R. Martin Meckbach “Purist” I – 2025

– SOLD –

Handcrafted by Martin Meckbach in Diez, Germany

The “Purist” model came into being — including its name — at the request and suggestion of the artist Hermann Rudorf, www.rudorf.berlin.
While looking for a concert guitar with a minimalist design, he discovered my „I – 2023“ model. I had brought this earlier instrument along to the 11th Festival of the International Guitar Academy Berlin. There, Hermann Rudorf was able to play it himself and hear it compared to around 30 other concert guitars; he was immediately won over.
At our next meeting in my workshop, we discussed the concept of stripping things back — considering what it would be like to omit the headstock profile, body bindings, the 20th fret, the soundhole rosette, and the decorative details on the tuning machines and bridge.
Et voilà: Here we go, Meckbach’s „Purist“.
So, I deliberately dispensed with ornamentation to keep the guitar’s visual aesthetic as simple as possible.
This resulted in the headstock that terminates in a straight line, the soundhole without a rosette, and the virtually invisible body edges — which do not meet at the neck joint but instead allow the back to extend continuously to the tip of the neck heel, replacing the need for a heel cap.
The guitar’s construction follows traditional models—Spanish neck-to-body joint, 65 cm scale length, 52 mm nut width, 7-fan bracing—as well as more recent innovations such as the intonation-compensated nut and bridge wings that taper to a low profile.
The tuning machines are a model from Scheller featuring rectangular baseplates without engraving, rosewood knobs, and genuine horn rollers.

Top: Spruce
Body: Indian rosewood
Fingerboard: Ebony
Neck: Spanish Cedar
Bridge: Rosewood
Scale length: 65 cm
Neck width at nut: 52 mm
Tuners: Scheller
Finish: Shellac, satin
Case: Custom-made by Bergner