The Mariner Mercator
Our flagship guitar design inspired by the revered origins of the electric guitar, and entirely crafted for superior tone.
Specifications And Features
Body
This symmetrical, single-cutaway guitar design is available in solid or semi-hollow body. Solid bodies can be straight slab, chambered for weight reduction, or contoured for comfortability. Semi-hollow bodies feature our signature split f-hole design, and can be ordered in a two f-hole version without the pickguard. Solid bodies measure 1.75” thick and semi-hollow bodies measure 2.00” thick for enhanced reverberation and sustain.
Materials
Each custom guitar's tonewood is hand selected from our stock of different, multiple “A” rating hardwoods. Solid bodies, and semi-hollow body cores, are crafted using ash or basswood. Semi-hollow body tops are bookmatched and crafted from figured maple for a unique look. Other, more specific tonewoods can be ordered by special request.
Our necks are crafted from maple for a brighter, clearer tone, and we offer your choice of indian rosewood, ebony, or solid maple fingerboards. Each neck is fretted with nickel frets measuring .045” high and .095” wide — a popular, and standard fret size which helps ease the playing of both chords and bends throughout the length of the neck, while still maintaining the longevity of the fret’s lifespan. We also use TUSQ nuts for appropriate, consistent, and responsive transfer of vibration from the strings to the neck to ensure your guitar stands out from the crowd with proper volume and sustain.
Neck
Our custom guitar neck options were designed and selected to ensure you receive the feel you have been searching for. When designing your Mariner Mercator, you have the choice of selecting your neck profile and fingerboard radius. Generally, smaller radiuses help players form chords more easily, while larger radiuses allow for cleaner string bending. Compound options have been included to satisfy both needs. Each neck is crafted with 22 frets and a scale length of 25.5”.
Available Neck Profiles:
“C” profile — standard neck profile.
“D” profile — thinner than “C” and allows for greater reach into the neck when playing bends.
“U” profile — thicker than “C” and reduces reach, but generally provides more support for your hands, ultimately increasing comfortabilit
Hardware
All guitars are assembled using premium electric guitar hardware and parts from brands such as Shaller, Bigsby, and Gotoh. When designing your guitar, you have the option to choose your bridge and tailpiece from a variety of different options. You can also select your desired plating option from gold, chrome, and black.
Electronics
The Mariner Mercator comes standard with two pickups, one switch, one volume control, and one tone control. Each guitar is wired using premium components from brands such as CTS for our potentiometers, and either Switchcraft or CRL for our switches. To ensure your guitar is silent when amplified, all copper wire used is shielded in polyethylene insulation, and encased in a grounded, outer conductive shield. Each pickup cavity is further shielded with copper tape to reduce unwanted humming and interference. Every guitar is inspected for grounding issues and other noise before final assembly to guarantee a clear, superior tone, balanced throughout both warm and bright spectrums.
Finish
To make certain your finely crafted instrument has a mirror smooth finish, each guitar is initially rough sanded up to 400 grit, grain filled with the appropriate colored material for your wood tone, sanded up to 800 grit, and then sealed. From here, the color finish is applied, and multiple clear, high-gloss, nitrocellulose lacquer coats. After properly curing, the entire body and neck are carefully wet sanded by hand with 2000 grit sandpaper, and finally buffed, polished, and waxed back to high shine before moving on to final assemble.