Thorn Grantura MKII Korina/Brazilian Faded Amber Heavy Relic w/Ron Ellis (USED, 2026)

A Korina-bodied Grantura in heavy aged Faded Amber, with an asymmetrical soft V neck that is one of the most comfortable large carves we have played lately.

To get this out of the way - if you have talked yourself out of bigger necks before, this is the one that will change your mind. This Grantura's asymmetrical soft V measures .96" to 1.06", which reads substantial on paper, no question. But in the hand? It does not. The asymmetry puts the mass where your thumb wraps around and takes it away from the treble side, so the whole thing feels slimmer than the numbers suggest. Twelve-inch radius, 6100 frets, and Ron's hidden fret ends, so there is no tang running out to catch you as you move.

The rest of the guitar is just as considered. Korina body and Korina neck, which is somewhat common in solid bodies and almost unheard of in a semi-hollow. It is lighter and more open than the mahogany the format usually calls for, and paired with the laminate maple top it gives this one a different center of gravity than a standard 335 build. Ron presses his own plates, and combined with a full-length maple and spruce center block and a dovetail neck joint of his own design, that is the short version of why the Grantura plays and sounds the way it does (rather than just looking the way it does).

Heavy aged Faded Amber nitro over the top, transparent enough that the wood stays part of the picture, and aged enough that the guitar does not look like it arrived yesterday. A Brazilian rosewood board, dark and tight-grained.

Ron Ellis Signature humbuckers handle the electronics, with a coil split toggle for a second, thinner voice. Ellis has spent a long time building pickups that stay clear and touch-responsive rather than just loud, which is the right approach in a semi-hollow where the body is already doing some of that work. The dynamic range is really astounding here.

Ron has been the sole inlay provider to the Fender Custom Shop since the mid '90s, launched Thorn Guitars in 2000, spent five years as the Custom Shop's first Principal Master Builder and later its Director of Master Builder Operations, and has since reopened his own California workshop. The man knows a thing or two about building incredible instruments as we've said many times. This guitar is off the charts great, we're not gonna lie. Oh, did you notice Ron's bridge? Unreal.