2026 Joel Stehr 8-String Grand Auditorium Botanical Marquetry Inlay Serial #GA13726

If you've ever wanted the shimmer of a 12-string without the string tension fighting your left hand, you should check out this gorgeous Joel Stehr Grand Auditorium. Stehr builds with the sensibility of a fine artist as much as a luthier, and it shows — flamed hard maple bindings and botanical leaf inlays set this instrument apart visually, while its unusual 8-string configuration (doubled D and G strings, with the second string an octave higher) delivers a jangly, bright voice reminiscent of a 12-string, minus the overpowering density and the strain on your fretting hand.

Build & Materials

• Top: Italian spruce
• Back & Sides: Western big leaf maple, double-side construction
• Neck: carbon-fiber-reinforced mahogany with double-action truss rod
• Fretboard & Headplate: Ebony
• Rosette: Flamed Maple and Ebony
• Binding & Inlays: flamed hard maple bindings with leaf inlays
• Pickguard: None
• Bound side sound port
• Tuners: Gotoh 510
• Voice: doubled D and G strings (second string tuned an octave higher) produce a bright, jangly, 12-string-like shimmer with the clarity and hand-friendliness of a standard 6-string setup; the side sound port lets the player hear that shimmer as clearly as the audience does

Size & Feel

• Upper Bout: 11-5/8" | Waist: 9-3/8" | Lower Bout: 15-3/4"
• Nut Width: 1.75" | Scale Length: 25.4"
• 14 frets to the body
• Grand Auditorium body for balanced projection and comfortable, all-day playability
• Serial No. GA13726, Guitar #137

The Details

• Includes hardshell case
• Handcrafted by Joel Stehr, Spokane, Washington

In stock now at Wood & Wire. Twelve-string shimmer, six-string comfort!