill a room.

The design marries a narrow upper bout with a wider lower bout and is matched to a slightly shallower body depth and a fourteen fret neck. This combination gives a fine note-to-note balance both as you go up the neck and as you play across. The body design makes it comfortable for all body shapes, both male and female, and doesn't stress the shoulder joint. A sound port adds a "personal monitor" to allow the player to easily hear when playing with others.

Minstrel

min·strel (m¹n“str…l) n. 1. A medieval entertainer who traveled from place to place, especially to sing and recite poetry.

The Minstrel is a "magical box" and is the go-everywhere, do-everything instrument of choice. Being an oxymoronically described "small jumbo" sized body it has the reach to handle bluegrass picking as well as traditional strummed accompaniment or fingerstyle picking. Truly the all around work horse.

The rounded lower bouts combined with a deep waist and deeper body depth joined to a fourteen fret neck to give a rich voice with great projection. As with the Serenade there is an emphasis on note-to-note balance. The default neck is a fourteen fret 25.4" (64.5 cm) scale length. This model can also be made in a twelve fret neck with a 24.9" (63.25 cm) scale length which gives it a sweeter more rounded bass with less "cut" in the treble. The Minstrel is normally built with both double top and double back and a sound port.