It is a such great pleasure to have worked with Rob on this new version of the Signature GTO. I (as well as all of us here) are huge fans of his playing and his own records as well as his many collaborations. A super talented guitarist and a great human being!
After a fair amount of R&D the concept was born to create a more hollowed body by routing between the pickup cavities as well as underneath where the bridge sits leaving just 2 integral pillars to seat the tailpiece studs (#pillarsoftone) and meeting the Spruce top reducing any feedback issue common to fully hollow bodies.
A couple of changes born out of performing on the stage with a demo brings different detailing to the model, matched flame maple bindings with black dots making side markers very noticeable under the spotlight, 5mm mother of pearls and a dyed black maple wave making it more subtle. Under-wound Alnico IV & Alnico II with vintage Yellow Jupiter Cap provide super clean tones with a great amount of roll down to get a variety of tone out of each selection.
We had the pleasure of filming Rob on the handover day and look forward to seeing him perform with his GTO all over the country & Europe. His new Album on ECM Records is due to be released in the Spring..
About Rob Luft
“Instrumentalist of the Year”
UK Parliamentary Jazz Awards, 2025
Rob Luft is an award-winning 31-year-old jazz guitarist from London whose virtuosity has been compared to that of six-string legends John McLaughlin, Al Di Meola & Paco De Lucia. He was the recipient of the 2016 Kenny Wheeler Prize from the Royal Academy of Music, and he also received the 2nd Prize in the 2016 Montreux Jazz Guitar Competition at Montreux Jazz Festival. His debut album, “Riser”, was released on Edition Records in 2017 to widespread acclaim from the European jazz media. John Fordham wrote in The Guardian that it’s a “very sophisticated debut, but given Luft’s old-soul achievements since his early teens, we should have heard it coming”.
Subsequently, on the back of the success of his first album, Rob was nominated for a string of awards – Breakthrough Act in the 2018 Jazz FM Awards, Instrumentalist of the Year in the 2020 Parliamentary Jazz Awards and Instrumentalist of the Year in the 2019 Jazz FM Awards. In May 2019, Rob was selected as a BBC New Generation Jazz Artist. His eagerly-awaited second album, “Life is the Dancer”, was released in April 2020 on Edition Records to critical acclaim. Despite the intermittent global lockdowns of 2020, Rob made his debut appearance on the legendary German jazz label ECM Records with the album “Lost Ships, a collaborative effort with Swiss-Albanian singer Elina Duni, and this was nominated in the ‘International Album of the Year’ category in the 2021 German Jazz Prize.
Concert highlights for Rob include performances with artists including Django Bates, The Cinematic Orchestra, Arve Henriksen, & Manu Katché. Rob is a regular member of a multitude of some of Britain’s finest modern jazz groups, such as The John Surman Quartet, Byron Wallen’s Four Corners & the Iain Ballamy Quintet. Additionally, his playing has been documented on a wide variety of albums over the past five years on famed jazz labels such as ECM Records, Edition Records, Ropeadope, Linn Records, anmongst others.
Hand-crafted with the finest Spruce top & Flame Maple body & neck with an Ebony Fretboard fully bound/boxed with matching Flame Maple and a matched Flame Maple headstock.
A matched 2 piece Flame Maple nearly fully hollow 15 3/4″ body and a hand carved top with crescent “F” hole combined with a carefully hand-set mortise and tenon neck joint at the 18th Fret bringing superior access, tone and sustain.
A pair of calibrated OGEE “Speak Easy” Rob Luft Pickups, Nickel Covered, CTS Pots, treble bleed & a Jupiter Yellow Vintage Tone Capacitor for superb tone control. Fitted with a 3 Way Toggle for easy switching
Available Left or Right Handed, all orders take approx 18 weeks to complete.
Rob Luft Signature GTO signed by the artist on the back of the headstock.
WOOD
Alpine Spruce book matched top
Flame Maple body and neck with Maple Stringer
17 degree headstock angle
Maple peghead veneer with Maple Wave
Ebony fingerboard with Maple Wave, Maple Bound
Mortise and tenon neck joint w/contoured heel
Pure Nitro Cellulose Finish
SPECS
“C” neck shape
12” Fretboard radius
43mm Nut width
24 3/4” Scale length
22 Frets
Mother of pearl 5mm dot fingerboard inlays
Fully adjustable truss rod
Deluxe hardshell case
HARDWARE & ELECTRICS
OGEE “Speak Easy” Pickups
Alnico IV & II, under wound PAF’s
CTS 500K Pots
Jupiter Capacitor 0.022 pu
3 Way Switchcraft
Bone Nut
Tone Pros Nashville TuneOMatic Bridge
Tone Pros Stop-tail piece
Grover Keystone 18-1 machine heads
Recessed Volume & Tone Dome Knobs
