Breathtaking Design. Maximum Playability.
Savings Opportunity
We are able to offer fully featured Conti Guitars at value pricing as they are only available direct from Conti Guitars. If our guitars were offered through the typical distributor/dealer network, the price would assuredly double, and in some cases actually triple. However, even at our value pricing, the cost may sometimes exceed one’s budget. To that end, we make efforts to discount guitars when certain events allow us to do so. On a random timetable, new guitars are played by Robert or one of his assistants at a variety of events such as:
- trade shows,
- educational videos, or
- selected live performances
Although we exercise great care in handling our instruments, they sometimes incur minor cosmetic surface scratches that are usually imperceptible after buffing. As a matter of common business ethics:
- Although demo instruments are essentially still new, we do not return those instruments into inventory as “brand new.”
- Although the subject instruments may have been played for only an hour or two, we always advise every potential purchaser of any scratches, nicks, etc.
Making our demo instruments available at a substantial price reduction (when we are able to do so) provides folks an opportunity to acquire a high quality instrument at great savings. These instruments receive the same quality control as new instruments, including a full pre-shipping inspection and set-up, and our signature personalized “owner introduction video” wherein Robert Conti actually plays and introduces you to your new instrument!
Missed this opportunity?
Sunburst Entrada - $977
No Middle Men
Your dream archtop at any budget.
We don’t believe you can find a comparable feature rich guitar at this price anywhere.
The Entrada
- Laminate Maple Top
- Laminate Maple Back & Sides
- Wilkinson Imperial Tuners
- Maple Neck
- 24 Fret Ebony Fingerboard
- Ebony Pickguard
- Kent Armstrong Humbucker
- Gotoh TOM or Ebony Bridge
- Floating Ebony Bridge Base
- Ebony or Gold Finger Tailpiece
- Quality Gig Bag (HS Case avail.)
The Heirloom
- Solid Spruce Top
- Solid Maple Back & Sides
- Grover Imperial Tuners
- Maple Neck
- 24 Fret Ebony Fingerboard
- Ebony Pickguard
- Kent Armstrong Humbucker
- TonePros TOM or Ebony Bridge
- Floating Ebony Bridge Base
- Ebony or Gold Finger Tailpiece
- Quality Gig Bag (HS Case avail.)
" Three Conti " Club
Dr. Gary C Smith
Michael Simoni
" Two Conti " Club
Our Worldwide Owners
An instant success in 2009, the Conti is the go-to archtop for players around the world. And like our jazz guitar learning resources, we let our patrons do the talking. Take some time to read comments and see photos from a sampling of elated Conti Guitar owners worldwide. We hope to see your photo here soon!
…had never imagined buying a guitar without trying it
“Thank you so much for this great guitar, a beautiful Conti Entrada Natural blonde, that arrived yesterday in France. FedEx did a great job; it was delivered right on time, only two days after shipping. I greatly appreciated the fact that Robert had made a pre-video. A nice présentation, personally tailored explanations, including a very touching tribute to Francis Lai and Michel Legrand. Well beyond a commercial gesture, it was an expression of his generosity and passion, in addition to the concern for perfection that we find in everything he does. Following his advice, I left the guitar several hours in its shipping box, to allow the wood to adapt to any change in temperature. Packed with great care, the guitar was pretty much in tune. Like all owners of your guitars, I was pleasantly surprised by its workmanship, as well as the fine quality of the wood. I immediately found the neck extremely comfortable; the guitar easy to play. The sound, round and sweet, even without using an amplifier. Thanks to the care your technicians took in preparing the shipment, my guitar did not suffer at all from transport. I would also like to thank your colleagues, Mike and
This guitar is simply the best!
“Hi, my name is Jerry McKinnon and this is a picture of me with my wonderful Conti Entrada guitar. This guitar is super excellent when it comes to sound, playing ability, and needless to say -appearance. I’ve owned many guitars, but this guitar is simply the best! Thank you Robert Conti for your excellent products. For those of you thinking about getting one, do it. You will be extremely happy.” -Jerry McKinnon – New Braunfels, TX
Each note is tuned to perfection!
“Thank you so much Mr. Conti. I am very excited to start practicing with this guitar and hopefully showing it off at some jazz gigs in the near future. I am very grateful that you were able to personally go over the optimal conditions for the life time health of the instrument as well as the features. I must admit, the guitar sounds and chimes are breathtaking, each note is tuned to perfection! Once I plugged it into my amp and played that first Gma7, I knew right away that this is a “surround sound” instrument. The light reflecting off the gorgeous Antique Sunburst color creates a warm, welcoming atmosphere to the listeners. This is meant to be played in front of a jazz audience, big or small! It feels like I am playing an epic, ancient artifact at times! What an absolute pleasure to explore chords and melodies with this luxurious instrument. You just can’t get a better sound than this. Many thanks to the Robert Conti team for the complimentary video and I will continue to tell it’s legendary tale through YouTube! Thank you once again, and I look forward to continuing my studies of jazz guitar and
It is so easy to play…
“My new Heirloom arrived safely in Norway some days ago and I couldn’t be happier! It is an incredible guitar. It was thoroughly packaged and the support and follow up from Conti Guitars was top notch so I felt in good hands all the way. Also very special to have a personal video from Mr. Conti himself playing and advising about the guitar. The sound is so inspiring and it is so easy to play it is incredible.. Highly recommended!” -Skjalg Reithaug – Norway
Build quality is perfect…
“Beautiful to look at, and beautiful to play! Today is International Left Handers Day and look what FedEx delivered! My beautiful Port Wine Entrada – Left Handed of course. The sound is just like the looks, beautiful, clear and crisp, even without an amp. It arrived earlier today and I can’t stop playing it. The build quality is perfect and the Port Wine finish is exquisite. The entire Robert Conti company is so customer/player oriented, it is a pleasure to do business with them. They called when they received the order, and once it was delivered to be sure everything arrived in perfect condition, which it did. The video of Robert holding my Entrada (and playing a right handed identical model) was great.” -Ken Schultz – Frederick, Maryland
Passion more than business…
Comments on Pre-Ship Video https://youtu.be/neBbjQk_m5Y A big thank you for this very long video for my new guitar. What a pleasure to see you play it. Thanks also for all your very detailed explanations. I see that your passion is really intact and it confirms to me that I made the right choice. Fedex announces a delivery next Monday in the evening and I can not wait to receive it. I would love to record a video clip in response to your attention, as well as some pictures. Another big thank you and especially for your final medley in tribute to this French music that you like (I also like Francis Lai and Michel Legrand who left us recently). See you soon, I’ll have fun with this guitar, I’m sure! Wishing you the best for the future! Comments After Receipt of Entrada Hi Robert and Steve, thank you very much for your great and very kind attention. The guitar arrived in perfect condition. No trace of a scratch. The sound is really good, I’m even more surprised by the semi-acoustic sound of the instrument. Note that I wanted an Entrada and not a Heirloom, because I wanted a guitar with
…had never imagined buying a guitar without trying it
“Thank you so much for this great guitar, a beautiful Conti Entrada Natural blonde, that arrived yesterday in France. FedEx did a great job; it was delivered right on time, only two days after shipping. I greatly appreciated the fact that Robert had made a pre-video. A nice présentation, personally tailored explanations, including a very touching tribute to Francis Lai and Michel Legrand. Well beyond a commercial gesture, it was an expression of his generosity and passion, in addition to the concern for perfection that we find in everything he does. Following his advice, I left the guitar several hours in its shipping box, to allow the wood to adapt to any change in temperature. Packed with great care, the guitar was pretty much in tune. Like all owners of your guitars, I was pleasantly surprised by its workmanship, as well as the fine quality of the wood. I immediately found the neck extremely comfortable; the guitar easy to play. The sound, round and sweet, even without using an amplifier. Thanks to the care your technicians took in preparing the shipment, my guitar did not suffer at all from transport. I would also like to thank your colleagues, Mike and
This guitar is simply the best!
“Hi, my name is Jerry McKinnon and this is a picture of me with my wonderful Conti Entrada guitar. This guitar is super excellent when it comes to sound, playing ability, and needless to say -appearance. I’ve owned many guitars, but this guitar is simply the best! Thank you Robert Conti for your excellent products. For those of you thinking about getting one, do it. You will be extremely happy.” -Jerry McKinnon – New Braunfels, TX
Each note is tuned to perfection!
“Thank you so much Mr. Conti. I am very excited to start practicing with this guitar and hopefully showing it off at some jazz gigs in the near future. I am very grateful that you were able to personally go over the optimal conditions for the life time health of the instrument as well as the features. I must admit, the guitar sounds and chimes are breathtaking, each note is tuned to perfection! Once I plugged it into my amp and played that first Gma7, I knew right away that this is a “surround sound” instrument. The light reflecting off the gorgeous Antique Sunburst color creates a warm, welcoming atmosphere to the listeners. This is meant to be played in front of a jazz audience, big or small! It feels like I am playing an epic, ancient artifact at times! What an absolute pleasure to explore chords and melodies with this luxurious instrument. You just can’t get a better sound than this. Many thanks to the Robert Conti team for the complimentary video and I will continue to tell it’s legendary tale through YouTube! Thank you once again, and I look forward to continuing my studies of jazz guitar and
It is so easy to play…
“My new Heirloom arrived safely in Norway some days ago and I couldn’t be happier! It is an incredible guitar. It was thoroughly packaged and the support and follow up from Conti Guitars was top notch so I felt in good hands all the way. Also very special to have a personal video from Mr. Conti himself playing and advising about the guitar. The sound is so inspiring and it is so easy to play it is incredible.. Highly recommended!” -Skjalg Reithaug – Norway
Build quality is perfect…
“Beautiful to look at, and beautiful to play! Today is International Left Handers Day and look what FedEx delivered! My beautiful Port Wine Entrada – Left Handed of course. The sound is just like the looks, beautiful, clear and crisp, even without an amp. It arrived earlier today and I can’t stop playing it. The build quality is perfect and the Port Wine finish is exquisite. The entire Robert Conti company is so customer/player oriented, it is a pleasure to do business with them. They called when they received the order, and once it was delivered to be sure everything arrived in perfect condition, which it did. The video of Robert holding my Entrada (and playing a right handed identical model) was great.” -Ken Schultz – Frederick, Maryland
Set Up To Stringent Specifications
When you’re Robert Conti, you play a lot of notes.
When you play a lot of notes, you need a neck that plays like butter.
When you need a neck that plays like butter, you better have a good luthier.
Prior to shipment, every Conti Guitar is scrutinized by a highly qualified luthier with 30+ years of experience. Each instrument is set up to Robert’s specifications and fully inspected.
Personalized Pre-Shipping Video Intro
As an integral part of our First Class Owner Service, before your guitar is shipped, you will receive a personalized high quality video, wherein Robert Conti plays and introduces you to your new guitar – a truly, memorable and unparalleled service in the guitar industry.
Only The Most Desirable Features
We introduced the first generation Conti Guitar to be the most affordable, feature rich archtop on the market. However, we certainly understand that the solid wood model may still be out of reach for some aspiring jazz guitar students. As such, the laminate model is by no means stripped down. See info below for what we believe are the most important features that you’ll find on both the solid and laminate models.
(Mouse over images for info)
Ebony Fingerboard
MOP & Real Abalone
Output Jack Placement
Shallow Florentine Cutaway
Low Playing Action
Preferred Gauge Strings
If you can find a archtop, buy it.
The Journey
Through the course of many prior years, numerous guitarists have solicited my advice on how to find a great sounding jazz guitar with excellent playability at an affordable price. I’ve observed many aspiring jazz guitarists who have unknowingly limited their potential by playing an inferior instrument, almost always due to the constraint of high prices. On the other hand, I have also seen dramatic improvements in skill levels even when entry level guitarists begin using a quality instrument that is set-up to play easily. In 2006. . .
The Conti Archtop Jazz Guitar is the result of 55 years of on the bandstand playing experience.
Yes, We Really Mean 55 Years
(and still going strong!)
