Guitar Styles

The OM

The Franklin OM is styled after the old Martin orchestra model that made such an important contribution to playing styles in the late twenties and early thirties. Besides being the first steel string guitar to incorporate the fourteen fret neck, it was known as one of the best balanced, fullest sounding guitars ever made. Nick has added some structural improvements that we feel make his OM’s one of the very finest guitars available on the market. The hand-carved braces interlock perfectly to give the top just the right degree of freedom to vibrate

The Jumbo

The Franklin Jumbo is another Nick Kukich specialty. Nick empathizes with guitarists looking for the kind of “big” sound that only a Jumbo could give. Being the artist he is, he found it unacceptable to make a guitar that coupled projection with a mushy tone quality. He experimented with bracing modifications and body dimensions until he could offer a Jumbo that wouldn’t give you the problems typically associated with these guitars. The result is an instrument with the power to cut through and a deep resonant bass – but one that won’t “boom”, resulting in a loss of clarity, or create problems with a microphone.

The Dreadnought

Nick’s admiration for Gibson’s Roy Smeck model inspired his decision to use the same bracing pattern as the Radio Grande. Aside from joining at the 12th fret, the similarities end here and become a Nick Kukich design. Read a review of the instrument, which made its official debut at the 2011 Healdsburg Guitar Festival.