This was my first time to hear, and see, John Monteleone. His voice, to me, is similar to that of Donald Sutherland. And, perhaps partly due to this, Mr. Monteleone--once again, to me--bears a resemblance to Mr. Sutherland.

I just took a fishman preamp out of a cheap chinese BDD-18-M bedel and it created a large soundhole in the side....amazing. Tons of bass now....at least at my ear. I added a zero glide zero fret and that made the guitar more focused....incredible how this guitar sounds now. It has the thinnest top I've seen on a guitar. 4.0 mm...very loud...even more now! This guitar vibrates when you talk in the room. Interesting you said the front port opens up the sound....that's what I found....it made it sound more aged and vintage....more airy.

PS-I'm playing It Ain't Necessarily So in open G w/low C, capo 2, so key of A.

what a divine pairing, John and Howard!

Always a treat to hear and see John being John

Howard Emerson music and touch is out of this world

Wow! What an amazing Luthier! After looking at some of his guitars online, his talent really shines brightly! Thanks for sharing this!

The look on your face when you hear the sound produced by the ports. Priceless. This was fascinating, thanks Michael.

This was great! My doctor had me over one day to see his guitar collection. He had several original D'aquisto and D'angelico plus some other archtops, and custom Steinways. He had one Monteleone short scale archtop, which I'd never heard of. Really beautiful work.

Thank you for a great interview. I saw your question concerning sound ports. Having never played a guitar with one, I shall abstain from answering. People are reluctant to change, but I look forward to the opportunity of trying one when I can. Good day.

Very interesting and engrossing session. My time well spent. Thanks. 👍

For such a serious Luthier for serious musicians, other than the Art Deco style, there seems to be that 50s lost in space thing going on to my eye. Whatever it is, the man is far out in the best possible taste.

What tone really interesting guitar , tremendous luthier .🤩👍

Wow legends of our era

Love these interviews!

Great vid! I'd put 5 ports in one of my less expensive guitars.. I'm a huge sound port fan.

So Beautiful!

good one, this was great.

Michael, while divine meandering you do, I think for your business card a more appropriate line of copy would be, Guitar Wanderer. When you look at the lyrics of Dion's song The Wanderer, and substitute "guitar" for "girl" it's a perfect fit. Next work on a chest tattoo of your favorite. Yeah.

I just love this channel, it’s been so cool getting to see and hear these instruments! I feel blessed that I live in a time when you can get a peak inside the workshops of some of the greatest makers of all time, let alone hear so many incredible players at the drop of a few keystrokes! I have to admit though it’s really caused me to sit down and asses my own instruments and really consider their tonal traits more carefully.