Museum

Steel / No. 776

Andy McKee Guitar – Opus Virtuoso “Driftfire” (Steel-String GA)

SeriesOpus Virtuoso

The story

Model: Opus Virtuoso

First in the World guitar introduces the following innovations:

  • ACOUSTIC TUBES inside the guitar neck
  • S-WAVE top construction
  • ARS back & sides
  • SIGMOIDAL JOINT of the guitar sides
  • African Ebony BRIDGE with DRILLED HOLES encrusted with natural mammoth bone and natural Baltic amber
  • Amber HEADLIGHT
  • Amber BACKLIGHT ROSETTE

Andy McKee Guitar – Opus Virtuoso “Driftfire” is a custom steel-string GA voice built around the percussive, two-handed fingerstyle language associated with Andy McKee: powerful projection, immediate player feedback, a highly figured redwood double-top and extended upper-fret reach through a deep sharp cutaway.

Specifications

Double top
Highly-figured Old-growth Flamed Redwood (top) / Alpine Spruce from Tirol (bottom)
Back & Sides
Highly-Figured Black California Walnut Burl
Scale
650 mm
Neck
Asymmetric Turkowiak nylon-steel hybrid neck profile, made of Mod.Magnolia with double dual-action truss-rod
Fingerboard
Elevated, African Ebony with 14″ compound radius inlaid with natural Baltic amber
Head
Plates / Natural Baltic Amber
Shape
Standard, Slotted
Logo
Natural Mammoth Bone
Rosette
Encrusted with Natural Baltic Amber plates and two natural mammoth bone crown logos
Heel
Cap / Natural Baltic amber
Logo
Natural Baltic amber
Comfort
Arm-bevel integrated with the guitar body
Comfort
Rib-bevel integrated with the guitar body
Cutaway
Deep-Florentine (Sharp)
Nut
44.5 mm (1 3/4″), natural mammoth bone, hand-shaped, polished and semi-scalloped
Saddle
RMC Acoustic Gold Tall Deluxe High-profile
Tuners
Highest-quality, handmade Turkowiak Gold ARTuners with ebony buttons, black wood screw inlay, ratio 18:1, with engravings
Binding
African Ebony
Fingerboard markers
Natural mammoth bone side dots diameter 2 mm at 5, 9, 15, 17, 19 frets and concentric 3 mm at 7, 12 (double) frets inlaid with natural Baltic amber
Frets
up to C# (21 frets); EVO-GOLD ArcFret
Varnish
Highly-resonant, antistatic (own recipe), hand-polished, high-gloss
Sound System
K&K Pure Mini
Strings
.012″ Phosphor-Bronze
Hardcase
Highest-quality, fitted to the guitar
Warranty
Life-time

About this instrument

Which Turkowiak guitar was made for Andy McKee?

The Turkowiak Opus Virtuoso Driftfire is a custom steel-string Grand Auditorium guitar made for Andy McKee, instrument No. 776.

What are the main materials and dimensions?

Driftfire has an old-growth flamed redwood and Alpine spruce double-top, Black California Walnut Burl back and sides, natural Baltic amber details, a 650 mm scale and a 44.5 mm nut width.

Which pickup system is fitted?

Driftfire is fitted with a K&K Pure Mini pickup system.