King Blossom Guitars
BY Rich osWeiLeR
Though he didn’t know it at the time, Jeff Figley was on his way to becom-
ing a luthier when he moved to a small
farm in New Hampshire to open the King
Blossom Cabinet Shop in 1983. While
making pieces of high-end cabinetry over
the years, he found himself setting aside
some of the more beautiful pieces of wood
that came through the shop, with the inten-
tion of saving them for something special.
Not necessarily thinking about guitars as a
future project, Figley built up quite a stash
of gorgeous wood.
journey to build his first instrument.
Constructed from both spalted and bird’s-eye
maple, Figley still owns his No. 1, which is
still his favorite guitar for tone thus far.
When asked about design inspiration, Figley cites PRS as a major influence
because of their use of highly figured materials. “I’m all about the wood, so I strive
to create a noble purpose that equals its
beauty,” says Figley. But he isn’t afraid to
experiment with other materials—he came
Model 1 #0018 this chambered-body model 1 features a big-leaf maple burl top with soundholes created with some help from mother nature. utilizing mahogany for the body and neck, the 27-fret ebony ’board boasts illuminated, fiber-optic side dots. With a dimarzio 36th Anniversary PAF pickup in the bridge and a dimarzio eJ custom in the neck, this model 1 also features a piezo-loaded bridge from graph tech.
Model 1 #0012
utilizing highly figured
maple burl to top the
mahogany body of this
version of the model 1,
it too is adorned with
fiber-optic side dots
for guidance along
its ebony fretboard.
outfitted with sperzel
locking tuners and a
bridge and tailpiece by
tonePros, this looker
is loaded up with a
dimarzio 36th Anniversary PAF pickup
in the bridge and a
dimarzio PAF in the
neck position.
RGM #0001
this Rgm model’s
maple top rests on
a body carved from
poplar and features
Figley’s use of truck-
bed liner for a road-
ready finish on the
back and sides. the
maple neck is topped
with a rosewood fret-
board and the instru-
ment is outfitted with
a Resomax bridge and
tailpiece by graph
tech. For electronics,
this Rgm has a pair of
dimarzios, with a PAF
Pro in the bridge and
a PAF in the neck.
