We know why you visit our site and our showroom at Dream Guitars: because we have the best, most unique, original guitars anywhere. Because we are good friends with many of the amazing builders we represent, and connect players with their favorite luthiers to achieve something beautiful together, like this guitar. Brian Applegate and Paul Heumiller have known each other for some time, so when Paul approached Brian with a unique request from a customer, Brian was unfazed. In fact, Mr. Applegate dove headfirst into the challenge of building this fan-fretted nylon string guitar with a low C string and an elongated scale of 26 7/8″ on the low E and 25 5/8″ on the high. As if that wasn’t enough to make a lesser luthier run away in fear, Brian decided to add an arm bevel to the lower bout, a soundport to the upper, and a five-piece neck of Mahogany, Rosewood, and Maple to the already herculean task presented to him. This is his first seven-string nylon string guitar–and folks, it’s a success.

Applegate’s attention to detail is preponderous: observe how smoothly the Rosewood bindings hug the curve of the arm bevel, fading into a thin line before returning to their regular width for the rest of the body. Follow the interlocking lines of his rosette, a series of geometrical shapes traced around the soundhole in perfect symmetry, or the elegant grace of the Yellow Cedar top as the upper bout and Venetian Cutaway tuck in toward that dark rosette, before sweeping outward across the lower bout and Applegate’s understated Brazilian Rosewood bridge, offset to accomodate that great low C string. And the Cocobolo back and sides! Can you find another set so brilliantly figured? Applegate is a master of the craft–and we’d expect no less from a former pupil of luthier legend James Olson.

Of course, all these beautiful examples of fine woodworking are heart-stirring, but they pale in comparison to the grand, orchestral, absorbing tone of this guitar. The multiscale design allows for an amazingly articulate low-end (that low C string sings a somber and resonant song), and articulation across all the registers is crystal clear. The middle and upper registers exhibit smooth separation, and there’s more sustain than a room of slack-jawed onlookers will know what to do with–and trust us, wherever this guitar goes, people will stare. Applegate’s maestro techniques have yielded a guitar which, surrounded by unique and irreplacable guitars such as only Dream Guitars has, still manages to stand alone, a truly singular instrument.