Golden Eagle surprise

[MartyGrass]

I bought a Florentine single pickup Golden Eagle about six year ago.  I was made in 2010.  I kept it for about a year then sold it to a friend.  I got it back last year and have been playing it.

Recently I got another GE back with a 1 3/4" nut.  I posted about that very recently.  I wondered if the wider nut translated to a wider neck all the way down.  So I did a bunch of measurements.

Two Heritage Johnny Smiths had a 1 3/4" nut like the GE I recently got.  To contrast, I measured the Florentine GE.  To my surprise it also has a 1 3/4" nut.  I measured my G&L with a 1 3'4" nut to check reality, and it was 1 3/4".  Then I measured several other Heritages, all with verified 1 11/16" nuts

I had been playing the Florentine all this time and never noticed the wider nut.  I have two theories on why I didn't.  First, I never expected it and adjusted to it like picking up any other Heritage.  Second, the neck carve is a full C, which is what really felt different.

My theory on where this Florentine came from goes back to Kuz.  Years ago there was a duplicate of my Florentine on Wolfe's website for a long time.  It has a 1 3/4" nut.  The finish was different but still beautiful.  I could not afford the instrument.  The Kuz bought it and probably still has it.  Heritage likely made two of these instruments for Jay.  One was for a customer and one was for his shop.  The one I got had a very strong custom case, so that was probably the customer's initial preference.  It also had some custom knobs and tuners and Doug's Plugs.

Here is the NGD from the guy I sold it to, 2bornot2bop.  https://www.jazzguitar.be/forum/guitar-amps-gizmos/84817-heritage-golden-eagle.html

 

 

 

 

[Steiner]

There's something about GEs that makes my heart skip a beat,  Beautiful piece.

[Genericmusic]

[Plentine]

Thanks for your post, Mark.  I recently became the proud owner of the Golden Eagle that once belonged to Kuz.  It's nice to read some of your knowledge of this particular GE. I understand there were not many of them made with the Florentine cutaway, maybe 6?  I'll have to measure to see if it has the wider nut on it.  I love the look and sound of mine both acoustically and plugged in.  The single mounted HRW pickup is just right for me.  At 17 inch and 3 inch rim it is probably as large as I want in order to play comfortably.  I would love to try a Super Eagle some day but there aren't any large archtops at any of my local stores in Minneapolis.  Maybe I'll need to check back on this forum the next time I am back in Michigan visiting family!!  In the meantime I will enjoy playing my GE, especially knowing something more about it from Mark.  Happy New Year everyone!

[Kuz]

The Golden Eagle I just sold, does indeed, have a 1 3/4" nut and is best archtop I have ever owned or played.   I just don't (well, never really did too seriously) the jazz thing anymore.

And Mark, I think you are correct on your initial assessment; you weren't expecting it to be bigger, so it didn't seem bigger.   I also recently sold my Custom 555 with a 1 3/4" nut width.  The new owner said 1 3/4" nut is an absolute for him.   I could never really notice any appreciable difference compared to 1 11/16".   

What I can somewhat notice fairly quickly is string spacing on acoustic guitars when playing fingerstyle.  I have two OM acoustics and when I play the one with larger string spacing, it does feel slightly easier & more comfortable to play fingerstyle on.   I know which OM has the larger string spacing so I am predetermined to play more accurate on that one..... 

[Plentine]

Thanks Kuz!!  I love this GE and play jazz on it daily.  Just finished learning Stella by Starlight which sounds so nice on the GE!  I mostly play a 575 which is a smaller scale length and felt that was the difference in the feel of the GE over the 575.  I do feel the wider nut of the GE makes it easier to play fingerstyle.  Love the bigger sound and feel of your former GE!!  As you know, we never really own these guitars and are simply stewards of these finely crafted musical instruments who enjoy them before the next owner.  I plan on playing it a long time!  Thanks again my friend.