The CamelBack Chambered Body Exotic Wood Hand Crafted Guitar

Full-size body for the ultimate in thickness of tone. Can be built to varying overall thickness to suit your needs. It has a 25.5” scale length.

Appearance

Visually, there's nothing really quite like them although they were inspired by the Holdsworth Fatboy. They are engineered with specific goals in mind, mostly around comfort and tone; CamelBacks have an asymmetrical waistline so the guitar will fit the player perfectly whether it is being played standing, in the conventional seated or classical seated position, or kneeling.

My standard finish is a French polish that retains the natural beauty of the wood and resonance of the top and back and a polymerized tung oil on the neck for ultimate in feel. The control cover is cut from the same back piece so that the grain is un-interrupted. All tops and backs are bookmatched by hand from the same piece.

Body design features

The bottom of the guitar is designed so that it could be stood on end and be stable with the neck or headstock leaning against a wall or chair without harming the bottom of the guitar.

The output jack is located in a protected position and particularly when using a right-angle chord, the chord will not pull out if stepped on thus avoiding the dreaded “cable dance”.

On my own guitar, I have a chamber located away from the strumming location where the electronics controls reside so that in that way, an accidental pickup re-selection or volume augmentation will not occur. It is located so that you can blindly hand-cup the control and adjust it whenever you needed to do it very quickly. For folks who prefer it in a more conventional location, this is certainly achievable and can be discussed at the time of the build.

Also unique is the choice of woods and the fact that each body is made entirely by hand with no CNC equipment making each one totally unique and special! You have a choice of one, two, or three pickups as each core is routed for all three and the top is cut for however many or which pickups are required by you.

Electronics and wiring

One electronics package allows for the maximum number of single, paired, or humbucker arrangements possible in a very intuitive layout. This arrangement gives you 24 possible coil combinations! This would be the premium electronics package. If you prefer, you may opt for something more conventional such as a standard Les Paul or Strat package so you feel comfortable with something you are used to out of the box. On the Bloodwood guitar, it will be equipped with three custom wound Vintage Vibe singles with a Fender Strat switching arrangement and added Fat-O-Caster switch.

I have also incorporated a unique conduit system making pickup changes very easy to do even with the chambered body; you do not need to remove the middle or bridge pickups to route wiring from the neck pickup into the control cavity! Wire is fed through each location’s own conduit from each pickup location directly into the control cavity.

The standard pickups I use have more of a jazz quality at the neck and more of a vintage rock sound at the bridge and the combinations available give this guitar the widest range of tones available! This was one of the biggest goals of my design…ultimate versatility!

What's Coming!!

In the very near future, I am looking into designing a new body based on the CamelBackPacker but in a full size body incorporating some unique chambering allowing for a thinner and even more comfortable body yet retaining the rich tone of a superior chambered body design! This will in fact be a true 25.5" scale without compromise. I also am looking into sourcing more true "boutique" pickups to deliver the unique characteristics I desire in these guitars. Thicker bodies will incorporate relief and neck backset for even greater playing comfort.

The BIGGEST NEWS is the introduction of the new CB-II more traditional looking CamelBack! It is still fully chambered but with extended horns in a more traditional fashion... It can be seen in cocobolo and Cuban mahogany in the last three pictures below. Prices start at $1500 and go up depending on options.