The Notable Guitar: Murray Kuun
Meraki Archtop Guitar (2024)
Welcome to our fifth Notable Guitar. South Africa-based luthier, Murray Kuun, specializes in original design stringed musical instruments, including violins, guitars, mandolins, ukuleles and lutes. In this installment, we are focusing on his Meraki Archtop Guitar.
Background
Although Murray Kuun spends a lot of time designing the aesthetics, his first priorities are sound quality and playability. He makes only original designs penned by himself, never copies or near-copies. He does all the woodwork in-house, and any metalwork for hardware is outsourced.
Meraki, like many of his archtops, is designed with a small yet pure hollow body acoustic capacity, providing a sweet, clear sound. Though it offers a delicate acoustic tone, it truly shines when plugged in. This design makes it easy to achieve a brighter sound that cuts through the mix, or a fuller tone, depending on your amp settings and pickup selection.
A Few Details
Murray explains in his own words:
“The guitar features a high-quality, hand-wound Bareknuckle Blackhawk pickup, making it versatile for both laid-back, mellow jazz and intense blues, even rock. To complete the hardware package, I’ve used Gotoh 510 tuners alongside a bespoke tailpiece and bridge. My bridge design is crucial to the sound, inspired by violin bridges that swiftly transfer sound vibrations from strings to soundboard without loss—something only achievable with one-piece bridges made from highly resonant hardwood.”
“The main body is machined from quarter-sawn obeche, known for its lightweight and resonant qualities. The carved sapele top is assembled in a herringbone/chevron pattern, which enhances both the sound and aesthetic. The neck is crafted from very stable beech, and the headstock echoes the herringbone theme.”
“The finish is equally important, both in terms of appearance and sound. While most high gloss finishes are achieved through machine buffing thick layers of lacquer, I prefer a subtler approach. Here, the lustre comes from days of hand-rubbing just a few coats of nitrocellulose lacquer over a shellac washcoat. The result is an aesthetic reminiscent of fine antique furniture, hand-rubbed over centuries.”
To get more information about this and other Murray Kuun instruments, visit https://murraykuun.com.
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