Discover the Emerald Kestrel

When it comes to traditional archtop guitars, the classic designs harken back to the golden days of jazz, with big bodies and a range of pickup systems used throughout the years. From the range of P90 and humbucker pickups popularized in the 1950’s to the more ‘acoustic’ sounding magnetic pickups found in more modern models, fans of the archtop have been looking for the perfect balance of acoustic and electric tones and sensibilities in one instrument for decades. The Kestrel model archtop from Emerald combines both a beautiful acoustic voice and sublime electric tones in this stunning archtop guitar.

Innovative design:

Using carbon fiber allows us to create elegant designs that are not normally, if ever, found in wooden instruments. With the Kestrel, we have redefined the archtop using our signature one-piece carbon fiber construction where the neck and body are built as one for incredible stability and resonance.  The typically bulky body of a traditional archtop has been refined with our ergonomic curves and edges for comfortable playability. The kestrel features a slimmer body than most old-school hollow-body archtop guitars, with a body depth of only 3 ½” (9cm) it keeps the acoustic sound and feel whilst providing a platform for amazing tones from both the acoustic and magnetic pickups.

Stunning aesthetics:

The f holes on the soundboard evoke classic archtop looks, with subtle contours around the body adding to the elegant overall appearance. A slotted headstock and hand-finished tailpiece define each end of the instrument with subtle curves running throughout the design.

Our carbon finish is available in a range of color options to suit any player and for those who prefer the look of real wooden tops on their guitars, we offer a range of wood veneers to enhance the look of the front. A range of eye-catching choices are available to transform your Kestrel into a stunning piece of playable art.

Comfortable playability:

Just as in all of our instruments, the kestrel features our signature ergonomic curves, with a belly cut on the back and angled leg rest to help the guitar conform to the player’s body for many hours of comfortable playing.

A range of tones:

When played acoustically, the Kestrel produces beautiful lively tones, with balanced bass, punchy mids and crisp highs, perfect for acoustic jams and recording sessions. 

With all of our guitars, we carefully choose the best pickups to suit the tones in each model and the kestrel is no different. To bring out the crisp acoustic tones, we have a Graph Tech Ghost Piezo pickup in the floating bridge, perfect for natural sounding acoustic tones when plugged into either acoustic or electric amps or PA systems.

The Micro Stealth humbucker from Krivo was carefully selected as the best for vintage jazz sounds, with warm and clean tones on offer and utilizes ‘custom manufactured low-intensity magnets and real hardwood spacers to achieve a vintage tone with a modern “bite,” strong attack, and three-dimensional sounding overtones.’

When these two pickups are chosen together in the Kestrel, a separate discrete volume wheel for each is found inside the top F-hole. This gives the player the opportunity to blend in either or both pickups for a whole range of acoustic and electric tones to suit many scenarios.

MIDI option:

For those looking for something completely different, we even have the option of adding a 13-pin MIDI output, giving you a range of options with external hardware and software synths and samplers such as the Roland SY-1000 and Boss GR-55. Using the guitar as a MIDI controller, a whole host of non-guitar sounds can be accessed to open up your possibilities, whether in the studio or playing live.

3D Builder:

Here at Emerald, we build around half of our guitars as customer specific orders. We offer an incredible range of options across all our models including color choices, real-wood veneer tops, inlays options, hardware, custom neck widths and more.

We pride ourselves in putting the customer first when it comes to the design of our instruments.

To help you realize your dream guitar, we have created our own 3D builder software which allows you to create and customize any one of our 25 models and see the design come to life in seconds in our builder online. A stock guitar and a custom guitar with the same design and specifications would cost the same when using the 3D builder so you can have custom shop quality without custom shop prices. 

Try the 3D builder today and see your dream guitar come to life.