Custom-ordered KT series with a ghost samurai warrior.

A "Katana" is a samurai sword. At the time of this writing, it is the second carved-top KT Series guitar from Virgil Guitars. This guitar was custom-ordered from Marc Sanders, of Tacoma WA. Marc discovered Virgil Guitars after reading an article in the September issue of Guitar World they had written about the Dueling Dragons guitar and shortly thereafter, Marc wound up on the Virgil Guitars' FaceBook page. Marc started digging in deeply to look at all the work Virgil had done in regards to all of the builds he was doing at that time and eventually contacted Virgil to have him build him the guitar of a lifetime!

The inlays are amazing on this guitar, as is the tone! Todd Grubbs even did a little demo video of the Katana guitar (Click on the "Video" tab below)

Name: Katana
Client: Mark Sanders
Series: KT Series
Serial#: 0014
Born on: 4/6/14
Total Weight: 8.42 lbs.
Style: Carved-top
Fingerboard: Magassar Ebony w/bubinga binding, 24 frets, 25" scale
Body: Bubinga carved-top/Wenge middle, Bookmatched Roasted Birdseye Maple back,
Wenge/Roasted Birdseye/Wenge skunk stripe
Neck: Roasted Birdseye
Headstock: 3+3 Scorpian Stinger
Tuners: 3+3 Schaller, with custom inlaid Bubinga/Roasted Birdseye tuner buttons
Finish: Clearcoat by Moe Colors
Hardware: TonePros AVTII Wraparound chrome bridge,
Switchcraft input jack, Switchcraft 3 way toggle
Neck Profile: C-shape
Other: Custom, hand-wound pickups (made in-house)
Custom control knobs (Roasted birdseye inlaid into Wenge), custom bubinga 3-way toggle
Custom Trussrod cover
Custom electronics cavity cover with inlay of "Katana" (Samurai sword)
Inlays of cherry blossoms run from headstock on to trussrod cover, then flow into fingerboard.
The center of the fingerboard sports a "Ghost" samurai warrior in full uniform.
The upper frets of the fingerboard has bamboo shoots (made from reclaimed bamboo flooring!) that arise from the guitar body (in between the 2 pickups).

Click on the photo below to see the slideshow:

"After reading an article posted on Facebook by Guitar World on Virgil's first build, Dueling Dragons, I watched all his videos posted on YouTube. From this research I was able to get a feel for Virgil's attention to detail and his passion for each build. I knew at that moment that I wanted this insane luthier to build my dream guitar. From our first conversation I could hear the excitement in his voice about the endless combination of woods.

Believing the propaganda by the major mass produced brands I thought the body wood of a guitar was limited to mahogany, alder, ash and basswoods to get the tone sounds. Virgil quickly dispelled that myth as I am the proud owner of Katana, build #14, Bubinga top, Wenge center and Roasted Birdseye Maple back and neck.

Virgil has been amazing to work with during my build. When you think you have everything you want he comes up with another idea that the client may not have thought of. Another bonus you get with Virgil Guitars is that Virgil posts pictures on FaceBook of your build on a frequent basis which gives you feeling of being more connected to your build and allows others to drool over what you are going to receive.

Aside from the esthetic beauty of the inlay and the guitar itself, the sound is amazing! I had Virgil put in his own in-house made "LickUp PickUps". From clean and crisp to smokey hot and growling. The sustain is unbelievable and even better than my Alex Lifeson Gibson LP.

If you want to sound like the masses then buy a massed produced guitar. If you are unique and original then buy a custom one off guitar by Virgil Guitars and introduce your own sound to the world."

Marc Sanders - Tacoma, WA