Carsten Kobs, 2025

Built for GuitarCollection.com.

This 2025 cedar doubletop by Carsten Kobs of Hamburg, Germany has a simple origin story: Evan played and fell in love with an earlier Indian rosewood Kobs, watched it go home with David Russell, and made one request: "Please just do another one just like that." This is how it turned out.

Kobs is among the most revered names in modern doubletop construction, his instruments played at the highest level by artists including Zoran Dukic and David Russell. Built at the end of 2025, this guitar features Kobs' signature cedar top with Nomex interior layer and five fan braces running nearly parallel to the wood grain, paired with Indian rosewood back and sides. Lightweight, purposeful, and extraordinarily refined, it is a guitar where nothing feels wasted.

What makes Kobs guitars immediately distinctive is that they avoid the classic doubletop trade-off. Most powerful modern doubletops extract their volume at some cost to sustain. Not this one. Sustain is a standout feature: notes ring with extraordinary clarity before blossoming into a chorus of overtones that trail the sound in a whisper, present and nuanced but never overwhelming. The overtones are there to add nuance for those listening and looking for it, not to overwhelm.

The tonal character is clear yet overtone-forward, with a depth that evokes a great Santos Hernandez or Torres. The main air resonance sits just below F, contributing to a natural, balanced sound across all registers rather than calling attention to itself. Balance between strings is organic and perfectly aligned, with no need to manage discrepancies from string to string. The colors this guitar produces are profound.

Playability matches the ambition of the sound. The action is set to Evan's preferred low specification, 3.5mm on the sixth string and 2.75mm on the first at the twelfth fret, on tall, wide frets with a beautifully rounded neck profile. The scooped heel opens up the upper register with ease. The result is an instrument that frees the player to focus on being a musician rather than wrangling the guitar.

Luthier: Carsten Kobs
Year: 2025
Top: Cedar doubletop with Nomex interior layer, five fan braces
Back & Sides: Indian Rosewood
Construction: Doubletop
Scale Length: 650mm
Nut Width: 52mm
Action: 3.5mm / 2.75mm at 12th fret
Main Air Resonance: Just below F
Tuners: Scheller
Case: Leona Carbon Case
Strings: D'Addario XTC45FF with normal tension nylon first string
https://ddar.io/guitar-collection
Condition: New

Brand new, commissioned specifically for GuitarCollection.com, in perfect concert-ready condition. Includes a Leona carbon case.