2002 Dell Arte "Leadbelly Stella" built by John Kinard

Dell Arte is well known for their high quality Selmer/Maccaferri style guitars, but the company also crafts steel strings, archtops and a highly regarded reproduction of the  Stella 12-string guitar which was made famous by Leadbelly. When Alain Cola, who founded the company in 1997, became partners with John Kinnard (a luthier who used to work for Taylor), Kinnard started hand crafting a limited run of only 35 of these replicas in spruce and mahogany. This is one of those rare instruments, made just after the turn of the century in 2002 and in beautiful excellent condition. If anything the signs of use and weather checking make it even more authentic looking. The unique construction of this guitar with it's ladder braced top, long scale length of 26,5" (673mm) and of course heavy gauge strings tuned down to (open) C gives it a deep, rich, growling character all it's own. Other noteworthy details are the hand-signed label, built in Fishman pickup, the fact that the frets look great and there's still plenty of room left on the saddle for an optimal setup. Included is a nice original TKL hardshell case.

What makes this instrument even cooler is that it looks like this instrument was owned by country blues musician Charlie Parr!! Amazing piece!!