RETRO-MODERN MARVEL

Mike Baranik’s “Arabella” B-1 brings 1960s-inspired guitar design to the boutique market.

- DAVE HUNTER

IF A CASUAL glance tells you the Baranik B-1 is an homage to the fun, funky, cheap, and cheerful Italian catalog guitars of the ’60s, you are entirely correct. But it’s only when you get in close and take this beauty in your hands that you discover what that quirky inspiration becomes when rendered by an acclaimed luthier long known for his achievements in high-end acoustic guitar building.

As a teenager growing up in New Jersey in the 1980s, Mike Baranik was inexorably drawn to heavy rock and the electric guitar that was front and center within it. Heading west in his late teens with plans to attend the Guitar Institute of Technology in Los Angeles as a springboard to rock stardom, he was dismayed by the number of struggling guitarists he found populating the Sunset Strip. Seeing their plight gave him the notion that it might be better to build guitars for a living than to play them.

After attending the Roberto-Venn School of Luthiery in Phoenix, Baranik segued into high-end acoustic guitar making and quickly forged a reputation for creating original and finely crafted instruments. Dial-up an example of one of Baranik’s flattops from the 2000s and you’ll see how quickly the maker hit his stride. These exotic and original creations display a number of elegant and innovative touches, and commonly sell for $6,000 to $10,000, even on the pre-owned market. While his interest in the acoustic remained hot, however, the electric was calling him back — and he was ready to indulge in something special.