The shoulder profile
The upper bout slopes towards the neck rather than meeting it with a squarer shoulder. The professional photographs of Skull & Roses show the complete outline, with views of the front, back and decorative details.
Steel / Instrument family
Slope-Dreadnought
Sloping shoulders and a broad lower bout. A distinct steel-string body direction.
The playing brief
What makes this direction different?
Slope-Dreadnought brings rounded, descending shoulders to the dreadnought outline. The completed Skull & Roses No. 780 illustrates this body shape in a nylon crossover; a steel-string commission is specified for its own string tension, bridge and acoustic construction.
A steel-string specification
String tension, scale, neck width, top construction and bridge are designed for the steel-string instrument. Using the same body family does not mean transferring a nylon guitar's specification unchanged.
Proportions and playing role
Choose body depth and physical reach alongside your fingerstyle or rhythm-playing brief. The shoulder shape alone does not determine bass response, projection or sustain.
Completed instruments
The work, in detail.
These photographs, measurements and films belong to the numbered guitars. They are reference instruments, not a fixed specification or a statement of current availability.
No. 780 / Opus Virtuoso
Skull & Roses
- Type
- Six-string nylon crossover
- Body shape
- Slope-Dreadnought / Slope Shoulder
- Body joint
- 12 frets to the body
- Scale
- 650 mm
- Nut
- 49 mm; hand-shaped, polished, semi-scalloped natural mammoth bone
Before you choose
A few useful answers.
Is Skull & Roses a steel-string guitar?
No. Skull & Roses No. 780 is a completed nylon-string crossover, shown here as a reference for the Slope-Dreadnought body shape. Its Museum record documents its own nylon specification, including a 650 mm scale, 49 mm nut and Impedance Bridge.
Is Slope-Dreadnought the same as Small Dreadnought?
No. Slope describes the shoulder profile; Small describes a size direction. Body width, depth, scale and shoulder shape are separate parts of the specification.
Can the dimensions and artwork be different?
Yes. Skull & Roses is an individual instrument. A new commission has its own agreed dimensions, woods and decorative details.
Made for your playing
Your Slope-Dreadnought.
Tell us what you play, what feels right on your current instrument and what you would change. The specification, price and anticipated timing are agreed before the build begins.
Discuss an instrument