2002 Fernandes American Custom Ravelle Custom, Hand-Made w/ AAAAA Flame Maple Top, Case & Tags

Up for sale, a 2002 Fernandes American Custom Ravelle Custom in near-mint, 100% original condition and in perfect working order, complete with the original hardshell case, hangtags, and catalog. More a prototype than a production model, this Ravelle Custom is exceedingly rare, hand-made in the USA during Fernandes’ brief stint producing guitars in America, where they released extremely limited runs of hand-made, no-expenses-spared instruments. This specific Ravelle Custom (serial: 002) was featured heavily in the included 2003 catalog, and is even highlighted on the back cover. No USA-made Ravelles from this run beyond the two pictured in the catalog have ever surfaced for sale. A visually radical spin on a premium LP-style platform, top-notch tonewoods include a carved AAAAA bookmatched two-piece flame maple top paired with a solid mahogany body capped by a slab ebony fretboard. At 9lbs 6oz, this Fernandes has ample natural sustain and sonic authority, qualities faithfully captured by the Seymour Duncan Seth Lover PAF humbuckers. The Duncan Seth Lovers are wound to be an exacting recreation of the original ‘50s Lover-designed Gibson PAFs; delivering smooth, sweet tones that achieve a perfect balance between pristine singing highs and a warm, full low end. The midrange is slightly scooped for optimal clarity even with heavy gain, resulting in fat chords that remain open-sounding and articulate. This Ravelle Custom has been professionally setup here at Mike & Mike’s Guitar Bar with 10-46 strings, low action, and spot-on intonation. The mahogany neck has a very chunky C-shaped profile with generous shoulders, akin to a late-'50s Gibson "baseball bat" carve, measuring .955” deep at the 1st fret and 1.050” at the 12th. The ebony fretboard is framed by multi-bly binding, with abalone split-trapezoid inlay and flawless jumbo fretwire. This guitar plays clean up the 24 3/4“ scale with a straight neck and a responsive, optimally-adjusted truss rod. The carved bone nut measures a full 1 11/16” in width. The headstock sports an ebony veneer framed by multi-ply binding, and the stock Grover Deluxe tuners turn smoothly and hold exceptional pitch, with lightly greened keystone buttons and clean chrome plating. The back of the headstock retains the “Fernandes U.S.A. Custom Shop” decal and 002 serial. All of the electronics function as intended, with the Seymour Duncan pickups wired to the stock harness and governed by a three-way pickup selector switch and Master Volume and Tone controls. In the neck pickup cavity, on the long tenon joint, the factory hand-written craftperson's signature and date are present, dating production of this guitar to June, 2002. The hardware all shines like new, including the Nashville-style bridge and corresponding stopbar. Plastics comprise the original pair of ambered bonnet knobs. The gloss Dark Amber finish is framed by binding and highlights the bookmatched, dimensional flame figuring that extends liberally across every inch of the top. This guitar has been exceedingly well-kept, with cosmetic wear limited to a tiny finish chip on the lower bout body point, and two small chips on the back adjacent to the pickup selector switch cavity cover. The smooth gloss finish on the neck profile is immaculate. The original Fernandes-branded hardshell case is included, along with the original hangtags and 2003 catalog. This guitar features heavily in the catalog, including on the back cover.