Howie Escape Series #E.27.91.22













Note: Click here to see a video of this guitar in action!
This Howie Escape Series has a 22-fret fingerboard with a 24.75 inch scale length. The Macassar Ebony fretboard has a compound radius of 15.3 inches at the tail down to 9.5 inches at the nut.
The Shape of the neck is what we call the Howie Thin Line. At the nut the depth is 0.88 inches and at the 12th fret it is 0.94 inches. It’s not super thin like the 1960s Gibson ES 330s but it’s close. It has a very fast and easy feel. The width at the nut is 1.65 inches, and at the tail it is 2.15 inches making it a fairly thin span higher up on the fretboard.
The pickups on this guitar are Seymour Duncan’s Seth Lover humbuckers. These vintage output humbuckers are built exactly to Seth Lover’s specifications. Everything from the spacers to the wire to the Alnico 2 magnets are exactly as Seth Lover Intended. Seymour Duncan even used the same machine used for the winding back in the day by the Gibson factory. The tone is smooth and sweet and reminds me a lot of Jerry Garcia’s sound. For more detailed information on these pickups, please visit
Our U.S. Patented Nautilus chambered body design gives each Escape Series guitar it’s unique resonance and tone. This chambering makes this series our most difficult guitar to build however so I only build 3 or 4 of them each year making them very rare.
The finish on this guitar was done with a catalyzed urethane that is normally used on automobiles. This high-end urethane dries very hard allowing fewer coats and a thinner finish.
As usual with all of our guitars, this guitar was built by me, the sole builder, from start to finish. It was also built mainly by hand with a little help from our small CNC machine for the beautiful rose vine inlays and the double violin carve.
The rest of the nitty gritty details are all listed below…
Series: Escape
Serial # E.27.91.22
Birthday: 12.31.22
Main Body Wood: Basswood
Top Body Wood: Curly Maple
Neck Wood: Hard Maple
Peghead Veneer: Curly Maple
Fretboard: Macassar Ebony
TR Cover: Curly Maple
Weight: 5.9lbs, 2.68kg
Carve Type: 0.5in Fibonacci
Scale Length: 24.75, 62.87cm
Nut Width: 1.65in, 4.19cm
Tail Width: 2.15in, 5.46cm
Neck Depth @ Nut: 0.88in, 22.35mm
Neck Depth @ 12th: 0.94in, 23.88mm
Fretboard Radius: 15.29in to 9.45in, 38.84cm to 24cm
Fret wire: 0.09in, Stainless Steel
Neck Angle: 3.8 deg
Torsion Angle: 0deg
Neck Carve: Howie Thin Line
Peghead Angle: 8.5deg
Pickups: Seymour Duncan Seth Lover Humbucker set
Pre-Amp:
Tuning Machines: Kluson Rev G Chrome
Nut: Bleached Bone
Truss Rod: Hotrod Low Profile
Bridge: Kluson ABR Wired
Tail Piece: Gotoh Stop
Strap Pins: Chrome
Strings: S.I.T Heavy Bottom
Inlays: White and Black Pearl, Abalone, Red Sea Corral
Pup Rings: Black
Side Dots: White Mother of Pearl
Knobs: Black Speed
Finish: DC 2000 Catalyzed Urethane