2005 Babicz IDENTITY Very Good, Hard, $795.00

The Babicz Identity acoustic guitar has all the right stuff thanks to a combination of great sound, superb playability, and some very innovative structural designs. Most noticeable is the fanning of the strings across the sounding board, which adds quite a distinct look to the guitar. Once we took an in-depth look at the engineering principles behind this design – it’s not just for cosmetics, and understood the physical and tonal effect of this design on the guitar, we found the design to be truly genius.
Equally impressive, Babicz developed new technology that enables the player to make neck/string height (action) adjustments on the fly without any complexity or intonation changes/adjustments.

The Babicz Identity is constructed of a high gloss-finished, solid rosewood back and sides, with a satin finished, solid spruce top outlined by black/white/black binding. The two-piece bound mahogany neck (also in satin finish) provides continuous adjustability through its two-way truss rod and Babicz’s patented neck height adjustment feature for desired string action preferences.

Starting at the top of the guitar, the face of the headstock is constructed of a rosewood overlay fitted with black Grover tuners. The neck is a comfortable C shape, 1-11/16” at the nut spanning twenty frets, with a 25.5” scale length. This is where it gets really interesting. The Babicz Identity Series guitar is fitted with an adjustable rosewood torque-reducing split bridge system. Unlike conventional bridge systems that are glued to the top of the guitar, the Babicz bridge is anchored to the guitar via a fastening system that allows the bridge to be loosened and repositioned for intonation adjustments.

With most bridge systems on acoustic guitars, the strings anchor into the bridge, focusing all the tension at the center of the soundboard, and here is where the Babicz split bridge design comes into play. Once the strings pass over the bridge, they are channeled through a string retainer (second part of the split-bridge) that pitches the strings downward from the back of the bridge, providing pressure from the strings down and over the bridge to the body of the guitar. From this point, the strings are fanned out to the edge of the guitar top, where they are anchored via posts through the soundboard connected to anchor plates on the inside of the guitar.

With this design, Babicz is able to achieve a more lateral tension pattern spread over a wider area of the guitar, resulting in full-bodied sound quality. Another contributing factor to this guitar’s great sound is that with the string tension being disbursed across the soundboard instead of anchored in the bridge, less structural bracing is needed inside the instrument, allowing the soundboard to vibrate more freely. On this guitar, an EQH-04 pick-up has also been added to increase its versatility, although the installation is a bit amateurish.

Cosmetically, this guitar displays excellent craftsmanship. The glossy back and sides reflect a very deep, rich rosewood tone and compliment the satin-finished mahogany neck and spruce top. There are very few dings or scratches of any kind visible on this guitar, although there appears to be a very careful repair or re-glue of the two-part neck heel.

The Babicz Identity is very enjoyable to play. The neck is true from top to bottom, providing clear fretted notes and perfect intonation throughout. The smooth, unfinished neck is also a factor in ease of playability, and using an allen wrench, it is easy to make adjustments to the string height depending on our playing techniques and string action preferences. The Babicz neck adjustment feature enables you to raise the entire neck up or down in relation to the body of the guitar in order to achieve your preferred string height. [It currently is set up at a very comfortable 3/32” at the 12th fret low E.]

Because the neck movement is up and down, there is no need to worry about affecting the intonation of the guitar. Conventional neck adjustments cause change to the actual scale length of the string, which usually require intonation adjustments at the bridge. However, even the intonation on the Babicz guitar is adjustable; by loosening the anchor fasteners, the bridge can easily be moved forward or backward via the slotted soundboard to dial in accurate intonation.

The Identity is very bright and full bodied in sound. No matter which position you play, the guitar provides consistent tonal quality including a good balance of low, mid, and high characteristics throughout the entire tonal spectrum. As a result of the “ICZ” Lateral Compression Soundboard, this acoustic guitar generates good volume levels combined with excellent tone. The Babicz guitar responded well to all playing styles and techniques, providing a bright piano-like tone all its own.

Included is an excellent TKL hard shell case. The hardware all works perfectly, the red plush interior is in good shape, and it accommodates the Babicz body very well. Most importantly, it provides outstanding protection for this fine instrument.

Buyer pays a flat rate of $55 for insurance and shipping to the lower 48 states; shipping costs elsewhere will be negotiated as necessary. Payments by Paypal are preferred; cashier’s checks or personal checks are acceptable, but checks must clear before the guitar will be shipped.

I have made every effort to describe and illustrate this outstanding guitar and case with scrupulous accuracy. Please read the description carefully, check out the pictures, and ask any questions you might have before purchasing this guitar. Its return will not be accepted unless it can be shown that it was egregiously misrepresented in this listing.

Thank you for your interest in this cool guitar.