Cutaway (guitar)

In guitar construction, a cutaway is an indentation in the upper bout of the body of the instrument adjacent to the neck of the guitar, designed to allow easier access to the upper frets.

Some manufacturers denote instrument models with cutaway using the suffix C, such as the Gibson L5C or the Maton CW80C.

There are two main types of cutaways: Venetian and Florentine. A Venetian cutaway has a rounded bout. A Florentine cutaway has a sharp bout. The picture shows a Venetian cutaway. (The terms probably originate with the Gibson Guitar Corporation and probably do not reflect historic instrument-making practices of Florence and Venice). A less common third type is the squared-off cutaway used on the Selmer-Maccaferri guitar and some nylon-string guitars.

As well as the more common lower cutaway, many instruments have an upper cutaway, sometimes smaller than the lower one, or sometimes about the same size. This is mainly seen on electric guitars, as the reduction in body size resulting from a double cutaway would be detrimental to the sound quality of an acoustic guitar. Double cutaways allow the thumb as well as the fingers to move past the neck-body join. Symmetrical ones also facilitate left-handed use of right-handed instruments.