Sam Koontz Joe Cinderella Custom 8-String - USA 1980

This is an exceptionally rare Sam Koontz Custom 8-string archtop built around 1980 for New York jazz guitarist Joe Cinderella. Believed to be the final guitar Koontz completed before his death, it reflects the direct collaboration between two highly individual musical minds. Koontz produced only around one hundred guitars in his lifetime and was regarded during the 1970s as one of the great American archtop builders, mentioned in the same conversation as D’Angelico and D’Aquisto and played by artists including David Bowie and Pat Martino. While his name is less widely known today, among dedicated archtop collectors Koontz remains cult level significant.

This unique instrument shows clear evidence of Koontz’s signature design language. The distinctive side scroll headstock and matching upper bout scroll are classic Koontz motifs, executed here with exceptional attention to detail. The binding and mother of pearl appointments are of a very high standard, and the neck features Koontz’s dual truss rod design, developed specifically to address the structural demands of an 8 string neck. The electronics cavity houses the German sourced switching system Koontz preferred for tonal range and flexibility.

The body is solid Koa, dense and heavy, chosen to support Cinderella’s unusual musical approach on the instrument. In a later interview Cinderella said Koontz was initially worried about the width and stability of the neck, yet after eighteen years the neck had not moved. It still has not moved today.

Equally important to this guitar’s voice is the contribution of Tom Doyle, Les Paul’s long time technician and a respected builder in his own right. Doyle replaced the original pickups and built a one-off system for the guitar. In correspondence he explained that he made special wide format low impedance pickups by joining two standard covers and creating custom pole pieces. The system used a step up transformer to bring the low impedance coils into the usable range for a guitar amplifier. Doyle noted options such as a master volume, master tone, an impedance switch for 50 or 250 ohms, a twenty kiloohm output stage and possibly a decade rotary switch. He also noted that this was the only system of its kind he ever made.

Joe Cinderella designed this guitar with a very specific musical purpose in mind. He used it primarily in small group settings with horns, reserving other instruments for trios, larger ensembles or accompaniment work. Cinderella was a deeply experienced New York jazz guitarist who had played at Birdland from the late 1940s through the 1960s, meeting and working around musicians such as Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Sarah Vaughan, Thelonious Monk and Les Paul, who praised his sound and originality. He was also an accomplished professional jazz pianist who loved the harmonic world of Bill Evans, and later became a respected studio and utility player with credits across jazz, pop, film and advertising. His broad musical background, strong reading skills and deep understanding of harmony informed the direction of this instrument.

The heart of Cinderella’s concept lies in the tuning. He tuned the eight strings E, A, C, E, G, B, D, F sharp, essentially an A minor eleventh with a tritone at the top. By thinking of the strings as stacked minor thirds, he created a system that allowed fast access to inversions, close voicings and pianistic chord shapes by simply raising or lowering steps. The tuning reflects ideas found in pedal steel and the work of players such as Buddy Emmons and Ralph Patt, and required a complete rethinking of the fretboard. Cinderella had experimented with extended range guitars before, but this Koontz build represents the fullest expression of his harmonic ideas, resulting in a one of a kind instrument created to serve his unique musical language.

Cinderella described the result simply as “it sings like a bird” and noted that the sustain was remarkable, helped by the solid Koa body and low action. The best recording of this instrument is on Cinderella’s private demo album “Concept” from 2002 and on the YouTube clip of his version of Joe Henderson’s “Recordame” - Click here to listen. The chord voicings draw on pedal steel colours, tight horn section cluster voicings and echo some of the layered harmonic thinking from Les Paul’s early recordings. The lead tone is thick, vocal and punchy with an unmistakably personal character.

The guitar is accompanied with copies of magazine interviews with Joe Cinderella, evidence of correspondence with Tom Doyle and copies of purchase receipts with redacted personal information.

A major piece of American archtop history, built by one of the most individual luthiers of his era for a highly distinctive jazz guitarist, combining rare materials, custom electronics and a level of craftsmanship seen only in Koontz’s best work.

Comes in an oversized hardcase believed to be a modified bass case.