I believe that most modern makers tend to make their guitars overbuilt and, and as a result, are just too heavy. Pick up a new guitar and compare it to the weight of those built in the vintage era before World War II. As compared to new guitars, the guitar from the vintage era is light! I wanted to build guitars like that! So this guitar's design from the very beginning was to build an instrument as light as possible and still maintain its' tone and structural integrity. The instrument is basically a classic mahogany dreadnaught made in the Gibson Advanced Jumbo style. Although the guitar incorporates all of my modern techniques of building (double tenon neck joint, Semi-hemispherical frets, etc.) it utilizes pre-war bracing both in shape and size. The top is vintage red spruce but thinner than usual. The back and side thickness have also been reduced. The bridge is brazilian rosewood and weighs but 22 grams (as opposed to a "normal" bridges weight of about 35 grams). The neck is a 3 piece, all mahogany design, for stiffness and reliability. This guitar is the first to incorporate all of the Tone Enhancer™ technologies developed while creating the Bay State series of guitars of which this is one. How does it sound? In a word - booming. Loud, responsive and yet, subtle. A flatpicker's dream. And, when compared to other Dreadnaughts, this guitar weighs about 40% less! Quite a difference!