Leicestershire-based bespoke guitar maker ZDB Guitars are introducing a revolutionary inset heel to the necks of their hand built acoustic guitars.
The heel, which ZDB’s owner Zac Booth designed and developed himself, gives better access to the fretboard where it joins the cutaway acoustic bodies and also gives a smoother line for non-cutaways, making them even more comfortable to play.
The inset heel made its debut on ZDB’s Malaysian ebony and Engelmann spruce cutaway acoustic, which combines traditional instrument building techniques with modern design and advanced internal bracing methods.
“I’d been thinking about how to make a more efficient and player-friendly way to join the neck to the body of a cutaway acoustic,” Zac said. “An inset heel sitting flush with the body seemed the obvious way to go, so I ran with the idea and now I’ve incorporated the design into all of my acoustic guitars.”
“Not everybody plays that high on the neck all the time,” Zac added, “but when you do, the inset heel allows you to get to the higher frets quickly and comfortably.
Zac started ZDB guitars in 2019 after graduating with a First Class Honours degree from the UK’s last luthier course at London Metropolitan University. He builds a range of acoustic guitars, including parlour, OM, dreadnought, cutaway and 12-string variations in a variety of UK sourced and FSC-certified woods. Every guitar is built to order and tailor made to customers’ own exacting specifications. French polish or lacquer finishes are available and the guitars can also be fitted with optional pickup systems, such as the L.R. Baggs Anthem.
If you’d like to find out more about ZDB Guitars, or if you’re interested in commissioning a bespoke guitar, you can get in touch with Zac by email at zdbguitars@gmail.com, Instagram at @zdbguitars, or via his website at www.zdbguitars.com.