It is amazing to me the amount of choice we have these days in the number of guitar colors, shapes, and styles. In terms of finishes alone, flame and curly maple tops on electric guitars seem to have ruled the stage in popularity. These highly figured tops come in a variety of finish colors that help the grain to stand out, creating an exceptional looking guitar. The high popularity of these guitars has sent manufacturers in search of the next great style of wood. We are now seeing some fantastic forays into a new figured top called spalted maple.

Spalting can be broadly defined as “any coloration in wood caused by fungi”, however, the most common type of spalt used in guitar construction is known as “zone lines”. These zone lines are not actually the fungi itself, but rather a barrier that the fungi erects to protect its recourses from other forms of fungi that may try to invade their space. These lines manifest themselves as dark random lines that create very interesting patterns on the wood. The trick with this wood is to acquire it, and start the drying process after the zone lines have been erected, but before the fungi can start breaking down the wood fibers which make it “punky” (in the vernacular), or too soft to work with.

At the winter NAMM show in 2007, Samick began to introduce Limited Edition guitars in a couple of their most popular model lines. These are being released as single year production models that will be discontinued at the end of the year of manufacture. One example is a spalted maple limited beauty in the Avion line, the “AV6LTD”, the I was recently sent for review.

The Greg Bennett Avion “AV6LTD” by Samick





The AV6LTD is a Limited Edition model guitar that is derived from The Greg Bennett “Avion” series by Samick Music Corp. This guitar features a spalted maple top over a mahogany body. The top has incredible spalted figuring that gives this guitar a very unique personality.

The Greg Bennett line has used photo finishes to great effect in the past to keep down production costs and transfer those savings onto the player. In contrast, it is important for you to know that this guitar does not have a photo finish, but rather a true bookmatched set of spalt maple that has been carved into this popular solid body archtop design.

The hardware and electronics on this guitar are standard to the Greg Bennett line of guitars, with Duncan Designed pickups, Grover Tuning machines, and a tune-o-matic bridge. Looking in the control cavity, I saw nothing unusual, and all the wiring seemed to have solid solder points. The side mount input jack was a little loose, but this seems to be a problem that I have run into with almost every guitar I have used. This is thankfully an easy fix, and after a minute or two, I was ready to continue on.

The neck on the AV6LTD is bound mahogany with a rosewood fretboard. It has traditional crown inlays in the fretboard that tastefully offset the striking overall look of this guitar. Also featured is the Greg Bennett signature small headstock with the back tilt for better string performance. The set neck coupled with the body’s lower bout cutaway give easy access to the upper register.

This guitar is somewhat heavy, but that is to be expected from a solid mahogany body. Overall however, it is well balanced and is not going to be a back breaker during a long night of gigging. We had the opportunity to talk to Greg Bennett about his design concepts on this guitar. Please take a moment to watch the video below for more information.



AV 6 LTD Features At a Glance:
Single cutaway mahogany body
Bound, carved, spalted maple top
Bound, mahogany set neck
Rosewood fingerboard
Crown inlays
Grover™ tuners
Stop tailpiece with adjustable bridge
HH Duncan Design™ pickups

Sound Test

I began my sound test with my Ampeg J-20 amplifier. This is my favorite amplifier for testing new equipment because of its great uncolored transfer of signal. While I was tuning up, I noticed that I had a little fret buzz, so I made a few minor adjustments to compensate. Once the guitar was set up, the action was impeccable. I found the neck to be comfortable and easy.

I started with some clean tones with no effects. Using the clean settings you are able to achieve high end sparkle and clarity from the Maple top, while the mahogany adds warm rich low end mostly evident with the neck pickup. Arpeggios and chord strumming ring out nicely with ample of sustain for the most discerning player. You can easily dial in great jazzy tones, as well as clean blues and country sounds. I really enjoyed the sound of this guitar with added reverb, delay, and chorus pedals.

When you are ready to kick in some overdrive, the AV6LTD does not disappoint. You can attain amazing results with slightly overdriven lead lines that require just a little bite. Driving the amplifier into heavier overdrives gives you great classic rock, and heavier blues sounds. The tone control takes you to warm full overdrive to more harsh cutting tones with ease.

Pickups are always a hard thing to discuss during a review since personal preference is so dynamic in this area. Personally, I found the Duncan Designed pickups to be amazingly good for the styles of music I enjoy playing, like classic rock, blues, and country rock. If you are a hard rock or metal player, you may want to upgrade the pickups with something a little hotter. Like I said, results widely vary by player. Any reasonable guitar tech can switch out your pups in record time if you want the look but require a different sound.


Grade - A
Pro’s – Great playability and killer good looks.
Con’s – You'll want to swap out the pups if you play heavier music styles
Street Price - $598


Closing Thoughts

From what I observed at the NAMM show in January, spalted tops will become more popular in coming years. While spalted wood is not rare thing, finding wood that has great figuring appropriate for guitar building and is still firm enough to work with is much more difficult.

In a recent conversation with a friend in the construction trade, spalted wood can be created by stacking pale hardwoods (such as maple, beech, and birch) that are saturated with 20% water, in a location where oxygen, fixed nitrogen, micronutrients, and warm temperatures can interact to promote fungi growth. In the future, I can see this process being used to create more uniquely figured woods with the structural integrity intact for use in construction of guitar bodies.

The Avion Limited Edition is an incredible looking guitar with great playability and style. At its current street price, it also represents a great value. This guitar was designed to take advantage of every aspect of string energy to maximize sustain and overall playability.

Greg Bennett is an excellent guitar designer, and he does a spectacular job of creating affordable guitars that pay tribute to popular styles, while adding incremental improvements to the original designs. This guitar is no exception.

Since the Avion 6 LTD is limited in production and will be available only through 2008, you will need to be prepared to make a purchase this year. I am sure these guitars are going to go fast with limited dealer availabiity, and they are well worth the money. I am not sure if these limited editions will increase in value, but it is definitely a guitar you will want to hold onto for the long term. I award the Avion 6 LTD the GuitarGearHeads.com Rig Ready Award for 2008.



Gary Allen

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