Robinson Guitars are uniquely designed with the utmost in player experience at their foundation, and with an artistic style that is equally understated and tastefully appointed. At first glance, Bob Robinson’s guitars are immediately intriguing, while a closer look brings into sharp focus the design and assembly elements that are uniquely modern but remain well rooted in guitarbuilding tradition.

  Robert Robinson guitars feature an offset cut-away and a unique neck joint that allows the player to comfortably access all the strings across the fretboard for the full length of the neck. The neck joint is borrowed from the high-end furniture world, where Robinson is head-designer of a successful medium-scale boutique furniture manufacturer in Chicago.

All Robinson flat top models feature a solid, unbraced, carved back which is graduated in thickness. This design allows the back diaphragm to vibrate freely, similar to an archtop guitar or a speaker cone. The responsiveness of the back is immediately noticeable when you play one of his instruments.

The body of the Robinson Model 10-C s built of carved highly figured Claro walnut, with a fairly-traditional X-braced red spruce top. The body measures 14-3/4” across and has sides that taper from 3-1/8 to 3-3/4”. It’s roughly the size of a 12 fret Martin 00. The bindings are rosewood, and the sides are purfled with maple. The soundhole features a walnut, maple, and ebony rosette that’s beautifully proportioned. The body is finished in high gloss lacquer.

The Claro walnut neck features a traditional ‘Bird Beak’ headstock joint, akin to the one that graced all Martin guitars built before about 1917. Robinson’s headstock design is sleek, modern, and balanced, and features a hand-hammered recessed truss rod access cover, zero fret/bone nut set-up, Arts & Crafts inspired inlay, and nickel Waverly tuners with snakehead buttons. The neck is finished with a rubbed gunstock oil finish.

Below the surface, the intricate and unique design continues; but unlike many luthier-built guitars that are heavily braced and over-engineered, Robinson’s guitars feature light bracing that is well thought out. The guitar’s build features solid linings and a fairly traditional forward-positioned X bracing lay-out, with uniquely sized and positioned finger braces and tone bars. The bridge plate is maple, and quite small and thin.

The neck carve has a rounded D feel of medium depth and a contemporary carve with a little less thickening up the barrel that most modern guitars. 1st fret neck depth measures .835”, 12th fret depth tapers to .900”. The nut measures 1-11/16”, string spread at the saddle is 2-7/32”, and the scale is 25.4”. The fingerboard is fretted with slightly larger .095” x .047” fretwire and is compound radiused, from 9” to 12”. Ebony fretboard and bridge, custom-machined aged brass tuner bushings. K+K Pure pickup.

With its light build, 00-sized X-braced flat top and 12 fret body, the Robinson Model 10-C offers a fairly traditional 00 voice, relative to our larger Robinson models. It’s very well balanced, beautifully open and responsive guitar, and enjoys a fingerstyle approach best. The figured Claro walnut adds a little bit of warmth without compromising detail.

This guitar is offered as a guitar-show demo and shows the very lightest of handling wear to its finish. Its pricing has been discounted as such, but its full warranty remains in place.

A custom Hoffee carbon fibre case in included.